The Winter's Tale Act Two

ACT II

S1: Mamilius begins to tell a story to his mother and ladies.
~ Leonties sends Mamilius away and passes judgement on Hermione.
~ Honourable grief...burns...which tears cannot drownd.
~ Leonties is convinced of her guilt to the point that he says the Oricles will only put the ignorant worries of other to rest.
~ Antigonus feels they would be laughed to scorn if the actual truth were made known.

S2: To make no stain a stain which will never come out.
~ Sight of pure innocene persuades when speaking fails.
~ Coucils to take the babe to the king and speak to him boldly -> Paulina

S3: The king cannot rest -- goes so far as to think that if the queen were dead he would be able to rest.
~ Mamilius is sick. King believes that it is because of the queens dishonor.
~ Revenge only in the heart of the king.
~ Paulina proposes that Honesty and Truth are the medicine that will cure the sistuation.
~ Paulina declares if I a man I would fight you to name Harmine good.
~ She calls the king a Tyrant.

~~> I love the words that are used by Paulina in telling the servant why she should be let in to the king.  In responce to their words that he is not seeing anyone and he has not slept:
'Tis such as you,
That creep like shadows by him and do sigh
At each his needless heavings, such as you
Nourish the cause of his awaking: I
Do come with words as medicinal as true,
Honest as either, to purge him of that humour
That presses him from sleep.

She blames them for the horrors that are conspiring.  Tells them that they should like Camillo stand up for what they know to be right, instead of bowing, creeping shadows, sighing with him.  She says that the cure for the ails of this cheating, conspiring, lusting business is Honesty, Truth.  Truth that the kings is in error and that his actions are tyrannical and barbarous.  In act one the ills of the queen and polixenes were a disease and now Shakespeare offers the cure.     

Another thing that i thought was witty about this act was that Shakespeare in this play is telling a fairy tale and in Scene One Mamilius is asked to recount a fairy tale. A tale of sprites and goblins... It's interesting. It is almost a reminder that the story as a whole is a fairy tale.