Meggie's Close Reading: Act III, Scene 3, Lines 26-35

“Good Antigonus,
Since fate, against they better disposition,
Hath made thy person for the thrower-out
Of my poor babe, according to thine oath,
Places remote enough are in Bohemia;
There weep and leave it crying. And for the babe
Is counted lost forever, Perdita,
I prithee, call’t. For this ungentle business,
Put on thee by my lord, thou ne’er shalt see
Thy wife Paulina more.”

In Act III, Scene 3, lines 26-35, Antigonus recounts the words that the dead Hermione said to him in a dream. Hermione’s warning encompasses much of the suffering that occurs in the first three acts of the play, while also addressing the concept of being “lost” which continues to affect the play after the scene. The word “lost” applies obviously the baby, the speaker himself, and even the plot of the play.
While describing her newborn baby, Hermione says to Antigonus, “And for the babe/ is counted lost forever, Perdita/ I prithee, call’t” (Lines 31-33). The baby’s mother pessimistically thinks that her child is “lost forever,” which demonstrates her vast suffering. Not only is she dead herself, but she also believes her newborn to be fated to be “lost” to her family for the rest of her life. In fact, according to the footnotes, the name “Perdita” even means “the lost one” (Page 53). Hermione is so hopeless that she decides to include the child’s intrinsic “lost”-ness in her baby’s name.
The importance of the word “lost” intensifies when applied to the man who speaks the word himself, Antigonus. In her warning, perhaps even a curse, Hermione explains that for his “ungentle business,” Antigonus “ne’er shalt see/ Thy wife Paulina more” (Lines 33-35). Soon after, the stage directions calls for Antigonus to “[Exit, pursued by a bear.]” If this hint is not enough, once the Clown enters and explains that “the bear tore out [Antigonus’] shoulder bone,” and describes “how he cried to [him] for help” (Lines 92-93). Obviously, the bear has eaten Antigonus, and thus, and the character himself is lost. His demanding master and loyal wife will never see him again, much like the king believes he will never see his daughter again. In fact, simply because “fate… hath made thy person [Antigonus] for the thrower-out,” the man is punished (Lines 27-28).
Finally, if the baby is looked at as a metaphor for the first three acts of the play, the word “lost” also applies to the plot of the play itself. Thus far, the text has played out as a tragedy, with major characters such as Hermione and Mamillius dying. However, just after this point in the text, the play essentially switches from a tragedy to a comedy. Hermione even explains “Places remote enough are in Bohemia,” which indicates the switch in setting from Sicily to Bohemia, which occurs in the next scene (Line 30). “The babe,” or the sadness in the text, is “lost forever,” which makes way for Perdita to thrive (Line 31-32). The word “lost” can apply on a surface level to the baby, but can also be interpreted as describing the character Antigonus, or even the play itself.