Chapter Sources of The Winter's Tale - Study Guide by William Shakespeare

coincidence but on supernatural intervention: the Oracle, and Antigonus' dream are relatively minor compared to Jupiter's descent in Cymbeline or the goddess Diana appearing to Pericles in a dream. The characters themselves are relatively ineffectual compared to providence. Also common to the romances are the themes of jealousy, reconciliation and forgiveness, time and the growth and decay associated with it, and fortune's variability, often symbolised by the sea.