Exit, pursued by a bear
For anyone infatuated with textual issues, the stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear” is a real delight. It’s one of the few detailed stage directions in the Shakespeare corpus. Its presence in The Winter’s Tale also gives us access to some of the popular interests in the early modern period, including animal entertainments like bear-bating, in which dogs would be set upon a bear tethered to a post. (Note that such forms of entertainment are hardly behind us. During the Romantic period, for example, people enjoyed badger-baiting; and today, although it’s generally illegal, people engage in cock-fights and dog-fights.)
It also feels like a complete non sequitur, as there is no apparent need for a bear in The Winter’s Tale. One possible explanation is that the bear helps to signify “wilderness” on an otherwise sparsely adorned stage. Or perhaps this is an attempt only to entertain. Remember that plays haven’t always been considered “high art”; on the contrary, plays were generally thought of as worldly amusements, especially in Shakespeare’s day, and such extra trappings weren’t all that unusual. (Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, for example called for fireworks, which were to explode from the backside of Mephistophilis.)
Make of it what you will, this stage direction is fabulous. But don’t take my word for it, just ask Stephen Colbert!