Autolycus, a rogue. That is what the list of characters before The Winter's Tale says, anyway. So here lies the question- what on earth does an Elizabethan rogue look like?
The man is masquerading as a merchant of nick-nacks and trifles, yet goes about picking pockets and swindling swains during and after business hours. What would a such a man look like, who walked about the country singing "Jog on jog on"? Worn, wrinkled, brown, cunning, and...merry. Yes, merry. If he wasn't merry why would he sing a duet with a shepherdess? Needless to say, Autolycus is a fascinating character, and, though I often tend to spend most my time on what my figures wear, I think I will need to focus hard on the face for this one, then dress him in something vague and cover him with trinkets and bird cages and ribbons and rolls of old song sheets...
In short, details, details, details! Just thinking about him makes me want to sing--
"Jog on jog on the foot path way,
and merrily hent the stile-a.
Your merry heart goes all the day,
but your sad one tires in a mile-a."
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