The Winter's Tale

Hermione, annoyed by her son Mamillius, tells her ladies-in-waiting to take him away. He throws a tantrum that only stops when Hermione asks him to tell her a story. Leontes enters with several of his men, including his trusted friend Antigonus, and reveals what happened with Polixenes and Camillo, calling both traitors and suggesting they were plotting against his life. He separates Mamillius from Hermione and accuses her of adultery in front of all the lords and ladies. Though she knows he will not believe her, Hermione denies the accusation. Before Leontes sends her and her ladies-in-waiting to prison, she says all will feel foolish when they discover she is innocent. After Hermione is led away, all of the king’s men beg him to reconsider, vouching for the queen’s faithfulness—particularly Antigonus, who has a wife (Paulina) and three daughters and does not agree with Leontes’s belief that it is in women’s “nature” to be unfaithful. Leontes does not doubt himself but tells his men to go to the Oracle of Delphi (believed to deliver prophecies from the Greek god Apollo) to prove he is right, that Hermione is guilty of adultery.