The Winter's Tale

Leontes is the King of Sicilia and the protagonist of The Winter’s Tale. At the beginning of the play, he is close with Polixenes, the King of Bohemia, whom he has known since he was a child. He also appears to be a caring husband to his wife Hermione and a proud father to his son Mamillius. The noblemen in Leontes’s kingdom admire him, and the Bohemians who visit are impressed by his hospitality. However, his charming appearance contrasts with his inner thoughts. He is revealed to be jealous and impulsive when he becomes suspicious of Hermione and Polixenes’s relationship and attempts to have Polixenes murdered and arrests Hermione. Leontes is also unwilling to accept his daughter as his daughter, and he cannot decide whether he wants the baby to be banished or murdered.

Leontes is unwilling to listen to anyone but himself, which further fuels his destruction. He denies people he would normally trust and accuses them of lying when they say anything that goes against his belief in his wife and friend’s supposed affair. Though he softens when Camillo and Antigonus vouch for Hermione—refusing to publicly shame her upon Camillo’s request and enlisting the Oracle of Delphi after Antigonus’s pleas—Leontes does not budge when women like Hermione and Paulina confront him with the truth.