The Winter's Tale

The overarching theme of The Winter’s Tale is the destruction caused by jealousy, as it sets the plot in motion. Jealousy rules Leontes for three acts. To all but him, his jealousy is baseless, yet Leontes is stubborn in his beliefs and refuses to listen to his advisors when they tell him Hermione and Polixenes are innocent. Moreover, it is never made clear whom Leontes is truly jealous of. At times, he raves over Hermione’s supposed infidelity, “the boldness of a wife” (1.2.271), suggesting he is jealous of her warmth toward the man he calls “our brother” (1.2.258). Yet, Leontes’s love for Polixenes is also made clear, opening up the possibility of him being jealous of his warmth toward Hermione. Leontes’s first aside comes after Hermione convinces Polixenes to stay in Sicilia despite his own failed entreaties.

The consequences of Leontes’s jealousy are almost immediate, beginning in the same scene as his suspicion of his wife and best friend’s relationship. He is unwilling to believe Camillo, who vouches for Hermione, despite telling him “​​I have trusted thee, Camillo, / With all the nearest things to my heart […] I from thee departed / Thy penitent reform’d: but we have been / Deceived in thy integrity, deceived / In that which seems so” (1.