The Winter's Tale: Act 1, Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

At Leontes’ court, Polixenes tells him that he must be getting back to Bohemia, as he has been in Sicilia for nine months. He thanks Leontes for his hospitality, and Leontes asks him to stay longer. Polixenes insists, “my affairs / Do even drag me homeward,” and Leontes tells his pregnant wife Hermione to persuade Polixenes to stay.

Hermione takes Polixenes aside and tries to persuade him to stay in Sicilia, but he keeps declining. She jokes that if he doesn’t agree to stay, she will have to keep him in Sicilia as a prisoner. Polixenes finally agrees to extend his stay. Hermione asks him about his childhood friendship with her husband Leontes, and Polixenes says they “were as twinned lambs that did frisk i’ th’ sun,” and were so innocent as small children they seemed even free from original sin. But, Polixenes says, they grew older, lost their innocence, and fell in love with their respective wives.

Leontes asks if Hermione has persuaded Polixenes to stay, and she says she has. Leontes marvels that she convinced Polixenes when he could not, and tells her, “thou never spok’st / To better purpose,” except when she pledged her love for him. Hermione and Polixenes hold hands briefly, and Leontes suddenly becomes upset. Turning aside and speaking to himself, he says that Polixenes and his wife appear too familiar, as if there is something romantic between them. He turns to Mamillius and asks if he is really the boy’s father.

Leontes doubts that he is Mamillius’ father, and is greatly troubled. Hermione and Polixenes ask him why he is upset, and he answers that he is fine, and that his son simply reminded him of himself when he was a young boy. He asks Polixenes if he is as fond of his son as Leontes is of Mamillius, and Polixenes answers that his son is “all my exercise, my mirth, my matter.”

Leontes tells Hermione to treat Polixenes well as a guest, and Hermione and Polixenes go off to a garden. Leontes is convinced that his wife is having an affair with Polixenes and laments that he is now a cuckold. He says that there are many men who don’t realize that their wives are unfaithful. He calls for Camillo, and sends Mamillius away.

Leontes thinks that everyone in his court knows about his wife’s infidelity, and asks Camillo if he saw how Polixenes was only persuaded to stay by Hermione. He asks Camillo why Polixenes agreed to stay in Sicilia, but Camillo doesn’t take Leontes’ hint. Leontes says that Camillo must be dishonest, or too cowardly to tell him the truth, or a negligent servant, or a fool. Camillo is confused and asks Leontes to clarify what he’s talking about. Leontes says that his wife is “slippery” and unfaithful to him. Camillo cannot believe this.

Leontes says that Polixenes and Hermione whisper together, lean “cheek to cheek,” and touch their noses together. They play together, “horsing foot on foot,” and “skulking in corners.” He sees all this as definitive proof of their affair. Camillo still doesn’t believe it, and tells Leontes to “be cured / Of this diseased opinion.” Leontes tells Camillo, “you lie, you lie,” thinking that his servant is keeping the truth from him.

Leontes asks Camillo to poison Polixenes. Camillo says he is willing to do this, but still refuses to believe that Hermione has been unfaithful to Leontes. Leontes angrily says that he would not tell Camillo she was unfaithful if he did not really believe it, as Hermione’s infidelity would cast doubt on whether he is really Mamillius’ father. Camillo agrees to kill Polixenes, but asks Leontes not to tell Hermione what he suspects and to act as though nothing is wrong between them, so as to prevent any rumors about her infidelity from spreading. Leontes agrees.

Leontes leaves, and Camillo examines his difficult position: if he is to obey his king, he “must be the poisoner / Of good Polixenes.” Thinking that no one who has murdered a king has ever “flourished after,” he decides that he must not obey Leontes. Polixenes enters and asks Camillo why Leontes seems so upset. Camillo says that he doesn’t know, but Polixenes continues to press him about the matter.

Camillo says that there is a “sickness” that has originated in Polixenes himself. Polixenes is confused, but Camillo says he cannot be more specific. Polixenes asks him to explain, and Camillo finally breaks down and says that he has been ordered to kill Polixenes, because Leontes is convinced that he has “touched his queen / Forbiddenly.” Polixenes is shocked and wishes that his blood would turn “to an infected jelly,” if this were true and that his name would be ranked alongside Judas for betrayal.

Camillo says that there is no oath Polixenes can make that will convince Leontes that he has not had an affair with Hermione. He asks Camillo where Leontes’ suspicion has come from, but Camillo doesn’t know. He advises Polixenes to flee Sicilia and says he will serve him instead of Leontes now. He promises that he is telling the truth and that Polixenes is really in danger.

Polixenes says he believes Camillo, because he saw Leontes’ contempt for him in his expression. He says that because Hermione is such a “precious creature,” Leontes’ jealousy will be great. He says that he is afraid for his safety, and he and Camillo leave, preparing to get out of Sicilia.