Act 2 scene 1 of the Winter's tale : Video analysis

Hermione sits with her ladiesin waiting and Mamillius, her son. He is mischievous and charming. Leontes enters with Antigonus and various lords. They are telling him about the flight of Camillo and Polixenes, and their news makes Leontes feel certain that his suspicions were correct. He now believes that Camillo was a double agent working for Polixenes. He has Mamillius taken from Hermione, and he cruelly insults Hermione in front  of the lords and Hermione's ladies. He says that she has committed adultery, and Hermione bears his insults with dignity. When he tells her that she is to be put in prison, she insists that her ladies accompany her because she is pregnant and needs their help. The lords weep as she is escorted out, and she tells them that they would have reason to weep if she were guilty; for the innocent, suffering leads to grace. She brings her women with her as she goes to her prison.

Antigonus tries  to make Leontes reconsider his suspicions. He declares absolute faith in the queen's virtue, but Leontes remains unconvinced. From Leontes' point of view, the truth of the matter is apparent, and he seeks no counsel from his men in determining whether or not his suspicions are correct, he has been even more convinced by Camillo's flight. The king announces that he has sent messengers to Apollo's oracle at Delphos to ask about the queen's fidelity. Although he has no doubt as to what the answer will be, the oracle will at least put the minds of his subjects at ease.


Act 2 opens with the peaceful scene of the prince playing with his mother and the ladies-in-waiting. The charm and happiness of the moment makes the contrast with the jealousy of Leontes all the more jarring. Shakespeare is giving us a glimpse of the normal pattern of their family life, which invites greater sympathy for the queen and prince and gives us a sense of what Leontes is destroying.
Leontes' delusions isolate him from his family and his court. He removes his wife and son from his company, and he continues to believe strongly in Hermione's infidelity even though everyone at court thinks the idea is ridiculous. He is completely alone in his suspicions, insisting on them most violently when someone at court tries to contradict him. These scenes reveal a king who is withdrawing further and further into his own paranoia. He interprets Camillo's flight with Polixenes as conclusive proof of his suspicions, ignoring the fact that if Camillo, Hermione, and Polixenes were innocent Camillo would do exactly the same thing.