states the difference between himself and Polixenes, this is an example of a much repeated
symptom of his madness, he only hears what he wants to hear.
The speed with which Leontes’ mind becomes ‘infected’ (as Leontes himself describes
the madness) is so great that it has lead some critics ( F.R. Leavis in particular) to believe that
Shakespeare thought it unnecessary to have reasons for Leontes’ madness, that it is there
merely to help the plot. It has been argued that his madness is that of a fairy tale, he is poisoned
and transformed into a wicked tyrant but when the poison is spent he once again becomes a
good man. This theory is mainly based in the disbelief that a seemingly rational and friendly man
would not suddenly (and with no reason) become jealous of his wife and oldest friend.
But Leontes is not in reality that good a friend or that understanding a husband. His
relationship with Polixenes is not very close, they knew each as boys but since then they have
only kept in contact through ‘interchange of gifts’ and ‘letters’. Polixenes is nostalgic and his
memory has been slightly impaired by this, what pair of young boys really behave like ‘twinn’d
lambs that did frisk i’ th’ sun’? Now they behave with feigned fondness, in Act 1 Scene 2
Leontes attempts to make Polixenes stay with such vigour not because of any great friendship
but because he wants to excel as a host. Polixenes feels uncomfortable and ‘in debt’ to Leontes
in a way he would not if they were true friends.
He also seems to not be able to understand Hermione. This is shown well by the story
of their courtship, Hermione made Leontes wait ‘three crabbed months’ before she told him: ‘I
am yours forever.’ Leontes still seems to hold a grudge and does not see the compliment,
Hermione waited till she was completely sure that she would be faithful to him forever. This lack
of understanding leads to a lack of trust, could he ever possibly believe her guilty of adultery if
he understood her character.
Perhaps the most important element of Leontes madness not taken into account by
those whose believe the reasons for it are irrelevant, is the sheer power of sexual jealousy.
Leontes describes his emotions by saying ‘my heart dances,’ it is as if the jealousy has a
physical affect on him Once the suspicion enters his mind the jealousy begins to take control of
him and we see it warping his mind. Given a little time to observe Polixenes and Hermione
together he starts to view all their actions as if they were lovers. A ‘smile’ or a ‘sigh’ from
Hermione seems to him to be the ultimate treachery, and takes normal words such as ‘satisfy’ to
be obscene euphemisms. In the space of one scene he becomes certain of the existence of the
affair and we see his language breaking down, he repeats himself, contradicts himself (‘we must
be neat; not neat’), questions himself (‘may’t be?’, ‘how can this be?’, his sentences are
unstructured and become difficult to read and arduous to listen to. This proceeds to the point
where his words seem to be the ravings of a madman: ‘inch-thick, knee deep, o’er head and
ears a fork’d one’, the emphasis on ‘thick’, ‘deep’ and fork’d’ make the line sound very
sinister.
To some degree it seems that his madness is self-inflicted, the more he thinks about it
the more convinced he becomes. His madness causes him to hurt those people closest to him
and so we can see that the destruction that he perpetrates, is to a large extent self-destruction.
After all as in Mamillius’ story Leontes’ life for the next sixteen years will be ‘a sad tale’ of
‘winter’ about a man who dwells ‘by a churchyard.’
The extent of Leontes’ madness is shown by certain actions, the first being the
separation of Mamillius from his mother in Act 2 Scene 1. The second act begins with a very
pleasant domestic scene, Hermione and her ladies in waiting playing with her young son, but
when Leontes arrives he orders that someone ‘Bear the boy hence’ and take his wife ‘to
prison,’ quite physically tearing mother and son apart. What makes Leontes’ act so terrible is
the disregard for the emotions of his son whom he supposedly ‘so fond’ of. Leontes is so
blinded by his anger that, unlike Polixenes, his son no longer ‘cures’ ‘thoughts that would thick
(his) blood’.
It is not only Mamillius who fails to calm his father in the way children often do in
literature, his new-born daughter Perdita also has little effect on him. Paulina, faithful friend to
the queen, brings the baby to him in an attempt ‘to purge him of that humour.’ There is the idea
that Leontes mind is diseased and that it would only take something that forced him to
remember his life before the madness to cure him. But Paulina is unsuccessful, with an alarming
lack of compassion and ignoring the fact that Perdita is the ‘copy of the father’, he orders her to
be abandoned in some ‘remote and desert place’. This is a man ‘without…mercy’.
But Leontes’ worst act and the one which seals his destruction comes during Act 3
Scene 2, the court room scene. It is terrible enough that Leontes charges his innocent wife with
adultery and conspiracy to regicide, does not listen to her proud, defiant eloquence (which is in
sharp contrast to his own confused ranting) when she states that ‘life can be no commodity’ to
her without his ‘favour’, but there is worse to come. Leontes sent two subjects to Apollo’s
oracle at Delphos and when they return with a ’seal’d-up Oracle’ it is read aloud proving that:
‘Hermione is chaste; Polixenes blameless’ and ‘Camillo a true subject’. But Leontes flies in the
face of the Gods and defies the oracle, showing his overpowering insanity and blindness to the
truth. It is this action which results in his punishment of a dead son and lost wife. He repents
immediately but it is too late, he must live with the consequences of his actions.
