The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare, is an

When Leontes becomes convinced thatHermione and Polixenes are having an affair, he complains that an unfaithfulwife has been the qualm of many men: There have been,Or I am much deceived, cuckolds ere now;And many a man there is, even at this present,Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm,That little thinks she has been sluiced in’s absenceAnd his pond fish’d by his next neighbour, bySir Smile, his neighbour: (I.ii. 239-244) Leontes makes a metaphor comparing women to ponds that could be”fish’d” by any other man, unbeknownst to the owner of the pond. In thismetaphor, Leontes makes it clear that he sees women, wives in this case, asbeing the property of their husbands. He sees women as inanimate objects thatneed to be guarded by even those a man would consider friends. In this case SirSmile probably refers to Polixenes since Leontes believes that his friendshipis just a facade because he is having an affair with Leontes’ wife. Later whencomplaining to Camillo, Leontes says “My wife’s a hobby-horse, deserves a name/ As rank as any flax-wench that puts to / Before her troth-plight: say’t andjustify’t.

” (I.ii 338-340) In this statement Leontes compares Hermione to ananimal, because he now sees her as a creature unable to control her basestimpulses. He also compares her to a “flax-wench,” that is to say that she isnot deserving of her title and that she is no better than a common low-classworking girl.

37-42) Hermione cannot believe that even though she slept at the KingLeontes’ side for many years she is still being treated like a common criminal.She also brings up her status as the daughter of a king and the mother to thefuture king. She is incredulous to the fact that she has to defend her life andher honor to whoever cares to listen. Hermione maintains her honor throughoutthe scene and refuses to give in to Leontes’ constant jabs. Although it mighthave been easier on her to lie and pretend to be remorseful, Hermione decidesto stand up for herself, “More than mistress of /Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not / At allacknowledge.

” Hermione admits that she is not perfect but her pride is toostrong to acknowledge faults that are not hers. Leontes is furious that hecannot get Hermione to confess and retorts, “As you were past all shame,— /Those of your fact are so—so past all truth…” By that he meansthat like all unfaithful women without shame, she is also without any truth.