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Leontes puts Hermione on trial.
When the oracle’s words proclaim
Hermione innocent, Leontes
declares the oracle false. Then
comes news that Mamillius, pining
for his mother, has died. Hermione
faints and is carried out. Paulina
tells Leontes bitterly that Hermione
is now also dead from the shock of
losing both her children. Leontes,
remorseful, sees this as a sign of
the gods’ wrath. Meanwhile,
Antigonus abandons the baby
(whom he calls Perdita) on the
shores of Bohemia, where she is
found by a Shepherd. Antigonus is
killed by a bear. Sixteen years later,
Polixenes talks with Camillo of his
son Florizel’s love for a shepherd
girl. They decide to go to a festival
incognito. On a country road, the
clown Autolycus sings of his way of
life. Perdita and Florizel (known to
Perdita as Doricles) appear dressed
in festival costume. At the festival,
Polixenes (in disguise) is charmed
by Perdita. But when “Doricles”
says that he will wed Perdita,
Polixenes threatens to disinherit
Florizel. Florizel decides to take a
ship, and Camillo tells him to go to
Sicily to make peace with Leontes.THE KING’S MAN
3.2
3.2 3.3 4.4
3.2 4.4 5.2
Hermione is put on
trial and the oracle
proclaims her
innocence.Leontes’s son
Mamillius dies,
followed shortly by
Hermione.The baby abandoned
by Antigonus and
named Perdita is
found by a
Shepherd.When Polixenes forbids his
son to marry a shepherd
girl, Florizel and Perdita
sail for Sicily.Leontes is deeply
remorseful and
promises to do
penance all his life.Sixteen years later,
Polixenes’s son
Florizel woos the
Shepherd’s
“daughter” Perdita.Perdita’s identity is
revealed to Leontes,
and Leontes and
Polixenes are
reconciled.5.3
A statue of the
long-dead Hermione
comes miraculously
to life and the tale
ends happily.Act 3 Act 4 Act 5
In Sicily, Leontes, still mourning
Hermione, vows never to remarry.
Florizel and Perdita arrive, bearing
Polixenes’s message of forgiveness.
Leontes is moved, but then comes
news that Polixenes has arrived in
Sicily. Autolycus reveals how Leontes
has found his long-lost daughter.
They all go to a chapel in Paulina’s
house to see a lifelike statue of
Hermione. Paulina orders the statue
to descend, and Hermione comes
alive miraculously. She embraces
Leontes, then finds that Perdita is
alive. All is forgiven, and Paulina
and Camillo are told to wed. ❯❯