Griffin 1

Leontes Quest for KnowledgeA journey is a hallmark of the romance form. The great heroes travel to distant lands. Along the way, they escape from prisons or sirens, fight monsters, dragons, or possibly windmills, and accomplish impossible, perilous tasks. Eventually, they return home, often wiser, transformed. Odysseus, Siegfried, Beowulf, Lancelot, Sir Gawain, Don Quixoteeven Frodogo somewhere. The main character in Shakespeares romance The Winters Tale, Leontes, does not travel. His own palace in Sicilia is the setting for nearly every scene in which he appears. And no monsters or creatures from the deep appear to challenge and fight him. The peril he faces is created within his own mind. He does go on a journey, though not physically, and he does return to himself, transformed. Shakespeare adds his own twist to the required journey in the romance form, tasking his hero Leontes on an exploration of the quest for knowledge. Leontes describes his quest with the lament, I have drunk, and seen the spider (2.1.47). It is clear he wishes he hadnt seen the spider, and hes certain that even if he hadnt seen it, still it existed. What makes him certain? If I hadnt known the storyline, I wonder if at first Id have been on Leontes side, because Shakespeare does give clues in the text supporting this reasoning. When Hermiones persuades Polixenes to stay in Sicilia, their conversation has definite sexual overtones. Polixenes reminisces on his boyhood and says he and Leontes were innocent and knew no evil, and would still be in the Garden of Eden, having tasted no sin. Hermiones answers, By this we gather / You have tripped since (1.2.77-8). Also, she is very quickly successful in persuading Polixenes, in contrast to the three months Leontes wooed her; obviously this bothers him. When Leontes interprets Hermiones friend to mean lover, Shakespeare is playing with the problem of communication using language, a medium with multiple possible meanings. Perhaps Leontes is not completely irrational. The ultimate unknowable in his world was in fact the progeny of a child. Whatever his reasons, Leontes is forced to confront the spider he has swallowed. His quest has begun. His first step is to prove his new knowledge to himself by sending Hermione and Polixenes off to walk together while he stays behind and observes them. Unfortunately, he interprets every gesture, every smile between his wife and friend to be full of double meaning, sinister and certain. But how can he possibly think differently? His mind has already been primed to assume the worst. Attempting to find truth as an individual utterly fails.Leontes then moves on to a loyal friend, Camillo, and privately begs him to say the words that will prove him right: Sayt and justifyt (1.2.280). Camillo is shocked and at first attempts to reason with Leontes. Facing his objections, Leontes plays lawyer, ticking off his evidence: whispers, cheek to cheek, meeting noses (1.2.286-7). His greatest proof, however, is still his own understanding, which he tries to explain to Camillo in his speech about nothing. If he cant trust what he sees and experiences, Why then the world and all thats int is nothing (1.2.295). His frustration aside, Leontes is going in circles on his journey quest. He refuses to listen to Camillo, relying instead on his own perception, which has already led him astray. Finally, Camillo says, I must believe you, sir (1.2.325). He hasnt been convinced, but must appear to believe the king. When Camillo flees with Polixenes, this is further proof for Leontes to doubt himself, but instead he interprets this betrayal as conclusive evidence of the reality of his spider. The next stop on his journey for truth is the public sphere. Leontes accuses Hermione directly and very publicly: for tis Polixenes / Has made thee swell thus (2.1.63-64). He wants his lords on his side. Antigonus appeals to his own emotions in an attempt to change Leontes mind: when I feel and see her (2.1.138). Emotion is one way to apprehend knowledge, and we must rely on it constantly. The problem here is that Leontes feelings are leading him through a maze, and he thinks his only choice is to follow; he wont trust anothers emotional appeal. At first, his lords share Camillos initial reaction: shock and denial, but Leontes is king, and they must obey, just as Camillo must believe. While Antigonus assumes someone has lied to Leontes, there is no villain here. Shakespeare seems to be commenting on a problem of an infallible ruler. If Leontes were not the king, surely his friends would push harder, demand actual evidence, help him see hes completely crazy. But dont we all appoint ourselves king of our own experiences? If we cant trust our eyes and our emotions, what then? Utterly rejecting Antigonus emotional appeal, Leontes insists that while Antigonus feels with a dead mans nose (2.1.154) he feels far stronger, as clear as fingers touching. Antigonus sums up the problem:If it be so,We need no grave to bury honesty;Theres not a grain of it the face to sweetenOf the whole dungy earth (2.1.156-59).The word honesty is used here in the sense of truth. At this point, as Leontes backtracks once again to trust only his own experience, relying even more than before on his powerful instincts, all is lost. Leontes has crossed the elusive line into insanity. Up to this point, Leontes has been attempting to discover truth. Now, however, he is captured by the dragon of his mind and stops looking. Everything, no matter how ridiculous, is interpreted to support his delusion. Paulina has the good idea to bring Perdita, who clearly looks like Leontes. She hopes to convince Leontes of the truth with his own eyes, one of the most basic senses. Her plan gets around the unreliability of language, as she explains: The silence often of pure innocence / Persuades when speaking fails (2.2.43-44). But Leontes refuses to even look at the baby, insisting on keeping his delusions. When he hears the news of Mamillius illness, instead of making the simple assumption that his son has grown ill because of the stress behind the situation Leontes has caused himself, he interprets the fact instead as evidence of Hermiones dishonor. But he does change his mind about having Perdita killed. He hasnt yet crossed into insanity completely; he is unwilling to destroy the possibility of questioning the existence of his spider. He states: I am a feather for each wind that blows (2.3.154). The decision to abandon the baby to fate is exactly the middle ground, leaving open all possibilities. Leontes is still on his journey; madness hasnt overwhelmed him yet. While waiting for the messengers to return from the oracle at Delphos, Leontes moves on to the court. It is quickly clear that truth will not be found here, only judgment. Hermione tries to appeal to past memories, to help Leontes remember how he felt: I appeal / To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes / Came to your court how I was in your grace (3.2.43-45). But Leontes refuses to hear. Hermiones, always gracefully accepting the hand fate deals her, requests divine judgment, which of course, in the plainest, clearest, most understandable language, vindicates her. But Leontes refuses to believe even the oracle. Divine power does not have the strength to convince Leontes to question his own experience.Shakespeare gives his audience very little time to comprehend that Leontes will not listen to the oracle. When the messenger appears with the news of Mamillius death, Leontes journey is done. Paulina, the truth-bringer, tells him, Look down / and see what death is doing (3.2.146-47). Immediately, Leontes completes his journey and recognizes knowledge: I have too much believed my own suspicion (3.2.149). Death, final and definitive, even for kings, brings him out of his web. Truth is revealed, and in a rush, Leontes makes yet another list, this time not of evidence of his spider, but an itemization of all he must do to make amends. Leontes journey ends in Act 3. He has returned to himself, as all heroes of romance. Shakespeare doesnt end his play here, because he is interested in not only the quest, but also the consequences. Leontes is transformed; he sees with new eyes. And he must face the realities caused by his journey. Unlike Homer, who ends his story when Odysseus returns to Persephone, Shakespeare gives his audience a view into the world of consequences and amendment. Leontes appears to stay trapped, grieving over the graves of his wife and son, for sixteen years. Frozen like Hermiones statue, he has truth, but the cost of his quest has been high.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Winters Tale. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition. Norton Anthology. 2nd ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus. Vol. 2. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. Print.