Leontes

He becomes obsessed with the belief that his wife has been having an affair with Polixenes, his childhood friend and King of Bohemia.

The daughter, Perdita, survives nonetheless when she is discovered in her basket on the coast of Bohemia by shepherds who adopt and raise her.

[1] His young son dies of grief at his mother's plight, and Hermione faints on hearing the news and is reported dead.

Literary critic Harold Bloom has called Leontes Shakespeare's finest representation of jealousy of the male heart.

[2] Actors who have given notable performances as Leontes include Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Henry Ainley, John Gielgud, Jeremy Irons, Patrick Stewart and Antony Sher.

An ink drawing of Act II, Scene iii of The Winter's Tale : Paulina implores Leontes to have mercy on his daughter, Perdita. Illustration was designed for an edition of Lamb's Tales, copyrighted 1918.