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Leontes is the king of Sicilia. Though he begins the play as a tyrannical figure associated with the tragic mode, he ends the play a penitent man whose genuine contrition enables him a happy ending. In the early acts of the play, Leontes shows himself to be a rather emotionally unstable ruler. As a nine-month visit from King Polixenes of Bohemia draws to a close, Leontes becomes inexplicably taken by a jealous fantasy that his childhood friend has been sleeping with his wife, Hermione. Leontes can’t substantiate the charge of adultery. Nonetheless, he remains so stubborn that he ignores the strenuous disagreement from members of his court, and he even refuses to believe the Delphic oracle’s pronouncement of Hermione’s innocence. The king’s hubris ultimately leads to the death of his wife and son, and to the disappearance of his daughter. These tragic events finally awaken Leontes from his madness, and he spends the next sixteen years in deep penitence for his wrongdoing. Having sufficiently suffered for his sins, Leontes is rewarded, in the final act, with the return of his long-lost daughter and the seemingly miraculous resurrection of his beloved wife.
