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Paulina is a Sicilian noblewoman who is married to one of King Leontes’s trusted men, Antigonus. From her very first appearance in act 2, scene 2, Paulina reveals herself to be a shrewd and defiant woman. When a guard refuses her entry to see the imprisoned queen, Paulina easily changes tack and asks to speak with one of Hermione’s handmaidens. From there, she concocts a brilliant plan to bring the newborn child before the king, hoping to draw him from his madness. Though the plan doesn’t end up working, Paulina boldly goes toe to toe with the king, openly condemning him for his unjust treatment of his wife. Despite the king’s outraged response, it’s clear that Paulina’s words make a deep impression on him. When the scene shifts back to Sicilia in the play’s final act, Paulina is still punishing Leontes for his unjust actions, and now he accepts her harsh words more readily. Yet for all her righteous anger, Paulina ultimately proves to be Leontes’s salvation. After making him promise never to remarry unless she expressly allows it, she stages Hermione’s miraculous transformation from a stone likeness back into living flesh. Leontes rewards her by betrothing her to Camillo, effectively ending the long period of mourning she’s sustained for her late husband.
