By the end of Act I of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, the audience is probably somewhat confused. On the surface it seems that we have gone from a pleasant dinner amongst old friends and loved ones, and then suddenly to sinister soliloquies of jealousy and suspicion, only to turn into plots of murder, and then betrayal, all in a single evening/act. There is no doubt that there would be those that are considerably confused by the turn of the events to this point in the show, and rightfully so. We are never quite given concrete evidence towards Leontes’ insane tantrum, but it is possible to sew together a few threads of evidence that would explain his sudden change of mood, that is…if it really is sudden.
While Leontes’s change seems sudden, it is important to note that throughout the entirety of the more charming moments of the beginning of the play that contain a sense of levity, much of the light and gleeful dialogue is exchanged between Hermione and Polixenes exclusively, without Leontes saying anything that rises to the other two’s playful banter. It is important to note that during Hermione and Polixenes’ playful banter, Leontes gives very short responses, allowing him to stew in his own jealousy and anguish.
“Stay your thanks a while, and pay them when you part” (1.2.8-9).
“We’ll part the time between’s, then; and in that I’ll no gainsaying” (1.2.17-18).
“Tongue-tied our queen? Speak you” (1.2.27).
And a very simple, “Well said, Hermione” (1.2.33)”, after a long and impassioned speech that she delivers.
I also find it somewhat difficult to believe that Leontes would concur up all of these assumptions all at once simply because Hermione was able to convince Polixenes to stay, when he himself was not able to.
“O my most sacred lady, Temptations have since then been born to’s. For in those unfledged days was my wife a girl; Your precious self had then not crossed the eyes of my young playfellow” (1.2.77-79).
Not to mention the fact that it is suspicious that Polixenes would seek to leave Sicily so hurredly at the point in which Hermione is about to give birth, nine months after he arrived for his visit. It is also suspicious that Leontes would want Polixenes to stay for even longer, when he as a king is aware of the duties that Polixenes must return to.This, and Leontes’ language all points to him having already buried Polixenes’ friendship in his own mind. The theory that he is simply losing his mind is still a valid one, and both theories are perhaps not mutually exclusive to each other.
I think in our discussion we accepted the notion that there was no precedent in this scene for where Leontes would end up or what he would conclude, buy you make a great case for why that may not be true. On second examination, it does feel like Leontes is being short with Polixenes and Hermione while the two of them do more of the chatting. This issue is not revisited again in the later chapters, but maybe you are right that Leontes did not convince himself of an affair in his monologue in the first act. It is possible by the way he acts in the rest of the scene that he may have suspected it for a long time and was just coming to act on it here. Like you say, the parameters of Polixenes’ visit may have caused him to be suspicious, it does not all have to derive from the way Hermione speaks with him when convincing him to stay. I believe that this would be evidence against Leontes being mad, only because he did not snap to this conclusion only withing this scene.
I agree that we have to assume that despite all the friendly banter to start the play, Leontes must have been already thinking about this beforehand in order for it to be realistic. It’s definitely worth noting that many of Leontes lines are short and almost insincere, and when we watched part of Act I in class it was even clearer through the acting that those short lines have a certain intention, that Leontes is playing the role of an observer in this scene. I think the theory that he already has this affair in his mind, and that he’s already looking for confirmation of that in this very first scene makes the most sense. It acts as a pivotal change in the story, but it happens as early as the second scene, literally the first time we see the characters. Seems kind of experimental on Shakespeare’s part, but I think it works in getting the audience to question what they’re watching.