The Winter’s Tale explores the idea of how misogynistic behavior is normalized within society, and how men’s socialization to mistreatment women can often lead to unnecessary turmoil. Women have often been characterized in movies and in literature as emotional, highly combative, and manipulative. However, The Winter’s Tale lifts the veil on these misogynistic stereotypes by revealing how men are the ones who are generally encouraged to exhibit this type of behavior. Hermoine is forced to navigate around the aggressive actions of her male counterparts, and Leontes still cannot trust her even though she abides by the patriarchal standards in her society. She speaks when she is asked to, she obeys all of her husband’s requested actions, and pleasantly entertains his friends. Leontes’s mistreatment of Hermoine is prevalent at the very beginning, he even states, “Tongue-tied, our queen? Speak you” (1.2.28). He is implying that she talks too much and that he should be in control of when she speaks. He even declares, “speak you,” as if he is giving her an order (1.2.28). He also seems to be arguing that she is not a good speaker, which is clearly not true, since she proves herself to be a very eloquent and articulate speaker throughout the play. Women are often forced to manage the sexist feelings of the men around them, and that behavior often upholds the patriarchy itself. In many ways Hermoine seems to be the perfect wife, since she abides by her husband’s wishes and entertains his friends, even in the burdening state of pregnancy. All of her efforts to please her husband are futile, and the play reveals how misogynistic values are so ingrained into men that even if the perfect wife cannot prevent men from mischaracterizing women. Leontes’s misogyny is clearly revealed when he states, “And his pond fish’d by his next neighbour, by Sir Smile, his neighbour” (1.2.193). Leontes’s is making derogatory statements about his wife, and he is dehumanizing her by imagining her to be an inanimate object that exists only for men. Even in our society today the violent language that men have used against women has been labeled as “locker-room talk,” when in actuality those are male spaces that advocate and normalize violent misogyny. Leontes has been socialized into society to be a misogynist, which becomes clear when he makes wide generalizations about the behavior of women. He states, “And many a man there is, even at this present, / Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm, / That little thinks she has been sluiced in’s absence…Whiles other men have gates and those gates open’d, / As mine, against their will” (1.2.191-97). It seems outrageous to assume that Leontes imagined up these generalizations of women, and I think it could be argued that Leontes’s ideas about women have been ingrained in him for his whole life. He does not trust his wife, and that is  because he lives in a society where men are encouraged to doubt and mistreat women. Leontes feels confident in boldly stating that his wife is promiscuous, and his ingrained values help him to solidify his accusations against his wife. Leontes’s behavior makes me think of Emilia’s speech, where she analyzes and critiques the intricacies of the patriarchal society she lives in. She states, “But I do think it is their husbands’ faults / If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties, / And pour our treasures into foreign laps; / Or else break out in peevish jealousies, / Throwing restraint upon us. Or say they strike us, / Or scant our former having in despite” (4.3.81-86). Emilia notes that women are not prone to infidelity, and that the isolated instances of infidelity are often due to the fact that women are forced to escape the violent constraints of men. Emilia’s speech, and Leontes’s actions, prove how society socializes people to think about women a certain way. The perpetuation of violent misogyny is due to the fact that men, and sometimes even women, do not question the societal understandings of women. The lack of interrogation into generally accepted ideas about people often leads to oppression, violent mistreatment, and outright turmoil. The Winter’s Tale proves to audiences that they must always question their standard beliefs about people, and  to also reconsider how those assumptions can cause actual harm to people in society.