Based on Robert Greene’s story Pandosto, the play tells the story of Leontes, king of Sicilia, and his childhood friend, Polixenes, king of Bohemia. In a jealous rage, Leontes mistakenly accuses Polixenes and his own his wife, Hermione, of adultery and her newborn daughter as illegitimate, casting her into the wilderness, causing their son to die of grief and Hermione to seemingly follow suit. With his family dead or believed dead, Leontes must face the tragic consequences of his actions. With unbridled honesty and the pain of love, the final act is one of Shakespeare’s most moving reconciliation scenes.


此劇本取材自羅伯特．格林撰寫的《潘朵斯托》，訴說西西里國王萊昂特斯 (Leontes) 以及波希米亞國王波利克賽斯尼 (Polixenes) 的故事。兩人是兒時的玩伴，由於忌妒心作祟，萊昂特斯胡亂指控波利克賽斯尼和他的妻子赫奧米爾妮 (Hermione) 私通，並懷疑她剛生下的女嬰根本不是自己的孩子。於是萊昂特斯將妻子驅逐到荒野，他們的兒子為此悲痛致死，赫奧米爾妮後來似乎也因過度悲傷死去。隨著家人相繼去世或者可能離世，萊昂特斯必須回頭面對自己造成的悲劇後果。劇中角色毫不保留的率真情感與愛情帶來的傷痛，使本劇的最後一幕成為莎士比亞復合劇情中最動人的橋段。