Act I
King Leontes of Sicilia and King Polixenes of Bohemia are childhood friends and the play opens with Polixenes about to return home after a nine-month visit to his dear friend's court. Although Polixenes is anxious to go home, King Leontes asks his friend to stay. When Polixenes insists on going back to his court in Bohemia, Leontes asks his wife, Queen Hermione, to persuades Polixenes to stay longer.
Her successful intervention leads Leontes to fear that his pregnant wife has been unfaithful to him with Polixenes. Leontes even begins to believe that his son, Prince Mamillius, is not really his. He arranges for Camillo (his trusted advisor) to poison Polixenes but the nobleman warns King Polixenes of the murder plot and Camillo and Polixenes are able to escape together.
Act II
Leontes unjustly thinks that his wife is guilty of treason, believing that she had an affair with Polixenes and that the child she is carrying is not his. Leontes imprisons Hermione and bars Prince Mamillius from seeing his mother. Queen Hermione delivers a baby girl early, and the Prince grows ill, separated from his mother and sickening at the rumors about her.
Paulina, a noblewoman and attendant to the Queen, brings the newborn daughter to her father, hoping to soften his heart. Paulina notes how much the baby looks like Leontes, but the King flies into a rage - threatening to kill both Paulina and the baby. Leontes chastises Paulina's husband Antigonus, insisting that he should have better control of his wife. Hopeful the King will accept his daughter, Paulina leaves the baby with her husband and Leontes. Instead, Leontes vows to kill the child. At the King's command, Antigonus agrees to take the baby away from Sicilia and leave her in a clearing to see if anyone will care for the child.
The nobles of Sicilia all firmly believe in Queen Hermione's innocence, so Leontes sends Cleomenes, a nobleman from his court, to consult the Oracle of Delphi about the recent events. Leontes is sure that the Oracle will proclaim Hermione's unfaithfulness and declare that the baby he sent away was a bastard.