# Polixenes — The Winter’s Tale character guide

> Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** King Polixenes, Polixenes Soft, Polixenes This, Polixenes And, Polixenes Prithee, Exeunt Polixenes

**First appearance:** 0000-the-winter-s-tale

## Snapshot

Bohemia's king and Leontes' oldest friend, whose extended visit and easy manners are repaid with a murderous suspicion he never earned.

## Who they are

Polixenes arrives in Sicilia as a brother-king, trading fond memories of a shared boyhood and gently resisting Leontes' pleas to stay longer. Warned by Camillo of the plot against his life, he flees home, and years later turns his own watchful royal eye on his son's mysterious absences. His friendship with Leontes is the play's first casualty, and his later role as a father who cannot control his heir keeps the older generation's mistakes echoing into the next.

## Relationships

### [Florizel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/florizel)

_family_

Florizel is Polixenes' son, but they clash over Florizel's choice to marry a shepherdess.

### [Leontes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/leontes)

_friendship_

Leontes and Polixenes are childhood friends, but Leontes' paranoid jealousy nearly destroys their bond.

### [Hermione](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/hermione)

_friendship_

Hermione is a gracious host to Polixenes, but Leontes misinterprets their friendship as an affair.

### [Leontes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/leontes)

_friendship_

Leontes and Polixenes are childhood friends, but Leontes' paranoid jealousy nearly destroys their bond.

### [Florizel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/florizel)

_family_

Florizel is Polixenes' son, but they clash over Florizel's choice to marry a shepherdess.

### [Leontes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/leontes)

_friendship_

Leontes and Polixenes are childhood friends, but Leontes' paranoid jealousy nearly destroys their bond.

### [Hermione](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/hermione)

_friendship_

Hermione is a gracious host to Polixenes, but Leontes misinterprets their friendship as an affair.

## In the story

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-i-scene-ii)

Reluctantly agrees to extend his visit after Hermione's entreaties, becoming the object of Leontes' unfounded jealousy.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-ii-scene-i)

Referenced as the alleged lover and traitor who has escaped with Camillo.

### [Scene II: The Trial of Hermione](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-ii)

Mentioned as the alleged co-conspirator; declared blameless by the oracle.

### [Scene II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-ii)

Polixenes refuses Camillo's request to leave, still mourning his brother's losses, and expresses concern over Florizel's secret visits to a shepherd's home.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iv)

Disguised, he attends the sheep-shearing festival and questions Perdita about her views on nature and art.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Mentioned as having arrived in Sicilia to pursue Florizel and forbid his marriage.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/chapters/act-v-scene-iii)

Observes the statue and later witnesses Hermione's return, expressing amazement and seeking explanations.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters/polixenes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_winter_s_tale_se/characters