SOURCE: "Jealousy in The Winter's Tale," in Alphonse Juilland: D'Une Passion L'Autre, edited by Brigitte Gazelles and René Girard, Anma Libri, 1987, pp. 39-62.

In the following essay, Girard interprets the jealousy of Leontes in terms of "mimetic desire, " suggesting that the motive for Leontes ' jealous behavior is based on his belief that he influenced Hermione to love Polixenes in a sort of imitation of his fondness for his friend.

The most monstrous jealousy in Shakespeare is not that of Othello but of Leontes, the hero of The Winter's Tale. With no villain at his side to poison his mind, the king of Sicilia comes close to destroying his entire family. His victims are completely innocent and selflessly devoted to him. This Othello without an Iago is Shakespeare's last representation of jealousy, his most uncompromising and, in my opinion, his greatest. But posterity has judged otherwise. Othello rather...