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The opening scene of The Winters Tale— undramatic and usually omitted from performance—is puzzling. It consists of: A conversation between Archidamus, a lord of Bohemia and Camillo, a lord of Sicilia about the impending departure of Polixenes, King of Bohemia, after an extended stay at the court of Leontes, King of Sicilia; a planned return visit by Leontes to the court of Bohemia; the close relationship between the two kings—stemming from childhood; and the happiness of the Kingdom of Sicilia in the king's heir, the young prince Mamillius. Thus summarized, the scene appears easily comprehensible, giving necessary background material. But it is otherwise. The opening twenty lines, concerning the visit now ending and the future visit, tell us something far more important than these external facts:
Archidamus. If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia.
Camillo. I think this coming summer the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him.
Archidamus. Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves; for indeed—
Camillo. Beseech you—
Archidamus. Verily I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge: we cannot with such magnificence—in so rare—I know not what to say…. We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us.
Camillo. You pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely.
Archidamus. Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs me, and as mine honesty puts it to utterance. (I, i, 1-20)1
This is a pointed discussion. Archidamus is warning Camillo that his king, Polixenes, will not return the degree of Leontes' hospitality. The “great difference” between Sicilia and Bohemia is not in the landscape but in the nature of the entertainment offered. This is, surely, a peculiar note