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SCENE 1
Cleomines and Dion urge Leontes to stop grieving, to forget the past, and to move on. Indeed, they would have Leontes remarry and produce an heir so that Sicilia will be spared the prospect of a civil war (which will be assured if there is no heir as factions will surely vie for the crown). But Paulina begs to differ, arguing that Leontes will be defying the will of the gods, who have proclaimed that Leontes will be heirless if his lost daughter is not found, if he remarried and produced an heir; and moreover that Hermione's spirit will be in a state of unrest if he does remarry. Persuaded by Paulina
