Shakespeare's late romances
William Shakespeare's final plays form a distinct group known as the late romances. This category includes Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Cymbeline; The Winter's Tale; and The Tempest. Scholars sometimes add The Two Noble Kinsmen to this list, noting that Shakespeare co-wrote it with John Fletcher. These works were composed between approximately 1603 and 1614. Edward Dowden first applied the term "romances" to these specific plays in his 1877 book Shakspere. Before Dowden, editors like John Heminges and Henry Condell listed The Tempest and The Winter's Tale simply as comedies in the First Folio of 1623. They classified Cymbeline as a tragedy while omitting Pericles entirely from that collection. Modern critics generally prefer labels like romance or tragicomedy over simple comedy. These plays differ from early Shakespearean comedies by relying on grand themes rather than specific moments. They feature older men prominently alongside young lovers who are not central to the plot. A redemptive plotline unites long-separated family members at the end of each story.
The reign of James I significantly influenced the development of these late plays. Elizabeth I had enjoyed watching tragedies, but James I preferred romances after ascending to the throne in 1603. Shakespeare's company changed its name from the Lord Chamberlain's Men to the King's Men following this transition. The group performed up to two new plays per week during this period. Audiences at the Blackfriars playhouse were generally upper class due to high admission costs. This sophisticated crowd expected works leaning toward aesthetics and culture. Shakespeare adjusted character ages because his actors themselves were aging. The King's Men occupied the Blackfriars theater starting in the second half of 1608 after it had been closed for several years. Local residents had previously objected to the venue, causing its shutdown. Shakespeare retired to Stratford after completing The Tempest, which he wrote about five years before his death. His health was impaired during this final phase of his career.
Directors face significant technical challenges when attempting to realize the required magical and scenic elements. Pericles productions often require storms at sea or opulent interior scenery. Samuel Phelps created a storm effect in 1854 using rowers manning oars while a panorama moved behind them. Henry Irving staged Cymbeline with elaborate Celtic sets for palace gardens and Roman banqueting halls in 1896. A handsomely decorated bedchamber appeared for Imogen alongside a spectacular dream setting for Jupiter's descent. Ben Greet chose a simple Elizabethan approach instead at The Old Vic in 1918. Trevor Nunn cast John Nettles as both Time and the bear in 1976. Terry Hands used a bearskin rug that rose off the ground to chase Antigonus away at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1986. William Charles Macready featured a huge fully rigged sea vessel in 1842 at Covent Garden. Robert Falls set The Tempest on a cruise ship in 1987 where passengers played shuffleboard until disaster struck.
Scholars debate whether these plays reflect Shakespeare's psychological state, aging process, or simply a deliberate shift toward tragicomedy. Edward Dowden suggested Shakespeare suffered from depression when writing his tragedies before creating the romances. Sir Edmund Chambers proposed he experienced a breakdown during Timon of Athens. Clifford Leech viewed the works as infected by fantastical puritanism stemming from personal revulsion from sex. D G James believed Shakespeare ran out of poetic energy as he aged. Raphael Lyne argues it is impossible to show Shakespeare managed his career to this extent. Some scholars believe the late plays deal with faith and redemption while rewarding virtue over vice. G. Wilson Knight argued these romances embody Shakespeare's greatest achievement alongside high tragedies. Harold Bloom stated that The Winter's Tale shows Shakespeare returning to full talent and genius with full force. Catherine Alexander suggests the plays reflected the fact that actors themselves were older rather than being autobiographical regarding Shakespeare's advancing age.
Shakespeare's romances were influenced by two major developments in early seventeenth-century theatre. John Fletcher initiated innovations in tragicomedy developed through Beaumont and Fletcher collaborations. These plays made pretence at grave stuff but invariably provided happy endings with light entertainment. Shakespeare's romances are more sharply tragicomic than his earlier comedies. Threats of death and scenes of suffering appear more acute in these later works. Encounters with the supernatural become direct and emphatic compared to previous plays. Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones staged extreme elaboration of courtly masques during the same period. Key scenes in the late romances relate closely to court masques. They embrace visual magnificence but also acknowledge shallowness of such display. The romances feature pre-Christian masque-like figures like Jupiter in Cymbeline. Goddesses summoned by Prospero in The Tempest exemplify this mixture of courtly and pastoral scenes. This blend creates broader characters and larger spectacles handling themes differently from appearance and reality.
Cinematic versions from 1908 to 2014 demonstrate how The Tempest has been reimagined across different genres and eras. A silent film version appeared in 1908 according to British Film Institute records. Yellow Sky set the story in the wild west in 1948 featuring Gregory Peck and Anne Baxter. Forbidden Planet became a science fiction classic set in outer space released in 1956. Derek Jarman relocated his 1979 version to a crumbling mansion off the Scottish coast. John Cassavetes, Molly Ringwald, Gena Rowlands, and Susan Sarandon starred in Tempest on a Greek isle in 1982. Prospero's Books combined film, dance, opera, and animation starring John Gielgud in 1991. Helen Mirren played Prospera recast as female in a 2010 version. Milla Jovovich, Ethan Hawke, Penn Badgley, John Leguizamo, and Ed Harris starred in a 2014 Cymbeline adaptation. These adaptations show how directors reinterpret Shakespeare's final plays for modern audiences.
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Common questions
What plays are included in Shakespeare's late romances?
Shakespeare's late romances include Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Cymbeline; The Winter's Tale; and The Tempest. Scholars sometimes add The Two Noble Kinsmen to this list noting that Shakespeare co-wrote it with John Fletcher.
When were Shakespeare's late romances composed?
These works were composed between approximately 1603 and 1614. Edward Dowden first applied the term romances to these specific plays in his 1877 book Shakspere before editors like John Heminges and Henry Condell listed them differently in the First Folio of 1623.
Why did James I influence the development of Shakespeare's late plays?
James I preferred romances after ascending to the throne in 1603 unlike Elizabeth I who had enjoyed watching tragedies. Shakespeare's company changed its name from the Lord Chamberlain's Men to the King's Men following this transition and performed up to two new plays per week during this period.
How have directors handled technical challenges in producing Shakespeare's late romances?
Directors face significant technical challenges when attempting to realize required magical and scenic elements such as storms at sea or opulent interior scenery. Samuel Phelps created a storm effect in 1854 using rowers manning oars while a panorama moved behind them and William Charles Macready featured a huge fully rigged sea vessel in 1842 at Covent Garden.
What theories exist about Shakespeare's psychological state during the writing of his late romances?
Scholars debate whether these plays reflect Shakespeare's psychological state, aging process, or simply a deliberate shift toward tragicomedy. Edward Dowden suggested Shakespeare suffered from depression when writing his tragedies before creating the romances while Harold Bloom stated that The Winter's Tale shows Shakespeare returning to full talent and genius with full force.