Romances (Late Plays)
Shakespeare's last phase of writing produced a group of plays called "romances" or "late plays" — tragi-comedies that blend dark, even tragic situations with miraculous resolutions, emphasizing forgiveness, reconciliation, and the healing of old wrongs. They are distinct from both the earlier comedies and the great tragedies.
Defining Features
- Tragi-comic structure — serious suffering (apparent death, exile, jealousy, loss) followed by redemption
- Time and distance — stories unfold over many years and vast geographies
- Miraculous recovery — characters thought dead return; statues come to life; storms become blessings
- Parent–child reconciliation — lost children restored to parents (Perdita, Marina, Imogen, Miranda)
- Forgiveness — wronged characters extend grace rather than demand revenge
- Magic and the supernatural — Prospero's art, Diana's intervention, the oracle at Delphos
- Pastoral elements — retreats to nature, shepherds, seasonal renewal
The Plays (in approximate chronological order)
| Play | Approx. Date | Key Romance Elements |
|---|---|---|
| Pericles, Prince of Tyre | 1607–1608 | Lost daughter (Marina) restored; sea voyages |
| Cymbeline | 1609–1610 | Lost princes; Imogen's resurrection; Roman peace |
| The Winter's Tale | 1610–1611 | Hermione's "statue" comes to life; Perdita restored |
| The Tempest | 1610–1611 | Prospero's magic; Miranda; forgiveness & surrender of power |
| The Two Noble Kinsmen | 1613–1614 | Co-written with Fletcher; Chaucerian source |
Collaborative Works
Henry VIII (c. 1613) is also classified as a late play and was co-written with John Fletcher. The Two Noble Kinsmen likewise shows strong Fletcher influence.
Sources
Shakespeare drew on diverse sources for the romances:
- Pericles — John Gower's Confessio Amantis
- Cymbeline — Holinshed's Chronicles; Boccaccio's Decameron
- The Winter's Tale — Robert Greene's prose romance Pandosto
- The Tempest — accounts of the Bermuda shipwreck (1609); Montaigne's Essays
Cross-references
- Comedies — romances share comic structure but deepen it
- Tragedies — romances revisit tragic scenarios and offer alternative endings
- The Tempest — often read as Shakespeare's farewell to the stage
- The Winter's Tale — Hermione's resurrection is the most celebrated "miracle" in the romances