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S Sh ha ak ke es sp pe ea ar re e s s L La at te e P Pl la ay ys s
R Ro om ma an nc ce es s, , T Tr ra ag gi ic co om me ed di ie es s, , P Pr ro ob bl le em m- -p pl la ay ys s

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The initial (first folio) division of Shakespeares plays was confined to three genres: comedies,
tragedies and histories. However, later critical insight discovered problems of analysis, so that
a fourth genre was introduced in the classification of the plays, that of romance. Four plays
are generally included in this group: Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winters Tale and The Tempest.
Though there are obvious similarities among these plays, it was very difficult to decide on a
clear classification and so, several other terms were used to refer to these plays. Moreover,
in time, other plays were included or excluded from this loose and fluid group. Some names
were: "late plays", "problem plays", or "(romantic) tragicomedies." Some other plays that
were included or excluded from these groups are the comedies All's Well That Ends Well
and Measure for Measure or tragedies such as Troilus and Cressida and even King Lear or
Hamlet.
All these names were created long after Shakespeare's death, especially in the 18th
and 19th centuries, when critics felt that the folio delimitations were not sufficient, as well
as with the enlargement of the Shakespearean cannon (Two Noble Kinsmen, Pericles).
These problems of definition come from the fact that Shakespeare's late plays seem to
defy the traditional conventions. Moreover, the tastes of the public change and, with them,
the dramatic forms. The Masque as a "spectacular kind of indoor performance combining
poetic drama, music, dance, song, lavish costume, and costly stage effects, which was
favoured by European royalty in the 16th and early 17th centuries" (The Concise Oxford
Dictionary of Literary Terms) gains ground in the preferences of King James I.
Moving to an indoor theatre also contributed to the change in dramatic form. The
Blackfriars, in Shakespeare's time, was the first indoor theatre. "This indoor theatre offered
new possibilities for staging including mechanisms in the roof for flying scenes (Ariel, say,
in The Tempest or Jupiter descending on his eagle in Cymbeline) and the potential for
lighting effects offered by an indoor playhouse illuminated not by daylight, as at the Globe,
but with candles, and these factors, along with its smaller size and the different nature of the
music required for such a space, perhaps account for the shift in tone." (Cambridge
Companion to Shakespeare's Last Plays/ CCSLP)

LATE PLAYS OR THE LAST PLAYS
One possible solution for the definition problems is the name "last plays", usually
those composed after 1607: Pericles, Coriolanus, The Winters Tale, Cymbeline, The Tempest,
Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen, Cardenio?. Commonly, the first four (except for Coriolanus,
seen as a tragedy) are considered romances and they seem to share some common features,
mostly a serenity and a sense of reconciliation. The problem appears with the plays written
after The Tempest, that seem to move away from reconciliation to something bleaker.
Moreover, Cardenio being lost, and Henry VIII seen as a historical play, more problems
appear. "If there is one thing that connects these last plays, it is their habit of looking back in
order to look forward, of rehearsing, reshaping and reinventing past concerns in new
contexts. (CCSLP))

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ROMANCES AND TRAGICOMEDIES: Historically, the name romance was used
to refer to a group of plays including Cymbeline, Pericles, The Winters Tale and The Tempest at
the end of the nineteenth century, by Edward Dowden:

There is a romantic element about these plays. In all there is the same romantic incident of lost
children recovered by those to whom they are dear . . . In all there is a beautiful romantic
background of sea or mountain. The dramas have a grave beauty, a sweet serenity, which seem to
render the name comedies inappropriate . . . Let us, then, name this group, consisting of four
plays, . . . Romances. (Dowden 1877)

Thus, [t]he spirit of these last plays is that of serenity which results from fortitude, and the
recognition of human frailty; all of them express a deep sense of the need of repentance and
the duty of forgiveness (Dowden). The same idea is support by Robert Sharp in 1959 who
argued that the romances are Shakespeares fourth period, of a serenity and tolerance
allowing little in the way of bitter intensity, but much in that of a cosmic, almost godlike
irony such as Prosperos, adding that Shakespeare has now made his peace with God and
man.
The term romance, therefore, refers to tales about heroes and their quests which
involve the intervention of magic. At the end of the romance there is, usually reunion
(families or/and lovers are reunited) and harmony after suffering and distress, since the hero
needs to pass through a series of tests and trials. In Shakespeares plays, some of these
conventions are respected, in the sense that, in all the plays there are journeys, often
involving storms and shipwrecks in which families or lovers are separated, the intervention
of magic (The Tempest), of spirits and gods (Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest) helping the
heroes, even if, sometimes, in a rather artificial manner, for instance, Pericles finds his lost
wife through the intervention of Diana and, in Cymbeline, Posthumus dreams of his dead
ancestors and Jupiter.
Northrop Frye tries to give an ampler definition of romance with reference to
Shakespeares plays and he mentions the scaling down of characters; the focus on magic,
artifice and improbability counterbalanced by emphasis on emotion to the detriment of
verisimilitude; a tendency to refer to former theatrical conventions and the appearance of
puppet shows, the feeling that they are mere puppets on strings. This idea is reinforced by
the Prologue Gower in Pericles and the presentation of facts in a sort of dumb-show:
First, theres a noticeable scaling down of characters; that is, the titanic figures like Hamlet,
Cleopatra, Falstaff and Lear have gone. Leontes and Posthumus are jealous, and very articulate
about it, but their jealousy doesnt have the size that Othellos jealousy has: were looking at
people more on our level, saying and feeling the things we can imagine ourselves saying and
feeling. Second, the stories are incredible: were moving in worlds of magic and fairy tale,
where anything can happen. Emotionally, theyre as powerfully convincing as ever, but the
convincing quality doesnt extend to the incidents. Third, theres a strong tendency to go back
to some of the conventions of earlier plays, the kind that were produced in the 1580s: we
noticed that Measure for Measure used one of these early plays as a source. Fourth, the
scaling down of characters brings these plays closer to the puppet shows I just mentioned. If
you watch a good puppet show for very long you almost get to feeling that the puppets are
convinced that theyre producing all the sounds and movements themselves, even though you
can see that theyre not. In the romances, where the incidents arent very believable anyway, the
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sense of puppet behaviour extends so widely that it seems natural to include a god or goddess as
the string puller. Diana has something of this role in Pericles, and Jupiter has it in Cymbeline:
The Tempest has a human puppeteer in Prospero. In The Winters Tale the question Whos
pulling the strings? is more difficult to answer, but it still seems to be relevant. (Frye)

Northrop Frye, however, admits that more plays can be included in this group of
romances such as , he says, Measure for Measure, difficult to classify elsewhere.
Another element that defines Shakespearan romance is its resistance to satire. Satire is
associated with tragicomedy in its seventeenth century development, but not romance that
denies satire. Shakespeare, unlike his younger contemporary Fletcher who had a preference
for tragicomedy, is careful not to fall into satire, and his plays, though producing moments
that hover around the grotesque or burlesque and take risks with tone, pull back from the
cynical worldview of satire.

TRAGICOMEDY. The term derives from Plautus, referring to the unconventional
mixture of kings, gods and servants in his Amphitruo. The genre is difficult to define, and
playwrights have been aware of the possibility to mix comedy and tragedy since early
Renaissance, by writing tragedies with happy endings or plays in which there were several
plots, some serious, some comic. By the end of the 16
th
c. these two kinds had drawn
together and were more or less indistinguishable. By this time, anyway, we find an
increasing mingling of tragic and comic elements, the use of comic relief in tragedy, and
what might be called tragic aggravation or heightening in comedy. (J.A.Cuddon). The
Italian playwright Batista Guarini is usually cited as the one from whom tragicomedy
originated. John Fletcher, following Guarini, wrote in his preface to The Faithful Shepherdess
A tragicomedy is not so called in respect of mirth and killing, but in respect it wants
deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some near it, which is enough to
make it no comedy. . . Plays like Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winters Tale, The Tempest
(according to Jeanette Dillon) may be considered tragic-comedies, though they are more
commonly included in the area of romance. Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida are
not usually deemed as romances, and can be seen as tragicomedies. Measure for Measure has
a forced happy ending, and Troilus and Cressida does not have a happy ending at all. Sean
McEvoy prefers the term mixed genre plays, for these two.

PROBLEM PLAYS: At the end of the nineteenth century, F.S. Boas (1896) suggests
another category, that of problem plays in which he includes Alls Well That Ends Well,
Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida and Hamlet. He suggests that these plays are too
complicated, with elements from comedy and tragedy, but not clearly belonging to any of
them, and with an insistence of problems of conscience.

"All these dramas introduce us into highly artificial societies, whose civilization is ripe unto
rottenness. Amidst such media abnormal conditions of brain and of emotion are generated, and
intricate cases of conscience demand a solution by unprecedented methods. Thus throughout these
plays we move along dim untrodden paths, and at the close our feeling is neither of simple joy nor
pain; we are excited, fascinated, perplexed, for the issues raised preclude a completely satisfactory
outcome, even when, as in All's Well and Measure for Measure, the complications are outwardly
adjusted in the fifth act. In Troilus and Cressida and Hamlet no such partial settlement of
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difficulties takes place, and we are left to interpret their enigmas as best we may. Dramas so
singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies or tragedies. We may therefore
borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of today and class them together as Shakspere's
problem-plays." (F.S. Boas)

W. Lawrence accepts the idea that the definition of some of the plays is problematic, but
uses the term problem comedies and includes in this group Measure for Measure, Troilus and
Cressida, Cymbeline, Alls Well That Ends Well. He argues that the term problem plays is
useful for those plays that do not fall into the category of tragedy, but are too serious and
analytic to fall into the theme of comedy. He accepts the fact that painful and tragic
complications may appear in comedies, as well, as it is often the case in Shakespeares
comedies, but the difference between comedies and problem plays relies in the fact that, if in
comedies these complications are of secondary importance (such as Shylock in The Merchant
of Venice), in problem plays, they are the controlling interest. Similarly, whereas the love
troubles of Rosalind and Viola in comedies are seen as romantic entanglements, the
suffering of Isabella (Measure for Measure), or Helena (Alls Well That Ends Well) are of utmost
seriousness. In fact, even if the ending of some problem plays is marriage, like in comedies,
they lack the festivity and celebration of comedies, and we have the feeling that the final
marriage or marriages are not the solution to the problems of the play.
In fact, W. Lawrence insists, the outcome proposed by the playwright is not the only
possible outcome and the same characters in the same situations may reach different
conclusions either in tragedy or in comedy.

FEATURES: Without trying to impose a certain terminology, we will refer to a set of
conventions that are common for Shakespeares late plays: Cymbeline, The Winters Tale,
Pericles, The Tempest, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida.
1. Political plots: tyrannical rulers, unjust laws, corruption, plotting, the weakening of
authority from various reasons (jealousy or love, giving up responsibility). Many of these
plays deal with unfit rulers: Prospero and the Duke of Measure for Measure delegate their
power only to be either displaced from the system (Prospero) or to see the abuses committed
by the one they left in their place to rule (the Duke). Cymbeline is totally submitted to the
will of his Queen, whereas Leontes (The Winters Tale) is blinded by jealousy and driven
towards tyranny and injustice. In Troilus and Cressida, the love plot is submitted to the
political machinations devised by Ulysses.
2. Love, couples separated, cross-rank couples, pursuit by loathsome suitors, threat of
infidelity. Love is the main theme of such plays and there is an insistence on love troubles,
on jealousy (The Winters Tale), incest (Pericles), opposition from parents (The Winters Tale),
prostitution and threats of rape (Pericles, Measure for Measure), unjust accusations of infidelity
(Cymbeline), separation of lovers (Troilus and Cressida, Pericles). In the end, in most cases
(except for Troilus and Cressida) there is harmony, reunification of couples and marriages, but
often, these marriage do not come with the promise of happiness and seem more of an
artificial resolution of conflicts: Angelo accepts marriage with Mariana to escape
punishment while Lucius is married to a prostitute as a punishment for his deeds (Measure
for Measure). Marriages are often artificial: Prospero devises the encounter between Miranda
and Ferdinand (The Tempest), the Duke marries Isabella (Measure for Measure), Paulina is
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married to Camillo (The Winters Tale), and Marina to Lysimachus, but we do not have the
certainty that there is actual love, or only mere political union.
3. Children often bear the promise of reconciliation and harmony. Their marriages
unite families and states that were in conflicting situations: Miranda and Ferdinand in The
Tempest, Florizel and Perdita in The Winters Tale, whereas Mariana in Pericles saves her
father with her intelligence, wisdom and virtue.
4. There is often a lapse of time from the beginning of the action, the resolution coming
later, when children grow: The Tempest, The Winters Tale and Pericles.
5. The role of women (lovers, sisters or daughters) becomes very important. They are
determined, intelligent and virtuous. They have the courage to stand up to tyrannical
leaders in situations in which men do not: Imogen defies her father, Cymbeline, for the sake
of her husband, Isabella defies Angelo to save her brother from prison and death (Measure for
Measure), Paulina defies the tyrannical Leontes to save her mistress (The Winters Tale) and
Marina, though sold to a brothel, keeps her virtue and turns everyone who comes to see her
into a virtuous man. However, though women are remarkable, they are often mistreated:
Hermiona is unjustly accused by her husband to have been unfaithful (The Winters Tale),
Imogen, unjustly slandered by Iachimo, is supposed to be killed under her husbands orders
(Cymbeline), Isabella, the virtuous woman who wants to save her brother, is falsely offered
salvation by Angelo only if she accepts a night with him, while the same Angelo deserted
the woman who loved him because she lost her dowry (Measure for Measure), Marina is
saved from death by pirates, only to be sold to a brothel (Pericles). The final reunions at the
end seem only artificial conclusions to scarring conflicts: Hermione is reunited with her
husband and lost daughter, but because of her husbands jealousy, she lost a son and years
of her life, Thaisa is separated from Pericles and her daughter, Isabella has to marry the
Duke (Measure for Measure) though, at the beginning, she wanted to be a nun. Though
intelligent, determined and virtuous, the women need to finally submit to the will of men.
In conclusion, Shakespeares late plays are much more serious and grim to be included
in the group of comedies, but their protagonists, though often resembling the famous tragic
heroes of Shakespeare, lack their grandeur to be included in that group.