abstract:The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies,WT comes last, following Twelfth Night which uncharacteristically ends with a blank recto page, suggesting to Arden editor J.
You'll recall from high school or college how Shakespeare frequently pushes the limits of comedy and tragedy, splicing farce into moments of calamity (the fool in King Lear, the clowns in Hamlet) and pulling back suddenly from near-fatal disaster in comedies (The Merchant of Venice, A Winter's Tale).