But they had no full royal family that they could look to as a model for their own families, no central family to act as a symbolic microcosm for the larger family of the English nation. In 1603, James I ascended to the throne, and suddenly England had such a family. This significant event undoubtedly influenced the writing of The Winter's Tale . Because Shakespeare took no interest in the publication of his plays, his drama got into print in uncertain and unreliable ways. It is difficult to say which plays, if any, come to us straight from Shakespeare's manuscripts.
Corrupt texts abound.
The Winter's Tale was never published during Shakespeare's life. The play was first printed in 1623, in the collection of plays known as the First Folio. Modern publications of the play are based directly on this First Folio printing.