The style of The Winter's Tale is stately and formal in the first three Acts, which take place in the Sicilian court and thus center on aristocratic characters speaking in verse. Since Leontes and Polixenes are state leaders, the conversations between them are particularly formal and diplomatic despite their close friendship. In Act 3, Scene 2, in which Hermione is put on trial—albeit a rigged one—with Leontes as the judge, the style becomes more legal as befits a courtroom.
In spaces other than the Sicilian court, on the other hand, the style shifts to an informal prose style. Act 4, set in the shepherd's cottage, introduces Autolycus, the Shepherd, the Shepherd's son, and the Shepherdesses. These characters generally use an informal prose style, and Autolycus even bursts into song. This stylistic shift not only juxtaposes the warm, relaxed atmosphere of the pastoral scene with the coldness and rigidity of the Sicilian court and thus contributes to the more lighthearted and comedic mood of Acts 4 and 5, but also highlights the class difference between the aristocratic characters on whom the play centers and the rural shepherds outside the court. The latter's speaking style fits with their simple, close-to-nature lifestyle and thus contrasts with the weightier political stakes found at court.
