Oil on panel, approximately 42 x 44 inches.

Westall depicts an uncharacteristically young and rakish Shakespeare flirting with Comedy, a light, wanton figure dressed in a revealingly diaphanous gown. Shakespeare holds the hand of Comedy, but he extends his other hand and bids Tragedy to stay. Some critics note allusions to other poets and painters who describe the choice of Hercules and the judgment of Paris (Painted Word 130-1), but that perhaps imparts an unintended seriousness to the picture. The handsome and roguish youth of Shakespeare suggests a point in his career when he courted both muses, never totally abandoning Comedy, but soon to embrace Tragedy.