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William Shakespeare > Works
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
Contents |
The Plays
Shakespeare's plays are traditionally organised into three groups: Tragedies, Comedies, and Histories. The following (resortable) list sorts the plays according to their order in the First Folio (with excluded plays marked by †), the first published edition of Shakespeare's plays. Today, some of the comedies are usually considered as a separate subgenre, the 'romances' or tragicomedies; these plays are so marked in the "Genre" column.
| Title | Genre | Précis | Main Characters | Date Written | Date Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tempest, The | Comedy | Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, meets his usurpers on an island. | Prospero, Miranda | 1611 | 1623 |
| Two Gentlemen of Verona, The | Comedy | The friendship of Valentine and Proteus versus their romantic love for Sylvia. | Valentine, Proteus | 1593 | 1623 |
| Merry Wives of Windsor, The | Comedy | Falstaff attempts to seduce Mistresses Ford and Page. | Falstaff, Ford | 1597 | 1602 |
| Measure for Measure | Comedy | The Duke of Vienna leaves the enforcement of his laws to the harsh Antonio. | Vincentio, Angelo | 1604 | 1623 |
| Comedy of Errors, The | Comedy | The farcical adventures of two sets of twins. | Antipholus, Dromio | 1590 | 1623 |
| Much Ado About Nothing | Comedy | Beatrice and Benedict wage a "merry war", concealing their true feelings. | Beatrice, Benedick | 1598 | 1600 |
| Love's Labour's Lost | Comedy | The King of Navarre and three companions agree to give up worldly pleasures,including love, for three years. | Ferdinand, Berowne | 1593 | 1598 |
| Midsummer Night's Dream, A | Comedy | The adventures of young lovers, rude mechanicals, and fairies in Athens. | Oberon, Titania | 1594 | 1600 |
| The Merchant of Venice | Comedy | Antonio borrows from Shylock on behalf of his friend Bassanio. | Antonio, Shylock | 1596 | 1600 |
| As You Like It | Comedy | Rosalind and Celia escape to the Forest of Arden, Rosalind disguised as a boy. | Rosalind, Orlando | 1598 | 1623 |
| Taming of the Shrew | Comedy | "Shrewish" Katherine must wed before her younger sister can. | Petruchio, Katherine | 1591 | 1623 |
| All's Well That Ends Well | Comedy | Helena plots to marry the reluctant Bertram. | Bertram, Helena | 1603 | 1623 |
| Twelfth Night or What You Will | Comedy | Viola, shipwrecked, separated from her brother, and disguised as a boy, enters Duke Orsino's service. In love with Orsino herself, she must help him win the hand of Olivia. | Orsino, Viola, Olivia | 1600 | 1623 |
| Winter's Tale, The | Romance | Jealousy ends marriage and friendship; time brings reconciliation | Leontes, Perdita | 1610 | 1623 |
| Pericles, Prince of Tyre† | Romance | The King of Antioch offers the hand of his daughter to any man who answers his riddle, but Pericles will die whatever his answer | Pericles, Marina | 1607 | 1609 |
| Two Noble Kinsmen, The† | Romance | Palamon and Arcite are rivals for the hand of Princess Emilia. | Arcite, Palamon | 1612-3 | 1634 |
| King John | History | The life and death of King John | John, Arthur | 1596 | 1623 |
| Richard II | History | Richard's mistakes lead to his downfall at the hands of Henry Bolingbroke. | Richard, Bolingbroke | 1595 | 1597 |
| Henry IV, Part 1 | History | Henry has taken the throne, but must put down rebellion. He needs the help of his son, Hal, who is spending his youth in bad company. | Henry, Hal, Hotspur | 1597 | 1598 |
| Henry IV, Part 2 | History | Henry's crown is again threatened by civil war, while Prince Hal returns to his life with the disreputable Falstaff. | Henry, Falstaff, Hal | 1598 | 1600 |
| Henry V | History | The English defeat the French at Agincourt. | Henry, Pistol | 1599 | 1600 |
| Henry VI, Part 1 | History | The aftermath of the Death of Henry V | Henry, Talbot | 1592 | 1623 |
| Henry VI, Part 2 | History | The beginning of the War of the Roses | Henry, Margaret | 1591 | 1594 |
| Henry VI, Part 3 | History | The House of York defeats the House of Lancaster.The prelude to the rise of Richard III | Henry, Margaret | 1591 | 1595 |
| Richard III | History | Richard's seizure of the throne and defeat at Bosworth Field. | Richard, Clarence | 1592 | 1597 |
| Henry VIII | History | The scheming Cardinal Wolsey opposes Henry | Henry, Catherine | 1613 | 1623 |
| Romeo and Juliet | Tragedy | Two "star-cross'd lovers" have a passionate affair, defying their families, with tragic results. | Romeo, Juliet | 1595 | 1597 |
| Coriolanus | Tragedy | The proud Roman general, Coriolanous betrays Rome. | Coriolanus, Volumnia | 1608 | 1623 |
| Titus Andronicus | Tragedy | Roman general and Gothic queen in a cycle of revenge | Titus, Aaron | 1590 | 1594 |
| Timon of Athens | Tragedy | False friends cause Timon to become a misanthrope. | Timon, Apemantus | 1606 | 1623 |
| Julius Caesar | Tragedy | Conspirators assassinate Julius Caesar and are then defeated. | Brutus, Antony | 1599 | 1623 |
| Macbeth | Tragedy | Macbeth seeks to gain the Scottish throne through murder, believing that no man "of woman born" can kill him. | Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo | 1605 | 1623 |
| Hamlet | Tragedy | Hamlet seeks to avenge the death of his father. | Hamlet, Ophelia | 1601 | 1603 |
| Troilus and Cressida | Tragedy | The love story of Troilus and Cressida set against the backdrop of the Trojan War | Troilus, Cressida | 1602 | 1609 |
| King Lear | Tragedy | Lear foolishly chooses his scheming eldest daughters over Cordelia. | Lear, Cordelia, Regan Gloucester, Goneril | 1605 | 1608 |
| Othello | Tragedy | Othello is destroyed by his jealous love for Desdemona. | Othello, Iago, Desdemona | 1604 | 1622 |
| Antony and Cleopatra | Tragedy | Antony and Cleopatra are defeated by Octavius. | Antony, Cleopatra | 1606 | 1623 |
| Cymbeline | Romance | Villainy, a wicked stepmother and a separated family. | Imogen, Iachimo | 1609 | 1623 |
† Not included in the First Folio.
Sources:
- "plays of William Shakespeare" (requires subscription). World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed November 7, 2007.
- Plot synopses from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- Terry A. Gray, "Shakespeare's Canon." Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet (website). Accessed November 7, 2007.
Poems
- Shakespeare's Sonnets
- Venus and Adonis
- The Rape of Lucrece
- The Passionate Pilgrim
- The Phoenix and the Turtle
- A Lover's Complaint
