Shakespeare's Plays Overview

Shakespeare’s Plays

Shakespeare’s Plays

• Shakespeare’s canon consists of 36-38 plays;
• It is difficult to date most of the plays;

Shakespeare’s Plays

Approximate dates are based on :

Internal evidence

(references to contemporary events in the play)

External evidence

(references to the play on official contemporary documents)

Stylistic evidence

(quality of style, plot, characterization and metre used in the play)

Shakespeare’s Plays

• No Shakespeare’s manuscripts have survived;
• The first publications during Shakespeare’s lifetime were ‘pirate’ editions;
• There are a lot of textual problems;

Shakespeare’s Plays

• Nineteen plays in Shakespeare's canon had appeared in quarto format (‘pirate’ editions).
• A quarto is a book size of about 24 × 30 cm, determined by folding printed sheets twice to form four leaves or eight pages.

Shakespeare’s Plays

• “ Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies” is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays known as the First Folio .
• A folio is a book size of about 30 × 38 cm, determined by folding printed sheets once to form two leaves or four pages.

Shakespeare’s Plays

• There are 36 plays printed in the First Folio;
• The publication was prepared by Shakespeare's colleagues - John Heminges and Henry Condell.

Heminges- Condell Memorial

Shakespeare’s Plays

3 categories

Tragedy : a play that traces the main character’s downfall;

Comedy : a play that ends happily and usually contains many humorous elements;

History : a play that chronicles the life of an English monarch or a historical character.

• Tragedy : a play that traces the main character’s downfall; Comedy : a play that ends happily and usually contains many humorous elements; History : a play that chronicles the life of an English monarch or a historical character.

Shakespeare’s Plays

Henry VI Part II (1590-1591) Henry VI Part III (1590-1591) Henry VI Part I (1591-1592) Richard III (1592-1593) The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593) Titus Andronicus (1593-1594) The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594) The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595) Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594-1595) Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595) Richard II (1595-1596) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595-1596)

• Henry VI Part II (1590-1591) Henry VI Part III (1590-1591) Henry VI Part I (1591-1592) Richard III (1592-1593) The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593) Titus Andronicus (1593-1594) The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594) The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595) Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594-1595) Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595) Richard II (1595-1596) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595-1596)

Shakespeare’s Plays

King John (1596-1597) The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597) Henry IV Part I (1597-1598) Henry IV Part II (1597-1598) Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599) Henry V (1598-1599) Julius Caesar (1599-1600) As You Like It (1599-1600) Twelfth Night (1599-1600) Hamlet (1600-1601) The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601) Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602) All’s Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)

• King John (1596-1597) The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597) Henry IV Part I (1597-1598) Henry IV Part II (1597-1598) Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599) Henry V (1598-1599) Julius Caesar (1599-1600) As You Like It (1599-1600) Twelfth Night (1599-1600) Hamlet (1600-1601) The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601) Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602) All’s Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)

Shakespeare’s Plays

Measure for Measure (1604-1605) Othello (1604-1605) King Lear (1605-1606) Macbeth (1605-1606) Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607) Coriolanus (1607-1608) Timon of Athens (1607-1608) Pericles (1608-1609) Cymbeline (1609-1610) The Winter’s Tale (1610-1611) The Tempest (1611-1612) Henry VIII (1612-1613) The Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)

• Measure for Measure (1604-1605) Othello (1604-1605) King Lear (1605-1606) Macbeth (1605-1606) Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607) Coriolanus (1607-1608) Timon of Athens (1607-1608) Pericles (1608-1609) Cymbeline (1609-1610) The Winter’s Tale (1610-1611) The Tempest (1611-1612) Henry VIII (1612-1613) The Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)

Shakespeare’s Great Tragedies