William Shakespeare#Works

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A list of some works of William Shakespeare.

## The Plays[edit]

Shakespeare's plays are traditionally organised into three groups: Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. The following (resortable) list sorts the plays according to their order in the First Folio, the first published edition of Shakespeare's plays. Today, some of the comedies and tragedies 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

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The Tempest | Romance | Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, meets his usurpers on an island. | Prospero, Miranda | 1611 | 1623
The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Comedy | The friendship of Valentine and Proteus versus their romantic love for Sylvia. | Valentine, Proteus | 1593 | 1623
The Merry Wives of Windsor | 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
The Comedy of Errors | 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
A Midsummer Night's Dream | 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
The 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
The Winter's Tale | Romance | Jealousy ends marriage and friendship; time brings reconciliation | Leontes, Perdita | 1610 | 1623
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
Troilus and Cressida | Tragedy | The love story of Troilus and Cressida set against the backdrop of the Trojan War | Troilus, Cressida | 1602 | 1609
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, Tamara | 1590 | 1594
Romeo and Juliet | Tragedy | Two "star-cross'd lovers" have a passionate affair, defying their families, with tragic results. | Romeo, Juliet | 1595 | 1597
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
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

Most scholars are agreed that Shakespeare was the principal author of all of these plays, and sole author of most of them.

Later in the seventeenth century, several other plays were added in later editions. One of them, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, has come to be regularly included. It is generally accepted as the joint work of Shakespeare and another author, probably George Wilkins, who wrote the "novelization".

In recent times most scholars accept The Two Noble Kinsmen as being by Fletcher and Shakespeare, as stated on its original title page, and it is usually included in scholarly editions.

The majority of scholars accept some passages of Sir Thomas More as by Shakespeare, and indeed in his handwriting, and some editions include either these passages or the whole play.

Most scholars have recently concluded that Edward III is partly by Shakespeare, and some editions include it.

There is a growing consensus that Arden of Faversham is partly by Shakespeare.

Current consensus holds it likely that Double Falsehood is an adaptation of a lost play Cardenio by Fletcher and Shakespeare.

Additions found in the posthumous 2nd edition of Kyd's Spanish Tragedy may be at least partly by Shakespeare.

Sources:

* Shakespeare (an Oxford Guide), ed Wells and Orlin, 2003
* RSC Collaborative Plays, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
* "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.

## Poems[edit]

The following are generally accepted by scholars:

* Shakespeare's Sonnets
* Venus and Adonis
* The Rape of Lucrece
* The Phoenix and the Turtle

The following are uncertain:

* The Passionate Pilgrim (contributions to; the only contributions definitely known to be by him are duplicated elsewhere in his works; some poems in this collection are definitely by other writers, but some remain anonymous)
* A Lover's Complaint
* Miscellaneous songs and epitaphs

## Lost plays[edit]

* Love's Labour's Won
* Cardenio