List of Shakespeare's Plays

Related article: Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, William,
1564–1616, English dramatist and poet, b. Stratford-upon-Avon. He is widely considered the greatest playwright who ever lived. Life
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Shakespeare's Plays (arranged by approximate date of composition)
Play	Approximate date of composition	Date of first publication	Sources	Major characters	Genre
Henry VI, Part II	1590	1594	Edward Hall, Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1548); Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587)	King Henry VI Queen Margaret Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York	History
Henry VI, Part III	1590	1595	Hall; Holinshed	King Henry VI Queen Margaret Edward, Prince of Wales Richard, Duke of Gloucester Richard Nevil, Earl of Warwick	History
Henry VI, Part I	1590	1623	Hall; Holinshed	King Henry VI Lord Talbot Joan of Arc Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York	History
Richard III	1592	1597	Hall; Holinshed; Sir Thomas More, History of Richard III; George North, A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels (late 1500s)	King Richard III Queen Elizabeth Duke of Buckingham Lady Anne George, Duke of Clarence	History
The Comedy of Errors	1592	1623	Plautus, Menaechmi and Amphituo	Antipholus of Syracuse Antipholus of Ephesus Dromio of Syracuse Dromio of Ephesus	Comedy
Titus Andronicus (may have been written in collaboration with George Peele)	1593	1594	History of Titus Andronicus (chapbook); John Gower, Appolonius of Tyre	Titus of Andronicus Tamora Aaron the Moor	Tragedy
The Taming of the Shrew	1593	1623	George Gascoigne, Supposes (1566); Earlier play The Taming of a Shaw	Petruchio Katherine	Comedy
The Two Gentlemen of Verona	1594	1623	Jorge de Montemayor, Diana (1559?)	Valentine Proteus Julius Silvia	Comedy
Love's Labour's Lost	1594	1598	Specific source not established	King of Navarre Princess of France Holofernes Don Adriano de Armado	Comedy
Romeo and Juliet	1594	1597	Arthur Brooke, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562); Matteo Bandello, Novelle (tr. by William Painter in Palace of Pleasure, 1566–67)	Romeo Juliet Mercutio Tybalt Friar Laurence Nurse	Tragedy
Richard II	1595	1597	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587)	King Richard II Henry Bolingbroke Edmund of Langley, Duke of York	History
A Midsummer Night's Dream	1595	1600	Specific source not established	Hermia Lysander Theseus Helena Demetrius Oberon Titania Puck Bottom	Comedy
King John	1596	1623	Anon. play, The Troublesome Raigne of King John (1591)	King John Philip the Bastard Arthur, Duke of Britain Constance	History
The Merchant of Venice	1596	1600	Giovanni Fiorentino, Il Pecarone (1558)	Bassanio Shylock Antonio Portia	Comedy
Henry IV, Part I	1597	1598	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587)	King Henry IV Falstaff Henry, Prince of Wales (Prince Hal) Henry Percy ("Hotspur")	History
Henry IV, Part II	1597	1600	Holinshed	King Henry IV Falstaff Henry, Prince of Wales	History
Much Ado about Nothing	1598	1600	Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516)	Prince of Arragon Beatrice Benedick Claudio Hero	Comedy
Henry V	1598	1600	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587); George North, A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels (late 1500s)	King Henry V Archbishop of Canterbury Fluellen Pistol	History
Julius Caesar	1599	1623	Plutarch, Lives (tr. by Sir Thomas North, 1579)	Brutus Cassius Marc Antony Caesar	Tragedy
As You Like It	1599	1623	Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde (1590)	Rosalind Orlando Touchstone	Comedy
Twelfth Night	1599	1623	Barnabe Riche, Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession (1581)	Sir Toby Belch Viola Sebastian Duke Orsino Olivia	Comedy
Hamlet	1600	1603	François de Belleforest, Histoires Tragiques (1576)	Hamlet Horatio Ophelia Laertes Claudius Polonius Gertrude	Tragedy
The Merry Wives of Windsor	1600	1602	Specific source not established	Falstaff Mrs. Page Mr. Ford	Comedy
Troilus and Cressida	1601	1609	Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde (c.1386); William Caxton, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1474)	Troilus Ulysses Pandarus Cressida	Comedy
All's Well That Ends Well	1602	1623	William Painter, Palace of Pleasure (1566–67)	Bertram Helena Parolles King of France	Comedy
Measure for Measure	1604	1623	George Whetstone, Promos and Cassandra (1578)	Vincentio Angelo Isabella Claudio Mariana	Comedy
Othello	1604	1622	Giovanni Battista Giraldi ("Cinthio"), Ecatommiti (1565)	Othello Desdemona Iago Cassio	Tragedy
King Lear	1605	1608	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587); Anon., The True Chronicle History of King Leir (before 1594); George North, A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels (late 1500s)	King Lear Cordelia Earl of Gloucester Edgar Earl of Kent Edmund Goneril Regan Duke of Albany Lear's Fool	Tragedy
Macbeth	1605	1623	Holinshed; George North	Duncan Macbeth Lady Macbeth Malcolm Macduff	Tragedy
Antony and Cleopatra	1606	1623	Plutarch, Lives (tr. 1579)	Mark Antony Cleopatra Octavius Caesar	Tragedy
Coriolanus	1607	1623	Plutarch	Coriolanus Tullus Aufidius Caius Marcius Menenius Agrippa Volumnia	Tragedy
Timon of Athens (may have been written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton)	1607	1623	Plutarch; Lucian, Misanthropos (2d cent. A.D.)	Timon of Athens Apemantus Alcibiades Flavius	Tragedy
Pericles (may have been written in collaboration with George Wilkins)	1608	1609	John Gower, Confessio Amantis (c.1390)	Pericles Thaisa Marina Simonides Lysimachus	Tragicomedy
Cymbeline	1609	1623	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587); Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron (1348–53)	Cymbeline Imogen Posthumus Iachimo	Tragicomedy
The Winter's Tale	1610	1623	Robert Greene, Pandosto (1588)	Leontes Hermione Paulina Autolycus Perdita Florizel Polixenes	Tragicomedy
The Tempest	1611	1623	Specific source not established	Prospero Miranda Ferdinand Ariel Caliban	Tragicomedy
Henry VIII (probably written in collaboration with John Fletcher)	1612	1623	Holinshed, Chronicles (1587); John Foxe, Book of Martyrs (1563)	King Henry VIII Queen Katherine Cardinal Wolsey Duke of Buckingham Anne Boleyn	History
Two Noble Kinsmen (of doubtful authorship; may have been written in collaboration with John Fletcher)	1612	1634	Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Knight's Tale" in Canterbury Tales (c.1387)	Palamon Arcite	Comedy