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EARLY COMEDIES
Shakespeare's first play is probably "The Comedy of Errors" (1590). It is a brilliant piece of work with a story unlikely to happen in real life. Ηis next first comedies are "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" (1591) and the "Love's Labour's Lost" (1593). -
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EARLY HISTORY PLAYS
Henry VI (1592), which is performed in three parts, and Richard III (1594) are epics. They deal with events of English history between the death of Henry V in 1422 and Henry VII assuming the throne in 1485, which began the period of stability maintained by Queen Elizabeth I. -
FIRST TRAGEDY
Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus (1593) is a brilliant play where someone tries to punish someone for a wrong that was done. -
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NONDRAMATIC WORKS
During 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of a plague, Shakespeare wrote two narrative poems for the Earl of Southampton, the "Venus and Adonis" and the "Rape of Lucrece".
Shakespeare's most famous poems are the 154 sonnets. They were probably written in this period but were not published until 1609. Sonnets are fourteen-line poems with a fixed rhyme scheme. -
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THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S MEN
While he was in the Lord's Chamberlain's company he wrote the comedies "The Taming of the Shrew" (1594),"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1595),"The Merchant of Venice" (1596),"Much Ado about Nothing"(1598),"The Merry Wives of Windsor" (1599) and "As You Like It"(1600).
His tragedies of the period are: "Romeo and Juliet" (1596),"Julius Caesar" (1599) and "Hamlet" (1601).
In 1596 he wrote "King John", a historical play. Other epics are: "Richard II" (1595),
Henry IV" (1597) and "Henry V" (1599). -
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THE "PROBLEM PLAYS"
In the early 17th century, Shakespeare wrote the so-called "problem plays", "All's Well That Ends Well" (1602), "Troilus and Cressida" (1602), "Measure for Measure" (1604). They are not easily categorized as either tragedies or comedies. -
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LATE TRAGEDIES
During his last decade in the theatre Shakespeare wrote some of his best known tragedies: "Othello" (1604), "King Lear" (1605), "Macbeth" (1606), "Antony and Cleopatra" (1607-1608) and "Coriolanus" (1607-1608). -
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LATE ROMANCES
In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and wrote the "Pericles, the Prince of Tyre" (1607), "Cymbeline" (1609), "The Winter's Tale" (1611), and "The Tempest" (1611). He also collaborated on two further plays, "Henry VIII" (1613) and "The Two Noble Kinsmen" (1613).