Canon

Timeline of the plays

Dates of first performance are educated guesses — companies did not keep tidy records, and some plays were revised. The sequence below follows the scholarly consensus used in most editions. Plays with a full study guide on this site are linked.

1. c. 1590

   Henry VI, Part 2

   History

   Early history cycle; Jack Cade’s rebellion.

2. c. 1591

   Henry VI, Part 3

   History

   The Wars of the Roses at their bloodiest.

3. The Two Gentlemen of Verona

   Comedy

   Friendship, disguise, and an uneasy ending.

4. c. 1592

   Henry VI, Part 1

   History

   Joan of Arc and the loss of France — possibly collaborative.

5. Titus Andronicus

   Tragedy

   Revenge tragedy at full volume; Shakespeare’s first tragedy.

6. The Taming of the Shrew

   Comedy

   A play about playing a marriage; still fiercely argued over.

7. c. 1593

   Richard III

   HistoryStudy guide

   The star villain of the first tetralogy.

8. c. 1594

   The Comedy of Errors

   Comedy

   Twin farce from Plautus; tightest plot in the canon.

9. Love’s Labour’s Lost

   Comedy

   Wits swear off love, then fail; the ladies postpone the ending.

10. c. 1595

    Romeo and Juliet

    TragedyStudy guide

    The love tragedy; written beside the lyric comedies.

11. Richard II

    History

    A poet-king deposed; the second tetralogy begins.

12. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    ComedyStudy guide

    Fairies, lovers, and a play about a play.

13. c. 1596

    King John

    History

    Illegitimacy, France, and ‘This England’.

14. The Merchant of Venice

    ComedyStudy guide

    Bond, caskets, and a courtroom.

15. c. 1597

    Henry IV, Part 1

    History

    Hal, Hotspur and Falstaff — the great tavern history.

16. The Merry Wives of Windsor

    Comedy

    Falstaff in bourgeois Windsor; tradition says a royal request.

17. c. 1598

    Henry IV, Part 2

    History

    Disease, rumour, and the rejection of Falstaff.

18. Much Ado About Nothing

    ComedyStudy guide

    Wit, noting, and a wedding almost buried.

19. c. 1599

    Henry V

    HistoryStudy guide

    Agincourt, the Chorus, and the new Globe.

20. Julius Caesar

    TragedyStudy guide

    The assassination play; rhetoric as politics.

21. As You Like It

    Comedy

    Arden, Rosalind, and ‘All the world’s a stage’.

22. c. 1600

    Hamlet

    TragedyStudy guide

    The revenge play that thinks too well.

23. c. 1601

    Twelfth Night

    ComedyStudy guide

    Twins, cakes and ale, and Malvolio’s revenge.

24. c. 1602

    Troilus and Cressida

    Tragedy

    The Trojan war as satire; a ‘problem’ play.

25. c. 1603

    Measure for Measure

    Comedy

    Vienna, vice, and a duke in disguise.

26. c. 1604

    Othello

    TragedyStudy guide

    Jealousy, race, and a handkerchief.

27. c. 1605

    All’s Well That Ends Well

    Comedy

    Helena’s pursuit; a comedy that feels like work.

28. Timon of Athens

    Tragedy

    Generosity curdles into misanthropy; likely with Middleton.

29. c. 1606

    King Lear

    TragedyStudy guide

    The division of the kingdom; the storm.

30. Macbeth

    TragedyStudy guide

    Regicide for James’s court; short and bloody.

31. Antony and Cleopatra

    Tragedy

    Empire versus Egypt; the expansive late style.

32. c. 1608

    Coriolanus

    Tragedy

    Rome, the crowd, and a soldier who will not flatter.

33. Pericles

    Romance

    The first romance; storm, loss, reunion — with George Wilkins.

34. c. 1609

    Cymbeline

    Romance

    Britain, Rome, a wager, and a headless corpse that isn’t.

35. c. 1610

    The Winter’s Tale

    RomanceStudy guide

    Jealousy, a bear, sixteen years, a statue.

36. c. 1611

    The Tempest

    RomanceStudy guide

    The magician drowns his book.

37. c. 1613

    Henry VIII (All Is True)

    History

    With Fletcher; a cannon at the Globe set the thatch on fire.

38. The Two Noble Kinsmen

    Romance

    Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, with Fletcher; last dramatic work.