Greatest Literature banner

William Shakespeare

CritiqueAuthorship • Works • HistoriesCriticsParodies

Shakespeare painting
Biographical details ▽ Biographical details △

Born
Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1564

Died
Stratford-upon-Avon, England, 1616

Publications
Plays, poems

Genres
Literary, tragedy, comedy, historical, romance

Writing language
English

Country
England

Greatest lists ▽ Greatest lists △
Literature

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594)

Romeo and Juliet (c.1596)

Henry IV, Part 1 (1597)

The Merchant of Venice (c.1597)

Julius Caesar (1599)

Hamlet (1601)

Othello (1604)

Macbeth (c.1606)

King Lear (c.1606)

Sonnets (c.1609)

The Tempest (1611)

Plays

The Taming of the Shrew (c.1591)

Richard III (c.1592)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594)

Richard II (1597)

Romeo and Juliet (c.1596)

Love's Labour's Lost (1597)

Henry IV, Part 1 (1597)

Henry IV, Part 2 (1597)

The Merchant of Venice (c.1597)

Much Ado About Nothing (1598–1599)

As You Like It (1599)

Henry V (1599)

Julius Caesar (1599)

Hamlet (1601)

Twelfth Night (1601–1602)

Measure for Measure (1604)

Othello (1604)

Macbeth (c.1606)

King Lear (c.1606)

Coriolanus (c.1603)

The Winter's Tale (1611)

The Tempest (1611)

Henry VIII (1613)

Poems

• "A Fairy Song" (1594)

• "All the World's a Stage" (1594)

• "Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds" (1594)

• "My Mistress's Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun" (1594)

• "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" (1594)

• "That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold" (1594)

• "When, in Disgrace With Fortune and Men's Eyes" (1594)

• "When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought" (1594)

Poetry Collections

Sonnets (c.1609)

British Literature

The Taming of the Shrew (c.1591)

Richard III (c.1592)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1594)

Richard II (1597)

Romeo and Juliet (c.1596)

Henry IV, Part 1 (1597)

Love's Labour's Lost (1597)

Henry IV, Part 2 (1597)

The Merchant of Venice (c.1597)

As You Like It (1599)

Julius Caesar (1599)

Much And About Nothing (1599)

Henry V (c.1599)

Hamlet (1601)

Twelfth Night (1601–1602)

Measure for Measure (1604)

Othello (1604)

Macbeth (c.1606)

King Lear (c.1606)

Antony and Cleopatra (1607)

Coriolanus (c.1608)

Sonnets (c.1609)

The Winter's Tale (1611)

The Tempest (1611)

Henry VIII (1613)

Fantasy Fiction

The Tempest (1611)

Works written or first performed

Dates are estimates of the years when works were written or first performed, with date ranges indicating the variety of critics' estimates.

1588–1593

Titus Andronicus Play (authorship questioned, possibly written by George Peel all or in part), first performed 1593, first published 1594

1589–1593

Two Gentlemen of Verona Play, first performed 1762, first published 1623

1589–1594

The Comedy of Errors Play, first performed 1594, first published 1623

1590

"A Lover's Complaint" Poem, published 1609 with Sonnets

1590–1592

Henry VI, Part 2 Play, first performed 1592, first published 1594

Henry VI, Part 3 Play, first performed 1592, first published 1595

The Taming of the Shrew Play, first performed 1594, first published 1594

1591–1592

Henry VI, Part 1 Play (full authorship questioned), written as prequel to what became known as Parts 2 and 3, first performed 1592, first published 1623

1592–1595

Edward III Play (authorship questioned), first performed 1590s, first published 1596

1592–1596

Richard III Play, first performed 1597, first published 1597

1593

Venus and Adonis Poetry

1593–1594

The Rape of Lucrece Poetry

1594–1595

Love's Labour's Lost Play, first performed 1597, first published 1598

A Midsummer Night's Dream Play, first performed 1xxx, first published 1623

1594–1597

King John Play, first performed unknown, first published 1623

1595

Richard II Play, first performed 1595, first published 1597

1595–1596

Romeo and Juliet Play, first performed unknown, first published 1597

1596–1597

The Merchant of Venice Play, first performed 1605, first published 1600

Henry IV, Part 1 Play, first performed 1600, first published 1598

1596–1598

Henry IV, Part 2 Play, first performed unknown, first published 1600

The Merry Wives of Windsor Play, first performed unknown, first published 1602

1598–1599

Much Ado About Nothing Play, first performed unknown, first published 1600

1599

Henry V Play, first performed 1605, first published 1600

Julius Caesar Play, first performed 1599, first published 1623

1599–1600

As You Like It Play, first performed 1603, first published 1623

1599–1601

"The Phoenix and the Turtle" Poem, first published 1601 in a poetry collection

1599–1602

Hamlet Play, first performed 1602, first published 1603

1601–1602

Twelfth Night Play, first performed 1602, first published 1623

1602

Troilus and Cressida Play, first performed unknown, first published 1609

1602–1604

Measure for Measure Play, first performed 1604, first published 1623

1602–1607

All's Well that Ends Well Play, first performed unknown, first published 1623

1603–1604

Othello Play, first performed 1604, first published 1622

1603–1606

King Lear Play, first performed 1606, first published 1608

1603–1607

Macbeth Play, first performed unknown, first published 1623

1605–1609

Timon of Athens Play (full authorship questioned), first performed unknown, firs published 1623

1606–1607

Anthony and Cleopatra Play, first performed unknown, first published 1623

1608–1609

Coriolanus Play, first performed unknown, first published 1623

1607–1610

Pericles Play (full authorship questioned), first performed unknown, first published 1623

1609

Shakespeare's Sonnets Poems, first published 1609

1609–1611

Cymbeline Play, first performed 1611, first published 1623

1610–1611

The Winter's Tale Play, first performed 1611, first published 1623

The Tempest Play, first performed 1611, first published 1623

1612–1613

Henry VIII, or All Is True Play (collaboration with John Fletcher), first performed 1613, first published 1623

Cardenio Play (collaboration with John Fletcher), first performed 1613, never published as lost

1613–1614

The Two Noble Kinsmen Play (collaboration with John Fletcher), first performed unknown, first published 1634.

 

CritiqueAuthorship • Works • HistoriesCriticsParodies