William Shakespeare
Critique • Authorship • Works • Histories • Critics • Parodies
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
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.
Critique • Authorship • Works • Histories • Critics • Parodies
