NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Shakespeare's plays

William Shakespeare's plays have the reputation^{[citation needed]} of being among the greatest in the English language and in Western literature. His plays are traditionally divided into the genres of tragedy, history, and comedy. His plays have been translated into every major living language, in addition to being continually performed all around the world. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897) was a British artist. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Shakespeare wrote tragedies from the beginning of his career: one of his earliest plays was the Roman tragedy Titus Andronicus, and he followed it a few years later with Romeo and Juliet. ... Traditionally, the plays of William Shakespeare have been grouped into three categories: tragedies, comedies, and histories. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A modern language is any human language that is used by societies in the world today. ...

Among the most famous and critically acclaimed of Shakespeare's plays are Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice and Richard III. Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ... For other uses, see A Midsummer Nights Dream (disambiguation). ... Taming of the Shrew by Augustus Egg The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses of Twelfth Night, see Twelfth Night (disambiguation). ... Portia and Shylock (1835) by Thomas Sully The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1596 and 1598. ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ...

Some plays first appeared in print as a series of quartos, but most remained unpublished until 1623 when the posthumous First Folio was published. The traditional division of his plays into tragedies, comedies, and histories follows the logic of the First Folio. However, modern criticism has labelled some of these plays "problem plays" as they elude easy categorization, or perhaps purposefully break generic conventions, and has introduced the term 'romances' for the later comedies. William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book. ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... In Shakespeare studies, the term problem plays normally refers to three comedies that William Shakespeare wrote between the late 1590s and the first years of the seventeenth century: Alls Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, although some critics would extend the term to other...

Theatre in Shakespeare's time

Theatre was changing when Shakespeare first arrived in London in the late 1580s or early 1590s: Dramatists writing for London's new commercial playhouses were combining two different strands of dramatic tradition into a new and distinctively Elizabethan synthesis. Previously, the most common forms of popular English theatre were the Tudor morality plays. These plays, which blend piety with farce and slapstick, were allegories in which the characters are personified moral attributes who validate the virtues of Godly life by prompting the protagonist to choose such a life over evil. The characters and plot situations are largely symbolic rather than realistic. As a child, Shakespeare would likely have seen this type of play (along with, perhaps, mystery plays and miracle plays).^[1] The other strand of dramatic tradition was classical aesthetic theory. This theory derived ultimately from Aristotle; in renaissance England, however, the theory was better known through its Roman interpreters and practitioners. At the universities, academic plays were staged based on Roman closet dramas. These plays, usually performed in Latin, adhered to classical ideas of unity and decorum, but they were also more static, valuing lengthy speeches over physical action. Shakespeare would have learned this theory at grammar school, where Plautus and especially Terence were key parts of the curriculum^[2] and were taught in editions with lengthy theoretical introductions.^[3] Allegory of the Tudor dynasty (detail), attributed to Lucas de Heere, c. ... Morality plays are a type of theatrical allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a godly life over one of evil. ... In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue. ... Look up farce in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Slapstick (disambiguation). ... Allegory of Music by Filippino Lippi. ... Phillipp Veits Germania (1877), a personification of Germany. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... Mystery plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. ... Mystery plays or miracle plays are one of the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. ... Look up Classical in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The three unities or classical unities are rules for drama derived from a mistaken interpretation of a particular passage in Aristotles Poetics. ... Etiquette is the code that governs the expectations of social behavior, the conventional norm. ... Titus Macchius Plautus, generally referred to simply as Plautus, was a playwright of Ancient Rome. ... Publius Terentius Afer, better known as Terence, was a comic playwright of the Roman Republic. ...

Theatre and stage setup

Archaeological excavations on the foundations of the Rose and the Globe in the late twentieth century^[4] showed that all London English Renaissance theatres were built around similar general plans. Despite individual differences, the public theatres were three stories high, and built around an open space at the center. Usually polygonal in plan to give an overall rounded effect, three levels of inward-facing galleries overlooked the open center into which jutted the stage—essentially a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience, only the rear being restricted for the entrances and exits of the actors and seating for the musicians. The upper level behind the stage could be used as a balcony, as in Romeo and Juliet, or as a position for an actor to harangue a crowd, as in Julius Caesar. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. ... A balcony comprising a balustrade supported at either end by plinths. ... Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ... Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. ...

Usually built of timber, lath and plaster and with thatched roofs, the early theatres were vulnerable to fire, and gradually were replaced (when necessary) with stronger structures. When the Globe burned down in June 1613, it was rebuilt with a tile roof. Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ...

A different model was developed with the Blackfriars Theatre, which came into regular use on a longterm basis in 1599. The Blackfriars was small in comparison to the earlier theatres, and roofed rather than open to the sky; it resembled a modern theatre in ways that its predecessors did not. Blackfriars Theatre was the name of two separate theatres in the City of London, built on grounds previously belonging to a Dominican monastery. ... Year 1599 was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Elizabethan Shakespeare

For Shakespeare as he began to write, both traditions were alive; they were, moreover, filtered through the recent success of the University Wits on the London stage. By the late 16th century, the popularity of morality and academic plays waned as the English Renaissance took hold, and playwrights like Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe revolutionised theatre. Their plays blended the old morality drama with classical theory to produce a new secular form.^[5] The new drama combined the rhetorical complexity of the academic play with the bawdy energy of the moralities. However, it was more ambiguous and complex in its meanings, and less concerned with simple allegory. Inspired by this new style, Shakespeare continued these artistic strategies,^[6] creating plays that not only resonated on an emotional level with audiences but also explored and debated the basic elements of what it means to be human. What Marlowe and Kyd did for tragedy, John Lyly and George Peele, among others, did for comedy: they offered models of witty dialogue, romantic action, and exotic, often pastoral location that formed the basis of Shakespeare's comedic mode throughout his career.^{[citation needed]} A University wit is a member of a group of notable English playwrights of the late 16th century. ... The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. ... Thomas Kyd (1558 - 1594) was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama. ... This article is about the English dramatist. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... John Lyly (Lilly or Lylie) (c. ... George Peele (1558 - c. ...

Shakespeare's Elizabethan tragedies (including the history plays with tragic designs, such as Richard II) demonstrate his relative independence from classical models. He takes from Aristotle and Horace the notion of decorum; with few exceptions, he focuses on high-born characters and national affairs as the subject of tragedy. In most other respects, though, the early tragedies are far closer to the spirit and style of moralities. They are episodic, packed with character and incident; they are loosely unified by a theme or character.^[7] In this respect, they reflect clearly the influence of Marlowe, particularly of Tamburlaine. Even in his early work, however, Shakespeare generally shows more restraint than Marlowe; he resorts to grandiloquent rhetoric less frequently, and his attitude towards his heroes is more nuanced, and sometimes more skeptical, than Marlowe's.^[8] By the turn of the century, the bombast of Titus Andronicus had vanished, replaced by the subtlety of Hamlet. In the Oxford Latin Course book, Quintus is based on the famous poet, Horace. ... An anonymous portrait, often believed to show Christopher Marlowe. ...

In comedy, Shakespeare strayed even further from classical models. The Comedy of Errors, an adaptation of Menaechmi, follows the model of new comedy closely. Shakespeare's other Elizabethan comedies are more romantic. Like Lyly, he often makes romantic intrigue (a secondary feature in Latin new comedy) the main plot element;^[9] even this romantic plot is sometimes given less attention than witty dialogue, deceit, and jests. The "reform of manners," which Horace considered the main function of comedy,^[10] survives in such episodes as the gulling of Malvolio. Menaechmi, a Latin-language play, is considered by many as Plautus greatest play. ... Greek comedy is the name given to a wide genre of theatrical plays written, and performed, in Ancient Greece. ... Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ...

Jacobean Shakespeare

Shakespeare reached maturity as a dramatist at the end of Elizabeth's reign, and in the first years of the reign of James. In these years, he responded to a deep shift in popular tastes, both in subject matter and approach. At the turn of the decade, he responded to the vogue for dramatic satire initiated by the boy players at Blackfriars and St. Paul's. At the end of the decade, he seems to have attempted to capitalize on the new fashion for tragicomedy,^[11] even collaborating with John Fletcher, the writer who had popularized the genre in England. Edward Kynaston, one of the last boy players (1889 engraving of a contemporary portrait) Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by English Renaissance acting companies. ... Blackfriars Theatre was the name of two separate theatres in the City of London, built on grounds previously belonging to a Dominican monastery. ... The Children of Pauls was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean London. ... Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ...

The influence of younger dramatists such as John Marston and Ben Jonson is seen not only in the problem plays, which dramatize intractable human problems of greed and lust, but also in the darker tone of the Jacobean tragedies.^[12] The Marlovian, heroic mode of the Elizabethan tragedies is gone, replaced by a darker vision of heroic natures caught in environments of pervasive corruption. As a sharer in both the Globe and in the King's Men, Shakespeare never wrote for the boys' companies; however, his early Jacobean work is markedly influenced by the techniques of the new, satiric dramatists. One play, Troilus and Cressida, may even have been inspired by the War of the Theatres.^[13] John Marston (October 7, 1576 - June 25, 1634) was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... The War of the Theatres is the name commonly applied to a controversy from the later Elizabethan theatre; Thomas Dekker termed it the Poetomachia. ...

Shakespeare's final plays hearken back to his Elizabethan comedies in their use of romantic situation and incident.^[14] In these plays, however, the sombre elements that are largely glossed over in the earlier plays are brought to the fore and often rendered dramatically vivid. This change is related to the success of tragicomedies such as Philaster, although the uncertainty of dates makes the nature and direction of the influence unclear. From the evidence of the title-page to The Two Noble Kinsmen and from textual analysis it is believed by some editors that Shakespeare ended his career in collaboration with Fletcher, who succeeded him as house playwright for the King's Men.^[15] These last plays resemble Fletcher's tragicomedies in their attempt to find a comedic mode capable of dramatizing more serious events than had his earlier comedies. Philaster, or Love Lies a-Bleeding is an early Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. ... The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play written in 1613 by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare in collaboration. ... Content analysis (also called: textual analysis) is a standard methodology in the social sciences on the subject of communication content. ...

Style

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, "drama became the ideal means to capture and convey the diverse interests of the time."^[16] Stories of various genres were enacted for audiences consisting of both the wealthy and educated and the poor and illiterate.^[16] Shakespeare served his dramatic apprenticeship at the height of the Elizabethan period, in the years following the defeat of the Spanish Armada; he retired at the height of the Jacobean period, not long before the start of the Thirty Years' War. His verse style, his choice of subjects, and his stagecraft all bear the marks of both periods.^[17] His style changed not only in accordance with his own tastes and developing mastery, but also in accord with the tastes of the audiences for whom he wrote.^[18] Combatants England Dutch Republic Spain Portugal Commanders Elizabeth I of England Charles Howard Francis Drake Philip II of Spain Duke of Medina Sidonia Strength 34 warships 163 armed merchant vessels 22 galleons 108 armed merchant vessels Casualties 50â€“100 dead[1] ~400 wounded 600 dead, 800 wounded,[2] 397 captured... Combatants Sweden (from 1630) Bohemia Denmark-Norway (1625-1629) Dutch Republic France Scotland England Saxony Holy Roman Empire ( Catholic League) Spain Austria Bavaria Denmark-Norway (1643-1645) Commanders Frederick V Buckingham Leven Gustav II Adolf â€ Johan Baner Cardinal Richelieu Louis II de Bourbon Turenne Christian IV of Denmark Bernhard of...

While many passages in Shakespeare's plays are written in prose, he almost always wrote a large proportion of his plays and poems in iambic pentameter. In some of his early works (like Romeo and Juliet), he even added punctuation at the end of these iambic pentameter lines to make the rhythm even stronger.^[19] He and other dramatists at the time used this form of blank verse for a lot of the dialogue between characters in order to elevate drama to new poetic heights.^[16] Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to everyday speech. ... Insert non-formatted text hereIambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. ... Blank verse is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme. ...

To end many scenes in his plays he used a rhyming couplet for suspense.^[20] A typical example is provided in Macbeth: as Macbeth leaves the stage to murder Duncan (to the sound of a chiming clock), he says,^[21] For the Angel episode, see Couplet (Angel episode). ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ...

Shakespeare's writing (especially his plays) also feature extensive wordplay in which double entendres and clever rhetorical flourishes are repeatedly used.^[22]^[23] Humor is a key element in all of Shakespeare's plays. Although a large amount of his comical talent is evident in his comedies, some of the most entertaining scenes and characters are found in tragedies such as Hamlet and histories such as Henry IV, Part 1. Shakespeare's humor was largely influenced by Plautus.^[24] A double entendre or innuendo is a figure of speech similar to the pun, in which a spoken phrase can be understood in either of two ways. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Title page of the first quarto (1598) Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare. ... Titus Maccius Plautus was a comic playwright of the Roman Republic. ...

Soliloquies in plays

Shakespeare's plays are also notable for their use of soliloquies, in which a character makes a speech to him- or herself so the audience can understand the character's inner motivations and conflict.^[25] Among his most famous soliloquies are To be, or not to be, All the world's a stage, Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, and What a piece of work is a man. In his book Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies, James Hirsh defines the convention of a Shakespearean soliloquy in early modern drama. He argues that when a person on the stage speaks to himself or herself, they are characters in a fiction speaking in character; this is an occasion of self-address. Furthermore, Hirsh points out that Shakspearean soliloquies and "asides" are audible in the fiction of the play, bound to be overheard by any other character in the scene unless certain elements confirm that the speech is protected. Ergo, a Renaissance playgoer who was familiar with this dramatic convention would have been alert to Hamlet's expectation that his soliloquy be overheard by the other characters in the scene. Moreover, Hirsh asserts that in soliloquies in other Shakespearean plays, the speaker in entirely in character within the play's fiction. Saying that addressing the audience was outmoded by the time Shakespeare was alive, he "acknowledges few occasions when a Shakespearean speech might involve the audience in recognizing the simultaneous reality of the stage and the world the stage is representing." Other than 29 speeches delivered by choruses or characters who revert to that condition as epilogues "Hirsh recognizes only three instances of audience address in Shakespeare's plays, 'all in very early comedies, in which audience address is introduced specifically to ridicule the practice as antiquated and amateurish.'"^[26] Soliloquy is an audible oratory or conversation with oneself. ... For the Ernst Lubitsch film, see To Be or Not to Be (1942 film). ... For the live album by Rush, see All the Worlds a Stage (album). ... Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow is the opening line of one of the most famous soliloquys from Shakespears Macbeth. ... The phrase What a piece of work is a man! comes from Shakespeares Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, scene II, and it is often used in reference to the whole speech containing the line. ... Hamlet and Ophelia, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Prince Hamlet is the main character in Shakespeares tragedy Hamlet. ...

Source material of the plays

As was common in the period, Shakespeare based many of his plays on the work of other playwrights and recycled older stories and historical material. His dependence on earlier sources was a natural consequence of the speed at which playwrights of his era wrote; in addition, plays based on already popular stories appear to have been seen as more likely to draw large crowds. There were also aesthetic reasons: Renaissance aesthetic theory took seriously the dictum that tragic plots should be grounded in history. This stricture did not apply to comedy, and those of Shakespeare's plays for which no clear source has been established, such as Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest, are comedies. Even these plays, however, rely heavily on generic commonplaces. For example, Hamlet (c.1601) may be a reworking of an older, lost play (the so-called Ur-Hamlet),^[27] and King Lear is likely an adaptation of an older play, King Leir. For plays on historical subjects, Shakespeare relied heavily on two principal texts. Most of the Roman and Greek plays are based on Plutarch's Parallel Lives (from the 1579 English translation by Sir Thomas North,^[28] and the English history plays are indebted to Raphael Holinshed's 1587 Chronicles. For the film, see Loves Labours Lost (2000 film). ... For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Events February 8 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed February 25 - Robert Devereux beheaded Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrives in China Bad harvest in Russia due to rainy summer Dutch troops drive Portuguese from MÃ¡laga Battle of Kinsale, Ireland Births... Ur-Hamlet was the name given by nineteenth century German scholars to a pre-Shakespearean Hamlet written before 1589. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... King Leir is an anonymous Elizabethan play published in 1605 but believed to have been written before 1594. ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Î Î»Î¿ÏÏ„Î±ÏÏ‡Î¿Ï‚; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Plutarch in Greek Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings. ... Events January 6 - The Union of Atrecht united the southern Netherlands under the Duke of Parma, governor in the name of king Philip II of Spain. ... Traditionally, the works of William Shakespeare have been grouped into three categories: tragedies, comedies, and histories. ... Raphael Holinshed (died c. ... 1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Stylistic groupings of the plays

While there is much dispute about the exact Chronology of Shakespeare plays, as well as the Shakespeare Authorship Question, the plays tend to fall into three main stylistic groupings. The precise chronology of Shakespeares plays as they were first written and performed is impossible to determine, as there is no authoritative record and many of the plays were performed many years before they were published. ... The frontispiece of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of Shakespeares plays. ...

The first major grouping of his plays begins with his histories and comedies of the 1590s. Shakespeare's earliest plays tended to be adaptations of other playwright's works and employed blank verse and little variation in rhythm. However, after the plague forced Shakespeare and his company of actors to leave London for periods between 1592 and 1594, Shakespeare began to use rhymed couplets in his plays, along with more dramatic dialogue. These elements showed up in The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Almost all of the plays written after the plague hit London are comedies, perhaps reflecting the public's desire at the time for light-hearted fare. Other comedies from this period include Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor and As You Like It. The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis). ... Taming of the Shrew by Augustus Egg The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For other uses, see A Midsummer Nights Dream (disambiguation). ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Title page of the 1602 quarto The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the fat knight Sir John Falstaff and is Shakespeares only play to deal exclusively with contemporary English life. ... Walter Deverell,The Mock Marriage of Orlando and Rosalind, 1853 William Shakespeares As You Like It is a pastoral comedy written in 1599 or early 1600. ...

The middle grouping of Shakespeare's plays begins in 1599 with Julius Caesar. For the next few years, Shakespeare would produce his most famous dramas, including Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear. The plays during this period are in many ways the darkest of Shakespeare's career and address issues such as betrayal, murder, lust, power and egoism. Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ...

The final grouping of plays, called Shakespeare's late romances, include Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. The romances are so called because they bear similarities to medieval romance literature. Among the features of these plays are a redemptive plotline with a happy ending, and magic and other fantastic elements. The late romances, often simply called the romances, are a grouping of William Shakespeares later plays, including Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Cymbeline, The Winters Tale, and The Tempest. ... Title page of the 1611 quarto edition of the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written (at least in part) by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays despite some questions over its authorship. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Imogen This article is about Shakespeares play. ... Florizel and Perdita by Charles Robert Leslie. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... As a literary genre, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic prose and verse narrative current in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. ...

Canonical plays

The plays are here according to the order in which they are given in the First Folio of 1623. Plays marked with an asterisk (*) are now commonly referred to as 'Romances'. Plays marked with two asterisks (**) are sometimes referred to as the 'problem plays'. The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... An asterisk (*), is a typographical symbol or glyph. ... The late romances, often simply called the romances, are a grouping of William Shakespeares later plays, including Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Cymbeline, The Winters Tale, and The Tempest. ... In Shakespeare studies, the term problem plays normally refers to three comedies that William Shakespeare wrote between the late 1590s and the first years of the seventeenth century: Alls Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, although some critics would extend the term to other...

Shakespearean comedies are one of the three (sometimes four) genres of plays by William Shakespeare. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare from early in his career. ... Title page of the 1602 quarto The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the fat knight Sir John Falstaff and is Shakespeares only play to deal exclusively with contemporary English life. ... Claudio and Isabella (1850) by William Holman Hunt Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, written in 1603. ... Poster for a performance The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeares early plays, written between 1592 and 1594. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For the film, see Loves Labours Lost (2000 film). ... For other uses, see A Midsummer Nights Dream (disambiguation). ... Portia and Shylock (1835) by Thomas Sully The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1596 and 1598. ... Walter Deverell,The Mock Marriage of Orlando and Rosalind, 1853 William Shakespeares As You Like It is a pastoral comedy written in 1599 or early 1600. ... Taming of the Shrew by Augustus Egg The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For the Chiodos album, see Alls Well That Ends Well (album). ... Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Florizel and Perdita by Charles Robert Leslie. ... Title page of the 1611 quarto edition of the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written (at least in part) by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays despite some questions over its authorship. ... The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play written in 1613 by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare in collaboration. ... Traditionally, the plays of William Shakespeare have been grouped into three categories: tragedies, comedies, and histories. ... The Life and Death of King John is one of the Shakespearean histories, plays written by William Shakespeare and based on the history of England. ... Title page of Richard II, from the fifth quarto, published in 1615. ... Title page of the first quarto (1598) Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare. ... Henry IV part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, first published as part of Shakespeares First Folio. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Henry V, also known as The Cronicle History of Henry the fift, is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. ... The First Part of King Henry the Sixth is one of Shakespeares history plays. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Henry VI Part III is the third of William Shakespeares plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England, and prepares the ground for one of his best-known and most controversial plays: the tragedy of King Richard III (Richard III of England). ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Katherine of Aragon The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth was one of the last plays written by the English playwright William Shakespeare, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. ... Shakespeare wrote tragedies from the beginning of his career: one of his earliest plays was the Roman tragedy Titus Andronicus, and he followed it a few years later with Romeo and Juliet. ... For the Chaucer poem, see Troilus and Criseyde. ... Venturia at the Feet of Coriolanus by Gaspare Landi Photo courtesy of The VRoma Project. ... Title page of the first quarto edition (1594) The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus may be Shakespeares earliest tragedy. ... Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Timon (disambiguation). ... Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... Anthony and Cleopatra, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Imogen This article is about Shakespeares play. ...

Dramatic collaborations

Like most playwrights of his period, Shakespeare did not always write alone, and a number of his plays were collaborative, although the exact number is open to debate. Some of the following attributions, such as for The Two Noble Kinsmen, have well-attested contemporary documentation; others, such as for Titus Andronicus, remain more controversial and are dependent on linguistic analysis by modern scholars. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Publicity poster for the 2002 Los Angeles production of The Second Maidens Tragedy as The History of Cardenio is a lost play, known to have been performed by the Kings Men, a London theatre company, in 1613. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ... The First Part of King Henry the Sixth is one of Shakespeares history plays. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Katherine of Aragon The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth was one of the last plays written by the English playwright William Shakespeare, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ... Thomas Middleton (1580 â€“ 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. ... Claudio and Isabella (1850) by William Holman Hunt Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, written in 1603. ... Thomas Middleton (1580 â€“ 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. ... Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written partly by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays. ... George Hubert Wilkins (fl. ... For other uses, see Timon (disambiguation). ... Thomas Middleton (1580 â€“ 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. ... Title page of the first quarto edition (1594) The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus may be Shakespeares earliest tragedy. ... George Peele (1558 - c. ... The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play written in 1613 by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare in collaboration. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ...

Lost plays

Loves Labours Won, alternatively written Loves labours wonne, is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. ... Francis Meres (1565 - January 29, 1647), was an English churchman and author. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For the Chiodos album, see Alls Well That Ends Well (album). ... Publicity poster for the 2002 Los Angeles production of The Second Maidens Tragedy as The History of Cardenio is a lost play, known to have been performed by the Kings Men, a London theatre company, in 1613. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ... Cervantes redirects here. ... This article is about the fictional character and novel. ... Lewis Theobald (1688 - 1744), British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. ... Double Falshood (sometimes erroneously listed as The Double Falshood) is a play by Lewis Theobald, first produced on December 13, 1727 at the Drury Lane Theatre and published in 1728, which he claimed to have based on three manuscripts dating from the time of the English Restoration of an unnamed...

Plays possibly by Shakespeare

Note: For a comprehensive account of plays possibly by Shakespeare, see the separate entry on the Shakespeare Apocrypha. The Shakespeare Apocrypha is the name given to a group of plays that have sometimes been attributed to William Shakespeare, but whose attribution is questionable for various reasons. ...

The Reign of King Edward III is a play attributed to William Shakespeare. ... Playtext from the 2005 Royal Shakespeare Company production. ...

Shakespeare and the textual problem

Unlike his contemporary Ben Jonson, Shakespeare did not have direct involvement in publishing his plays and produced no overall authoritative version of his plays before he died. As a result, the problem of identifying what Shakespeare actually wrote is a major concern for most modern editions. For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ... â€œPublisherâ€ redirects here. ...

One of the reasons there are textual problems is that there was no copyright of writings at the time. As a result, Shakespeare and the playing companies he worked with did not distribute scripts of his plays, for fear that the plays would be stolen. This led to bootleg copies of his plays, which were often based on people trying to remember what Shakespeare had actually written. In Renaissance London, playing company was the usual term for a company of actors. ...

Textual corruptions also stemming from printers' errors, misreadings by compositors or simply wrongly scanned lines from the source material litter the Quartos and the First Folio. Additionally, in an age before standardised spelling, Shakespeare often wrote a word several times in a different spelling, and this may have contributed to some of the transcribers' confusion. Modern editors have the task of reconstructing Shakespeare's original words and expurgating errors as far as possible. Old book binding and cover Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ...

In some cases the textual solution presents few difficulties. In the case of Macbeth for example, scholars believe that someone (probably Thomas Middleton) adapted and shortened the original to produce the extant text published in the First Folio, but that remains our only authorised text. In others the text may have become manifestly corrupt or unreliable (Pericles or Timon of Athens) but no competing version exists. The modern editor can only regularise and correct erroneous readings that have survived into the printed versions. Thomas Middleton (1580 â€“ 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written partly by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays. ... For other uses, see Timon (disambiguation). ...

The textual problem can, however, become rather complicated. Modern scholarship now believes Shakespeare to have modified his plays through the years, sometimes leading to two existing versions of one play. To provide a modern text in such cases, editors must face the choice between the original first version and the later, revised, usually more theatrical version. In the past editors have resolved this problem by conflating the texts to provide what they believe to be a superior Ur-text, but critics now argue that to provide a conflated text would run contrary to Shakespeare's intentions. In King Lear for example, two independent versions, each with their own textual integrity, exist in the Quarto and the Folio versions. Shakespeare's changes here extend from the merely local to the structural. Hence the Oxford Shakespeare, published in 1986 (second edition 2005), provides two different versions of the play, each with respectable authority. The problem exists with at least four other Shakespearean plays (Henry IV, part 1, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, and Othello). King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... Title page of the first quarto (1598) Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... For the Chaucer poem, see Troilus and Criseyde. ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ...

Authorship

Around one hundred and fifty years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the plays and poetry attributed to him. Researchers who believe the works to have been written by another playwright, or group of playwrights, have since then proposed many candidates for alternative authorship, including Francis Bacon,^[29] Christopher Marlowe,^[30] and Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.^[31] While it is generally accepted in academic circles that Shakespeare's plays were written by Shakespeare of Stratford and not another author, popular interest in the subject, particularly the Oxfordian theory,^[32]^[33] has continued into the 21st century.^[34] The frontispiece of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of Shakespeares plays. ... for the painter see Francis Bacon (painter) For other persons named Francis Bacon, see Francis Bacon (disambiguation). ... This article is about the English dramatist. ... The Earl of Oxford, from the 1914 publication English Travellers of the Renaissance by Clare Howard Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (April 12, 1550 - June 24, 1604) was born at Castle Hedingham to the 16th Earl of Oxford. ... The Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), wrote the plays and poems conventionally attributed to William Shakespeare. ...

Performance history

During Shakespeare's lifetime, many of his greatest plays were staged at the Globe Theatre and the Blackfriars Theatre.^[35]^[36] Shakespeare's fellow members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men acted in his plays. Among these actors were Richard Burbage (who played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III and King Lear),^[37] Richard Cowley (who played Verges in Much Ado About Nothing), William Kempe, (who played Peter in Romeo and Juliet and, possibly, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Henry Condell and John Heminges, are most famous now for collecting and editing the plays of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623). Sir John Gilberts 1849 painting: The Plays of William Shakespeare, containing scenes and characters from several of William Shakespeares plays. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 177 KB)The Galleries of Shakespeares Globe Theatre, London. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 177 KB)The Galleries of Shakespeares Globe Theatre, London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare (commonly known as Shakespeares Globe Theatre). ... Blackfriars Theatre was the name of two separate theatres in the City of London, built on grounds previously belonging to a Dominican monastery. ... Unknown artist: Portrait of Richard Burbage, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London Richard Burbage (July 7, 1568 â€“ March 13, 1619) was an actor and theatre owner. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... Richard Cowley (died 1619) was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a colleague of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage in the Lord Chamberlains Men and the Kings Men. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... William Kempe (also spelled Kemp) (fl. ... Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see A Midsummer Nights Dream (disambiguation). ... Henry Condell was an actor in the Kings Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. ... John Heminges was an actor in the Kings Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Shakespeare's plays continued to be staged after his death until the Interregnum (1642–1660), when all public stage performances were banned by the Puritan rulers. After the English Restoration, Shakespeare's plays were performed in playhouses with elaborate scenery and staged with music, dancing, thunder, lightning, wave machines, and fireworks. During this time the texts were "reformed" and "improved" for the stage, an undertaking which has seemed shockingly disrespectful to posterity. The English Interregnum was the period of republican rule after the English Civil War between the regicide of Charles I in 1649 and the restoration of Charles II in 1660. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... For other uses, see Restoration. ... For other uses, see Fireworks (disambiguation). ...

Victorian productions of Shakespeare often sought pictorial effects in "authentic" historical costumes and sets. The staging of the reported sea fights and barge scene in Antony and Cleopatra was one spectacular example.^[38] Too often, the result was a loss of pace. Towards the end of the 19th century, William Poel led a reaction against this heavy style. In a series of "Elizabethan" productions on a thrust stage, he paid fresh attention to the structure of the drama. In the early twentieth century, Harley Granville-Barker directed quarto and folio texts with few cuts,^[39] while Edward Gordon Craig and others called for abstract staging. Both approaches have influenced the variety of Shakespearean production styles seen today.^[40] Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her ascension to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Anthony and Cleopatra, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. ... William Poel (1852-1934) was an English actor and theatrical manager, known for his presentation of old plays. ... A production of Godspell performed on a 3/4 thust stage In theater, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage [1]) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. ... Harley Granville-Barker (November 25, 1877 – August 31, 1946) was a British actor, director, producer, critic and playwright. ... Edward Henry Gordon Craig (16 January 1872-29 July 1966), usually known as Gordon Craig, was a British actor, producer, director and scenic designer. ... Look up abstract, abstraction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

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