Shakespeare's Plays(arranged by approximate date of composition) |
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| Play | Approximate date of composition | Date of first publication | Sources | Major characters | Genre |
| Henry VI, Part II | 1590 | 1594 | Edward Hall, Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1548);Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587) | King Henry VIQueen MargaretRichard Plantagenet, Duke of York | History |
| Henry VI, Part III | 1590 | 1595 | Hall;Holinshed | King Henry VIQueen MargaretEdward, Prince of WalesRichard, Duke of GloucesterRichard Nevil, Earl of Warwick | History |
| Henry VI, Part I | 1590 | 1623 | Hall;Holinshed | King Henry VILord TalbotJoan of ArcRichard Plantagenet, Duke of York | History |
| Richard III | 1592 | 1597 | Hall;Holinshed;Sir Thomas More, History of Richard III | King Richard IIIQueen ElizabethDuke of BuckinghamLady AnneGeorge, Duke of Clarence | History |
| The Comedy of Errors | 1592 | 1623 | Plautus, Menaechmi and Amphituo | Antipholus of SyracuseAntipholus of EphesusDromio of SyracuseDromio of Ephesus | Comedy |
| Titus Andronicus (may have been written in collaboration with George Peele) | 1593 | 1594 | History of Titus Andronicus (chapbook);John Gower, Appolonius of Tyre | Titus of AndronicusTamoraAaron the Moor | Tragedy |
| The Taming of the Shrew | 1593 | 1623 | George Gascoigne, Supposes (1566);Earlier play The Taming of a Shaw | PetruchioKatherine | Comedy |
| The Two Gentlemen of Verona | 1594 | 1623 | Jorge de Montemayor, Diana (1559?) | ValentineProteusJuliusSilvia | Comedy |
| Love's Labour's Lost | 1594 | 1598 | Specific source not established | King of NavarrePrincess of FranceHolofernesDon Adriano de Armado | Comedy |
| Romeo and Juliet | 1594 | 1597 | Arthur Brooke, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562);Matteo Bandello, Novelle (tr. by William Painter in Palace of Pleasure, 1566–67) | RomeoJulietMercutioTybaltFriar LaurenceNurse | Tragedy |
| Richard II | 1595 | 1597 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587) | King Richard IIHenry BolingbrokeEdmund of Langley, Duke of York | History |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | 1595 | 1600 | Specific source not established | HermiaLysanderTheseusHelenaDemetriusOberonTitaniaPuckBottom | Comedy |
| King John | 1596 | 1623 | Anon. play, The Troublesome Raigne of King John (1591) | King JohnPhilip the BastardArthur, Duke of BritainConstance | History |
| The Merchant of Venice | 1596 | 1600 | Giovanni Fiorentino, Il Pecarone (1558) | BassanioShylockAntonioPortia | Comedy |
| Henry IV, Part I | 1597 | 1598 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587) | King Henry IVFalstaffHenry, Prince of Wales (Prince Hal)Henry Percy ( Hotspur ) | History |
| Henry IV, Part II | 1597 | 1600 | Holinshed | King Henry IVFalstaffHenry, Prince of Wales | History |
| Much Ado about Nothing | 1598 | 1600 | Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516) | Prince of ArragonBeatriceBenedickClaudioHero | Comedy |
| Henry V | 1598 | 1600 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587) | King Henry VArchbishop of CanterburyFluellenPistol | History |
| Julius Caesar | 1599 | 1623 | Plutarch, Lives (tr. by Sir Thomas North, 1579) | BrutusCassiusMarc AntonyCaesar | Tragedy |
| As You Like It | 1599 | 1623 | Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde (1590) | RosalindOrlandoTouchstone | Comedy |
| Twelfth Night | 1599 | 1623 | Barnabe Riche, Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession (1581) | Sir Toby BelchViolaSebastianDuke OrsinoOlivia | Comedy |
| Hamlet | 1600 | 1603 | François de Belleforest, Histoires Tragiques (1576) | HamletHoratioOpheliaLaertesClaudiusPoloniusGertrude | Tragedy |
| The Merry Wives of Windsor | 1600 | 1602 | Specific source not established | FalstaffMrs. PageMr. Ford | Comedy |
| Troilus and Cressida | 1601 | 1609 | Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde (c.1386);William Caxton, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1474) | TroilusUlyssesPandarusCressida | Comedy |
| All's Well That Ends Well | 1602 | 1623 | William Painter, Palace of Pleasure (1566–67) | BertramHelenaParollesKing of France | Comedy |
| Measure for Measure | 1604 | 1623 | George Whetstone, Promos and Cassandra (1578) | VincentioAngeloIsabellaClaudioMariana | Comedy |
| Othello | 1604 | 1622 | Giovanni Battista Giraldi ( Cinthio ), Ecatommiti (1565) | OthelloDesdemonaIagoCassio | Tragedy |
| King Lear | 1605 | 1608 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587);Anon., The True Chronicle History of King Leir (before 1594) | King LearCordeliaEarl of GloucesterEdgarEarl of KentEdmundGonerilReganDuke of AlbanyLear's Fool | Tragedy |
| Macbeth | 1605 | 1623 | Holinshed | DuncanMacbethLady MacbethMalcolmMacduff | Tragedy |
| Antony and Cleopatra | 1606 | 1623 | Plutarch, Lives (tr. 1579) | Mark AntonyCleopatraOctavius Caesar | Tragedy |
| Coriolanus | 1607 | 1623 | Plutarch | CoriolanusTullus AufidiusCaius MarciusMenenius AgrippaVolumnia | Tragedy |
| Timon of Athens (may have been written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton) | 1607 | 1623 | Plutarch;Lucian, Misanthropos (2d cent. A.D.) | Timon of AthensApemantusAlcibiadesFlavius | Tragedy |
| Pericles (may have been written in collaboration with George Wilkins) | 1608 | 1609 | John Gower, Confessio Amantis (c.1390) | PericlesThaisaMarinaSimonidesLysimachus | Tragicomedy |
| Cymbeline | 1609 | 1623 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587);Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron (1348–53) | CymbelineImogenPosthumusIachimo | Tragicomedy |
| The Winter's Tale | 1610 | 1623 | Robert Greene, Pandosto (1588) | LeontesHermionePaulinaAutolycusPerditaFlorizelPolixenes | Tragicomedy |
| The Tempest | 1611 | 1623 | Specific source not established | ProsperoMirandaFerdinandArielCaliban | Tragicomedy |
| Henry VIII (probably written in collaboration with John Fletcher) | 1612 | 1623 | Holinshed, Chronicles (1587);John Foxe, Book of Martyrs (1563) | King Henry VIIIQueen KatherineCardinal WolseyDuke of BuckinghamAnne Boleyn | History |
| Two Noble Kinsmen (of doubtful authorship; may have been written in collaboration with John Fletcher) | 1612 | 1634 | Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale in Canterbury Tales (c.1387) | PalamonArcite | Comedy |
