What Types of Plays Did Shakespeare Write

The English Medieval playwright William Shakespeare wrote 38 (or so) plays during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603) and her successor James I (r. 1603-1625). The plays are important works yet today, describing the human condition in prose, poetry, and song. His understanding of human nature led him to blend elements of human behavior—great goodness and great evil—in the same play and sometimes in the same character. Shakespeare heavily influenced literature, theater, poetry and the English language. Many English words used in todays lexicon are attributed to Shakespeares pen. For example, swagger, bedroom, lackluster, and puppy dog were all coined by the Bard of Avon. Shakespearean Innovation Shakespeare is known for using literary devices such as genre, plot, and characterization in revolutionary ways to expand on their dramatic potential. He used soliloquies—long speeches by characters spoken to the audience—not only to push along the plot of a play but also to display a characters secret life, such as in Hamlet and Othello. He also blended genres, which was not traditionally done at the time. For instance, Romeo and Juliet is both a romance and a tragedy, and Much Ado About Nothing can be called a tragi-comedy. Shakespearean critics have broken the plays into categories: Tragedies, Comedies, Histories, and Problem Plays, most written between 1589 and 1613. This list contains some of the plays which fall into each category: however, you will find that different lists have plays fall into different categories. For example, The Merchant of Venice has important elements of both Tragedy and Comedy, and it is up to the individual reader to decide which outweighs the other. Tragedies Shakespearean tragedies are plays with somber themes and dark endings. Tragic conventions used by Shakespeare feature the death and destruction of well-meaning people brought down by their own fatal flaws or the political machinations of others. Flawed heroes, the fall of a noble person, and the triumph of external pressures such as fate, spirits, or other characters over the hero are featured. Antony and Cleopatra—love between the famous Egyptian queen and her Roman soldier lover ends in suicideCoriolanus—a successful Roman general tries his hand at politics and fails miserablyHamlet—a Danish prince is driven insane by his fathers ghost demanding retribution for his murderJulius Caesar—a Roman emperor is brought down by his inner circleKing Lear—a British king decides to test which of his daughters loves him most, in order to decide who gets his realmMacbeth—a Scottish kings ambition makes him a murdererOthello—a general in the Moorish army of Venice is influenced by one of his courtiers into murdering his wifeRomeo and Juliet—the family politics of two young lovers doom themThe Tempest—stranded on a remote island, a sorcerer/duke uses magic to take his revengeTimon of Athens—a wealthy man in Athens gives away all of his money, then plots to attack the city in revengeTitus Andronicus—a Roman gener al conducts a truly bloody war of revenge against Tamora, Queen of the Goths Comedies Shakespearean comedies are on the whole more light-hearted pieces. The point of the play may not only be to make the audience laugh but also to think. Comedies feature the clever use of language to create wordplay, metaphors, and smart insults. Love, mistaken identities, and extremely convoluted plots with twist outcomes are also integral aspects of a comedy; but the lovers are always reunited in the end. As You Like It—the daughter of an ousted French ruler falls in love with the wrong man and must flee and disguise herself as a manThe Comedy of Errors—two sets of twin brothers, slaves, and noblemen, are mixed up at birth, leading to all kinds of trouble later onLoves Labours Lost—the king of Navarre and his three courtiers swear off women for three years and promptly fall in loveThe Merchant of Venice—a spendthrift noble Venetian borrows money to impress his beloved but finds himself unable to repay his loan, in cash anywayThe Merry Wives of Windsor—the British nobleman John Falstaff (featured in the Henriad history plays) has adventures with a pair of women who trick and tease himA Midsummer Nights Dream—a wager between the king and queen of the fairies has hilarious effects on the hapless humans wandering in their forestMuch Ado About Nothing—Beatrice and Benedick, a pair of Venetian adversaries, are conned by their friends into fal ling in love with one anotherThe Taming of the Shrew—a boorish man agrees to marry the wealthy but obnoxious elder daughter of a Paduan lordTwelfth Night—two twins Viola and Sebastian are separated during a shipwreck; the girl disguises herself as a man and then falls in love with a local Count Histories Despite its name, Shakespearean histories are not historically accurate. While the histories are set in Medieval England and explored class systems of that time, Shakespeare was not trying to depict the past authentically. While he used historical events as a base, Shakespeare developed the plot based on prejudices and social commentaries of his time. Shakespeares histories are only about English monarchs. Four of his plays: Richard II, the two plays of Henry IV and Henry V are called the Henriad, a tetralogy that contains events during the 100 Years War (1377-1453). Together Richard III and three plays of Henry VI explore events during the War of the Roses (1422-1485). King John—the reign of John Lackland, King of England 1199-1219Edward III—ruled England 1327-1377Richard II—ruled England 1377–1399,Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2—ruled England 1399-1413 and FranceHenry V—ruled England 1413-1422Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3—ruled England from 1422-1461 and 1470-1641Richard III—ruled England 1483-1485Henry VIII—ruled England from 1509-1547 Problem Plays Shakespeares so-called Problem Plays are plays that do not fit into any of these three categories. Although most of his tragedies contained comic elements, and most of his comedies bits of tragic occurrences, the problem plays shift rapidly between truly dark events and comic material. Alls Well That Ends Well—a lowborn French woman convinces a countesss son that she is worthy of his loveMeasure for Measure—a Venetian duke tells everyone he is leaving the city but stays in town disguised to find out who his true friends areTroilus and Cressida—during the Trojan war, kings and lovers battle out their difficult stories