William Shakespeare wrote over 37 plays throughout his career, starting with historical plays in the late 1580s through the early 1590s. He then focused on comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice in the 1590s. Shakespeare ended his comedic era and began focusing on tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Coriolanus, and Macbeth from the late 1590s through the end of his career. Shakespeare's plays changed genres over time to match what was popular, from histories to comedies to tragedies, showing his evolution as a writer.

1. William Shakespeare’s
Plays
Babu Appat

2. William Shakespeare wrote at least 37
plays that scholars know of, with most
of them labeled as comedies, histories,
or tragedies.

3. The earliest play that is directly
attributed to Shakespeare is the trilogy
of "King Henry VI," with Richard III also
being written around the same time,
between 1589 and 1591.

4. The last play was a collaboration,
assumed to be with John Fletcher,
known as "The Two Noble Kinsmen."

5. Shakespeare often wrote plays in a genre
that was in vogue at the time, with his
plays beginning with the histories,
including the above-mentioned works as
well as "Pericles," "King John," the dual
volumes of both "Henry IV" and Henry V,
which were written at later dates.

6. From histories written in the late 1580s
to the early 1590s, Shakespeare moved
into comedies, which were described as
such for their comic sequences and
pairs of plots that intertwined with each
other.

7. Among the most well known are A
Midsummer's Night Dream, Merchant of
Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As
You Like It, and Twelfth Night.

8. Interestingly, two tragedies bookend
Shakespeare's comedic era - Romeo and
Juliet were written at the beginning of
the 1590s, and Julius Caesar was
written at the end of the era.

9. For the last portion of his writing
career, Shakespeare focused his work
on tragedies and "problem" plays.

10. In this era, which is acknowledged as
the playwright's best era, he wrote the
works called Hamlet, Othello, King
Lear, Coriolanus, and Macbeth, among
others.

11. These are the works that are most in
production today, both on stage and in
film.

12. When looking at a chronology of
Shakespeare's plays, it is clear that
Shakespeare changed the subjects of
his plays as he grew in prominence and
then returned to a more serene life.

13. Moving from historical subjects to a
more playful side and then, finally, into
plays where plots would result in a
sense of forgiveness and serenity,
Shakespeare's evolution as both a man
and a writer is evident.

14. In fact, the playwright's devotion to the
English language and his rebellion
against it has led to fascinating studies
done by leading literature scholars.

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