William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet and playwright who many consider to be the greatest writer of the English language. He lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and married Anne Hathaway (not that one), having three children with her (including two twins). He was respected for his work in his own time, but it wasn’t until the 19th century when he became a legend. To this day, his works are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted.

William Shakespeare’s first known work is The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which dates back to 1589 and was published for the first time in 1623. Previous to that, he had written Love’s Labour’s Won, a lost play that predates 1589. His work is broken down into the categories Comedies, Poems, Histories, Tragedies and Apocrypha. Below is a list of William Shakespeare’s plays in order of when they were first officially recorded:

Publication Order of Comedy Plays

The Tempest (1593)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1594)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Measure for Measure (1594)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Comedy of Errors (1594)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Much Ado About Nothing (1595)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Love's Labour's Lost (1595)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Merchant of Venice (1596)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
As You Like It (1599)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Taming of the Shrew (1599)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
All's Well That Ends Well (1604)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Twelfth Night (1605)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Winter's Tale (1605)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Pericles (1606)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Order of plays is based on the First Folio.

Publication Order of History Plays

Publication Order of Tragedy Plays

Publication Order of Collections

The Prince's Choice (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare (2000)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Anthologies

On Suicide: Great Writers on the Ultimate Question(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
World's Greatest Poems(2015)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Greatest Books of All Time #4(2017)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Writers: Their Lives and Works(2018)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Note: Cardenio was co-written by John Fletcher.

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