Shakespeares Plays Sorted by Tragedy, Comedy, History

Shakespeares Plays Sorted by Tragedy, Comedy, History It is not always easy to categorically say whether a William Shakespeare play is a tragedy, comedy, or history, because Shakespeare blurred the boundaries between these genres, especially as his work developed more complexity in themes and character development. But those are the categories into which the First Folio (the first collection of his works, published in 1623; he died in 1616) was divided, and thus, they are useful to start the discussion. The plays can be generally classified into these three broad categories based on whether the main character dies or is bequeathed a happy ending and whether Shakespeare was writing about a real person.   This list identifies which plays are generally associated with which genre, but the classification of some plays is open to interpretation and debate and changes over time. Shakespeare’s Tragedies In Shakespeares tragedies, the main protagonist has a flaw that leads to his (and/or her) downfall. There are both internal and external struggles and often a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure (and tension). Often there are passages or characters that have the job of lightening the mood (comic relief), but the overall tone of the piece is quite serious. The 10 Shakespeare plays generally classified as tragedy are as follows: Antony and CleopatraCoriolanusHamletJulius CaesarKing LearMacbethOthelloRomeo and JulietTimon of AthensTitus Andronicus Shakespeare’s Comedies Shakespeares comedies are sometimes further subdivided into a group called romances, tragicomedies, or problem plays, which are the dramas that have elements of humor, tragedy, and complex plots.  For example, Much Ado About Nothing begins like a comedy  but soon descends into tragedy- leading some critics to describe the play as a tragicomedy. Others debated or cited as tragicomedies include The Winters Tale, Cymbeline, The Tempest, and The Merchant of Venice.   Four of his plays are often called his late romances, and they include: Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Problem plays are so-called because of their tragicomic elements and moral issues, and they dont end perfectly tied up, such as Alls Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida. Regardless of all that debate, the 18 plays generally classified as comedy are as follows: Alls Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of ErrorsCymbelineLoves Labour’s LostMeasure for MeasureThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merchant of VeniceA Midsummer Nights Dream Much Ado About NothingPericles, Prince of TyreThe Taming of the ShrewThe Tempest Troilus and CressidaTwelfth NightTwo Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Noble KinsmenThe Winters Tale Shakespeare’s Histories Sure, the history plays are all about real figures, but it can also be argued that  with the downfall portrayed of the kings in Richard II and Richard III, those history plays could also be classified as tragedies, as they were billed back in Shakespeares day. They would easily be called tragedy plays were the main character of each fictional. The 10 plays generally classified as history plays are as follows: Henry IV, Part IHenry IV, Part II​Henry VHenry VI, Part IHenry VI, Part IIHenry VI, Part III​Henry VIIIKing JohnRichard IIRichard III