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90 The Renaissance 1485–1660<br />

Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays over a period of some twentyfour<br />

years, as well as the most famous sonnet collection in English and<br />

a number of longer poems: he wrote all these while working with his<br />

theatre company and frequently performing with them. His was a<br />

working life in the theatre, and his subsequent fame as the greatest<br />

writer in English should not blind us to this fact. He was a constant<br />

experimenter with dramatic form and content, and with the possibilities<br />

that the open thrust stage gave him to relate to his audience (Figure 3).<br />

THE PLAYS<br />

The plays of Shakespeare, in approximate order of composition:<br />

Early plays from 1589 to 1593<br />

1 KING HENRY VI, PART ONE<br />

2 KING HENRY VI, PART TWO<br />

3 KING HENRY VI, PART THREE<br />

4 TITUS ANDRONICUS<br />

5 THE COMEDY OF ERRORS<br />

6 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA<br />

7 THE TAMING OF THE SHREW<br />

8 KING RICHARD III<br />

Plays from 1593 to 1598<br />

9 KING JOHN<br />

10 LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST<br />

11 ROMEO AND JULIET<br />

12 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM<br />

13 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE<br />

14 KING RICHARD II<br />

15 KING HENRY IV, PART ONE<br />

16 KING HENRY IV, PART TWO<br />

17 THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR<br />

Plays from 1598, with likely dates of composition<br />

1598 18 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING<br />

1599 19 KING HENRY V<br />

1599 20 JULIUS CAESAR<br />

1600 21 AS YOU LIKE IT<br />

1600 22 HAMLET

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