comedy
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Love, illusion, and fairy mischief
1595–1596
1 production
As You Like It
Escape, disguise, and self-discovery
1599–1600
1 production
Love's Labour's Lost
Wit, folly, and love's humbling power
1594–1595
Much Ado About Nothing
Wit, deception, and reluctant love
1598–1599
1 production
The Comedy of Errors
Twin chaos and mistaken identity
1594
The Merchant of Venice
Justice, mercy, and moral compromise
1596–1598
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Scheming wives and Falstaff's downfall
1597
The Taming of the Shrew
Courtship, power, and contested will
1590–1592
2 productions
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Friendship tested by love and betrayal
1589–1593
1 production
Twelfth Night
Mistaken identity and unrequited longing
1601–1602
tragedy
Coriolanus
Pride, politics, and self-destruction
1608–1609
1 production
Hamlet
Revenge, madness, and mortality
1600–1601
2 productions
Julius Caesar
Idealism, betrayal, and political chaos
1599
King Lear
Power, madness, and the failure of love
1605–1606
Macbeth
Ambition and the cost of power
1606
1 production
Othello
Jealousy, manipulation, and ruin
1603
Romeo and Juliet
Star-crossed love and fatal consequence
1594–1596
Timon of Athens
Generosity, ingratitude, and misanthropy
1605–1606
Titus Andronicus
Revenge, violence, and cascading ruin
1588–1593
1 productionTroilus and Cressida
War, love, and disillusionment
1602
history
romance
Cymbeline
Jealousy, exile, and tangled reunion
1609–1611
Pericles
Loss, wandering, and wonder-filled reunion
1607–1608
The Tempest
Magic, forgiveness, and letting go
1610–1611
1 production
The Two Noble Kinsmen
Two knights, one woman, impossible loyalty
1613–1614
The Winter's Tale
Jealousy, loss, and miraculous reunion
1610–1611