Shakespeare's plays in historical order

We cannot be certain of the exact chronology of Shakespeare’s plays, as there is no record of the first production date of any of his works. But by careful detective work and a few guestimates, scholars and academics have arrived at a fairly close idea of their historical order.

The following sources of information were used to arrive at the final list:

  1. several historical events and allusions to those events in the plays
  2. the records of performances of the plays -- taken from such places as Henslowe's diary and the diaries of other Shakespeare contemporaries like John Manningham (a student at the Inns of Court), and Thomas Platter (a Swiss businessman)
  3. the publication dates of sources
  4. the dates that the plays appear in print (remembering that the production of a play immediately followed the completion of that play in the Elizabethan age).

However, even though a generally accepted order exists, there are many who continue to with the order of plays listed below.

PLAY FIRST
PERFORMED
 
FIRST
PRINTED

Henry VI Part 2

1590-91

1594?

Henry VI Part 3

1590-91

1594?

Henry VI Part 1

1591-92

1623

Richard III

1592-93

1597

The Comedy of Errors

1592-93

1623

Titus Andronicus

1593-94

1594

The Taming of the Shrew

1593-94

1623

Two Gentlemen of Verona

1594-95

1623

Love’s Labour’s Lost

1594-95

1598?

Romeo and Juliet

1594-95

1597

Richard II

1595-96

1597

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

1595-96

1600

King John

1596-97

1623

The Merchant of Venice

1596-97

1600

Henry IV Part 1

1597-98

1598

Henry IV Part 2

1597-98

1600

Henry V

1599-1600

1600

Much Ado About Nothing

1599-1600

1600

Julius Caesar

1599-1600

1623

As You Like It

1600-1600

1623

Twelfth Night

1601

1623

Hamlet

1602

1603

The Merry Wives of Windsor

1601

1602

Troilus and Cressida

1602

1609

All’s Well That Ends Well

1603

1623

Measure for Measure

1604

1623

Othello

1604

1622

King Lear

1605

1608

Macbeth

1606

1623

Antony and Cleopatra

1607

1623

Coriolanus

1608

1623

Timon of Athens

1608

1623

Pericles

1609

1609

Cymbeline

1610

1623

The Winter’s Tale

1610

1623

The Tempest

1612

1623

Henry VIII

1612-13

1623

The Two Noble Kinsmen

1612-13

1634