Skip to Main Content

Shakespeare

Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Plays

Between 1589 and 1613, William Shakespeare wrote 36 - 38 plays depending on who you ask. He also likely contributed to the works of many other playwrights.

Below find lists of Shakespeare's plays categorized by genre and alphabetical order, as well as links for more information. Clicking on the links below will lead you to the full text of each of these plays.

There are also an endless number of alternative versions, for example the Manga Classic's version of Romeo and JulietManga Shakespeare, and Shakespeare Comic Books. It's worth remembering that Shakespeare intended his plays works to be seen, not read. He would likely have been horrified to see that students are taught them from the text, and would probably have enjoyed these different visual interpretations of his work.

Last, you could save yourself the time and energy by just watching every single one of his plays condescended into one and a half hours, as produced by the Reduced Shakespeare Company in The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)

 

The First Folio

The First Folio, titled Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, was published in 1623. It is considered one of the most influential books ever published in English.

                      

Scanned images of the cover and title page of the First Folio, and the Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Shakespeare's Plays, Listed Alphabetically (From Open Source Shakespeare)

Basically all Shakespearian Villians

From Felipe Torres Medina, @felipetmedinaa

Synopsis, Descriptions, and More

CrashCourse

Lauren Wade's 8 Part YouTube Series on Shakespeare

Thug Notes with Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. (Greg Edwards)

Other Interesting Details

Shakespeare in Braille and Audio

Shakespeare in American Sign Language (ASL)

We haven't yet found anything as grand as all of Shakespeare's works translated into ASL, but we recommend searching on your own for YouTube videos of your favorite plays, scenes, or monologues. There's a lot of snippets out there - far too many to list here - so find ones you are interested in!

Shakespeare’s Tragedies: Everybody Dies, by Caitlin S. Griffin

This infograph by Caitlin S Griffin pretty much sums up the tragedies.