[PDF] 38 Remarkable Shakespeare Plays

Scripts

ByJustin Cash UpdatedMarch 13, 2022

Below are links to all 38 Shakespeare plays in PDF. Comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, plus others. Shakespeare play scripts that are histories include Richard III, Henry V, Henry VIII, King John, and more. Shakespeare scripts considered tragedies include Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus and Troilus and Cressida. Romances include Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale. – Justin Cash

Shakespeare Plays PDF by Genre

shakespeare plays — William Shakespeare. 1564-1616.

Tragedies

Shakespeare’s tragedies include some of the greatest plays ever written. At just over 4,000 lines, the revenge tragedy Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play requiring more than four hours to perform uncut. King Lear is a brute of a play, so much so the title role has often been considered unplayable, such is the demand upon the actor. While Romeo and Juliet, with its star-crossed lovers, may well be love’s greatest tragedy.

Antony and Cleopatra (1607)

Antony and Cleopatra — ~ First performance 1607 ~

Coriolanus (1605–1608)

Coriolanus — ~ First performance 1609–1610 ~

Hamlet (1599–1601)

Hamlet — ~ First performance 1600–1601 ~

Julius Caesar (1599)

Julius Caesar — ~ First performance 1599 ~

King Lear (1606)

King Lear — ~ First performance 1606 ~

Macbeth (1623)

Lady Macbeth — ~ First performance 1606 ~

Othello (1603)

Othello — ~ First performance 1604 ~

Romeo and Juliet (1591–1595)

Romeo and Juliet — ~ First performance 1597 ~

Timon of Athens (1606)

Timon of Athens — ~ First performance 1607–1608 ~

Titus Andronicus (1588–1593)

Titus Andronicus — ~ First performance 1594 ~

Troilus and Cressida (1602)

Troilus and Cressida — ~. First performance 1604 ~

Comedies

What constituted comedy in Elizabeth and Jacobean England was somewhat different to our modern interpretation. Shakespeare’s comedies include elements of love, mistaken identity, cross-dressing, happy endings, dance, the supernatural, idyllic settings, deception, fantasy, marriage, farce, music, fate, merry-making, fools, disguised gender, and more. While some of Shakespeare’s comedies are darker than others, as a group most of them were what modern audiences would refer to as romantic comedies. Nevertheless, his comedies did differ in tone. The Taming of the Shrew, with its adult-oriented bawdy humour, was in stark contrast to the childlike magical realism of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with its mix of human and fairy characters in a forest outside Athens.

All’s Well That Ends Well (1598–1608)

All's Well That Ends Well — ~ First performance 1602–1603 ~

As You Like It (1599)

As You Like It — ~ First performance 1598–1600 ~

The Comedy of Errors (1594)

The Comedy of Errors — ~ First performance 1594 ~

Love’s Labour’s Lost (1597–1598)

Love's Labour's Lost — ~ First performance 1597–1598 ~

Measure for Measure (1604)

Measure for Measure — ~ First performance 1604 ~

The Merchant of Venice (1596–1599)

The Merchant of Venice — ~ First performance 1605 ~

The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597)

The Merry Wives of Windsor — ~ First performance 1600–1601 ~

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595–1596)

A Midsummer's Night Dream — ~ First performance 1605 ~

Much Ado About Nothing (1598–1599)

Much Ado About Nothing — ~ First performance 1598–1599 ~

The Taming of the Shrew (1590–1592)

The Taming of the Shrew — ~ First performance 1593–1594 ~

Twelfth Night (1601–1602)

Twelfth Night — ~ First performance 1604 ~

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1589–1593)

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is the-two-gentlemen-of-verona-edited.jpg — ~ First performance 1594–1595 ~

The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613–1614)

The Two Noble Kinsmen — ~ First performance 1612–1614 ~

Romances

Shakespeare’s romance plays were all written at the tail end of The Bard’s career during the reign of King James I. They are a blend of both tragedy and comedy and therefore loosely considered tragicomedies.

Cymbeline (1611)

Cymbeline — ~ First performance 1611 ~

Pericles (1607–1608)

Pericles — ~ First performance 1619 ~

The Tempest (1610–1611)

The Tempest — ~ First performance 1611 ~

The Winter’s Tale (1610–1611)

The Winter's Tale — ~ First performance 1611 ~

Histories

Shakespeare’s ten history plays are all drawn from the lives and events of various Kings of England reigning from 1199 to 1547. “Now is the winter of our discontent” from Richard III remains one of the best known opening lines of any play in the English language.

Henry IV Part 1 (1596–1597)

Henry IV Part 1 — ~ First performance 1596–1597 ~

Henry IV Part 2 (1596–1599)

Henry IV Part 2 — ~ First performance 1592 ~

Henry V (1599)

Henry V — ~ First performance 1599 ~

Henry VI Part 1 (1592)

Henry VI Part 1 — ~ First performance 1592 ~

Henry VI Part 2 (1591)

Henry VI Part 2 — ~ First performance 1591 ~

Henry VI Part 3 (1591)

Henry VI Part 3 — ~ First performance 1592 ~

Henry VIII (1613)

Henry VIII — ~ First performance 1613. ~

King John (1587–1598)

King John — ~ First performance unknown ~

Richard II (1595)

Richard II — ~ First performance 1595 ~

Richard III (1592–1594)

Richard III — ~ First performance 1600–1601 ~

Realism: 15 Helpful Theatre Resources for Students

Styles

Realism: 15 Helpful Theatre Resources for Students

Justin Cash UpdatedDecember 21, 2021

Realism as a theatre movement emerged in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. As a genuine theatre style, realism was a reaction against romanticism and the sensationalism of melodrama which dominated the stages of Europe and America for much of the 1800s. The realistic movement continues to influence theatre to this day.

What is a Closet Drama? 20 Useful Resources

Styles

What is a Closet Drama? 20 Useful Resources

Justin Cash UpdatedFebruary 12, 2022

A closet drama is a work intended from the outset to be read and not performed. Readings typically occur in isolation or aloud in small groups. While there is evidence from classical times of works most likely intended for private readings, the genre was firmly established in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, and again gaining popularity…

35 Popular Elizabethan and Jacobean Play Scripts

Scripts

35 Popular Elizabethan and Jacobean Play Scripts

Justin Cash UpdatedDecember 21, 2021

A large selection of links to Elizabethan and Jacobean playscripts located across the web from playwrights Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton, John Webster, Thomas Dekker, Francis Beaumont, and William Rowley.

[PDF] 17 Outstanding Chekhov Plays

Scripts

[PDF] 17 Outstanding Chekhov Plays

Justin Cash UpdatedMarch 3, 2022

Russian novelist and playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) has often been considered the father of the modern short story, such was his skill. But he was equally adept at writing plays. In his canon of seventeen stage works lies four of the best plays in the modern theatre: The Sea-Gull, The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya and…

[PDF] 25 Significant Ibsen Plays

Scripts

[PDF] 25 Significant Ibsen Plays

Justin Cash UpdatedMarch 3, 2022

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) is often considered the father of modern theatre and realism, even though he wrote in a number of dramatic genres. Ibsen’s twenty-five plays include some of theatre’s greatest works (A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler). The break from society’s moral standards evident in A Doll’s House shocked the audience at its…

Comedy of Humours: A Not So Funny Collection of Resources

Styles

Comedy of Humours: A Not So Funny Collection of Resources

Justin Cash UpdatedDecember 13, 2021

Comedy of humours is an historical form of comedy linked to Elizabethan playwright Ben Jonson in such works as Everyman in His Humour (1598) and Everyman out of His Humour (1599). It is based on the premise that the human body consists of four liquids – blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile – all representing a different type of humour (or temperament). This in turn affected character behaviour in the drama.