Shakespeare’s Plays
A GUIDE TO HISTORIES, COMEDIES, AND
TRAGEDIES.
Shakespeare’s Works
 To date, William
Shakespeare is the most
prolific writer, ever.
 Shakespeare’s works
have been translated into
every living language.
 His plays live on and are
continuously performed
throughout the world.
Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
 Shakespeare’s plays are grouped into three
categories:
 Comedies
 Histories
 Tragedies
The Shakespearean Comedies
 The term “Comedy” had a different meaning in
Shakespeare’s time.
 Typical Shakespearean comedies included happy
endings, frequent puns, or intertwining plotlines.
 In general, Shakespeare’s comedies are more lighthearted.
 Examples: All’s Well that Ends Well, As You Like It,
The Comedy of Errors, Love Labour’s Lost, A
Midnight Summer’s Dream, and Much Ado about
Nothing
Concepts of Comedy
 An important part of Shakespeare’s plays would be
Apollonian vs. Dionysian.
 Apollo and Dionysus were both sons of Zues. Apollo
was the god of the sun, lightness, music, and poetry.
 Conversely, Dionysus was the god of wine, ecstasy,
and intoxication.
 But what does this mean to Shakespeare?
Apollonian vs. Dionysian
 In Shakespeare’s plays, “Apollo” represented the
“good” character, whereas “Dionysus” represented
the “bad” character.
 What this means is that Shakespeare clearly
establishes the bad characters from the good
characters.
 Most of Shakespeare’s Comedies feature a good guy
and a bad guy, so this means that Apollonian and
Dionysian appear in all of Shakespeare’s comedies.
Shakespearean History
 Shakespeare’s histories
were normally
chronicles of past
Kings’ lives.
 His histories were not
as prolific as his
comedies or tragedies.
Politics of Shakespeare
 Often, Shakespeare’s histories were influenced by
politics.
 Shakespeare lived in an era ruled by the monarch
Elizabeth I, the last queen in the house of Tudor.
 As such, his histories often depicts the older
generations of the house of Tudor as heroes and
saints.
 Oppositely, he depicts the Richard III, who was the
last monarch in the rival house of York, as an evil
tyrant.
Tragedies
 Shakespeare’s Tragedies all follow the same basic format:
 Five acts, with the first two acts going smoothly, the third as
the turning point, and the fourth and fifth acts contain the
falling action.
 The main protagonists have admirable but flawed
personalities. For example, Romeo is an admirable character
with good intentions, but he is a “fool for love,” and thus
flawed.
 The tragic endings are usually caused by nothing in the
protagonists’ control.
Famous Tragedies
 Shakespeare’s most famous
tragedies were written in a
time between 1601 and 1609.
 Othello, Mcbeth, Romeo and
Juliet, Hamlet, and King
Lear are his most famous.
Love Tragedies
 Three of his tragedies are considered “love tragedies.”
 Othello, in which the Moor of Venice is conned into believing
that his friend is cheating on his newly wedded wife. In the
end, they both die.
 In Romeo and Juliet, probably the most famous of all of his
works, a young man, Romeo, falls in love with a woman of a
rival family. In the end, they commit suicide.
 Antony and Cleopatra details the relationship of the two from
the start of a war until the tragic death of Cleopatra.
Romeo and Juliet
 Romeo and Juliet is possibly his most famous play.
 The story features two rival families, the
Montagues and Capulets. Romeo is a Montague,
while Juliet a Capulet. Early in the play, Romeo
sneaks into a Capulet ball, where he meets Juliet,
and later marries her.
In this scene…
 Tybalt, (played by Christian Ferko) a Capulet, discovers that
Romeo (River Merz) snuck into the Capulet ball, so he
challenges him to a duel.
 Romeo, having married Juliet, views Tybalt as family. He
refuses the fight.
 Mercutio, (played by Arrista Voorhees) is angered at Tybalt,
and angered at Romeo for his “vile submission.” He accepts the
duel for him.
 Benvolio, (played by Christian Hauze, off screen) attempts to
convince Mercutio to stop, since they are in public. Mercutio,
however, ignored him…
Bibliography
 All pictures courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.org
 Video was made by Christian Ferko
 Information on all his works found at
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/
 Word for word texts of all his works:
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/pla
ys/plays.php
 Comedy Flowchart:
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/rjregan/rrScom.h
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