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Dates of Shakespeare's Plays categorised by Groups In 1893 Edward Dowden, Professor of English Literature at the University of Dublin published a Literature Primer entitled 'Shakspere'. In this Dowden attempted to date the plays in categories or groups in order to better understand the style and subjects that Shakespeare wrote about. These consist of twelve groups; . 1.) Shakespeare's apprenticeship - (1588-1591) - Titus Andronicus and The First Part of Henry VI They are to quote Professor Dowden, 'plays of blood, bombast and fire', but show early touches of mastery. It is thought that in this early stage, Shakespeare may have reworked plays which would not originally have been his. 2.) Early Comedy - (1590 - 1594) - Love's Labour's Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and A Midsummer Night's Dream In this next phase, Shakespeare started to find his own voice and experimented with witty dialogue, farce, comedies of love and rich poetry. These therefore are grouped by Dowden as the works of a young man in love. 3.) Early History - (1591 - 1593) - The Second Part of Henry VI, The Third Part of Henry VI and Richard III Dowden points to the influence and possible presence of Christopher Marlowe in Shakespeare's plays about the House of York. At this same time Shakespeare published Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. 4.) Early Tragedy - (1591 and 1596 - 1597) - Romeo and Juliet In this next phase, Shakespeare creates a tragedy of sorrow and beauty rather than the blood and guts of Titus, The Jew of Malta or The Spanish Tragedy. 5.) Middle History - (1594 - 1595) - Richard II and King John Shakespeare then turned to the history of the House of Lancaster finding more poetry and rhyme, a more complex structure and more subtle and varied characterisation. 6.) Middle Comedy - (1596) - The Merchant of Venice Midway between the early and later comedies and containing characteristics of both the groups. 7.) Later History - (1597 - 1599) - Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 and Henry V Shakespeare in the next stage, sets upon a series of historical plays which succeed in uniting comedy and history. 8.) Later Comedy - (1597 - 1607) is divided into 3 sub-sections of eight plays; a.) two comedies of rough and boisterous mirth - The Taming of the Shrew and The Merry Wives of Windsor b.) three comedies which are joyous, romantic and refined - Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night c.) three comedies which are earnest, dark and severe, and bitter and ironical - All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida 9.) Middle Tragedy - (1601 - 1602) - Julius Caesar and Hamlet Shakespeare then turns at the height of his mature powers to two tragedies of reflection. These two plays study the failure in practical affairs of two men (Brutus and Hamlet) who are called on to perform great actions, and in which error and misfortune ruin lives. Everything in these plays is thought out and wrought out, but not yet caught up in the passionate wind of Shakespeare's imagination. 10.) Later Tragedy - (1604 - 1608) - Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens Following on from that period, Shakespeare turns to tragedies of passion and crime, instead of error or the cruelty of fate. The bonds of life are broken: between husband and wife, between parent and child, bonds of kinship, bonds to country and bonds to humanity itself. The characters' very souls are wronged by their crimes. 11.) Romances - (1608 - 1611) - Pericles, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale and Cymbeline In this penultimate period, Shakespeare makes the transition from tragic passion to plays of beauty and serenity, from plays concerned with the violent breaking of human bonds to the knitting together of human bonds, the reunion of parted kindred, forgiveness, atonement, and reconciliation. 12.) Fragments - (1612 - 1613) - Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen This final group brings together the two plays Shakespeare had co-written with John Fletcher, which contain the same spirit as those in the Romances. |
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