King John & Henry VIII (59 page)

Authors: William Shakespeare

About half the sum of his works were published in his lifetime, in texts of variable quality. A few years after his death, his fellow actors began putting together an authorized edition of his complete
Comedies, Histories and Tragedies
. It appeared in 1623, in large “Folio” format. This collection of thirty-six plays gave Shakespeare his immortality. In the words of his fellow dramatist Ben Jonson, who contributed two poems of praise at the start of the Folio, the body of his work made him “a monument without a tomb”:

And art alive still while thy book doth live

And we have wits to read and praise to give …

He was not of an age, but for all time!

SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS:
A CHRONOLOGY

1589–91	? Arden of Faversham (possible part authorship)
1589–92	The Taming of the Shrew
1589–92	? Edward the Third (possible part authorship)
1591	The Second Part of Henry the Sixth , originally called The First Part of the Contention Betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster (element of co authorship possible)
1591	The Third Part of Henry the Sixth , originally called The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York (element of co-authorship probable)
1591–92	The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1591–92; perhaps revised 1594	The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus (probably cowritten with, or revising an earlier version by, George Peele)
1592	The First Part of Henry the Sixth , probably with Thomas Nashe and others
1592/94	King Richard the Third
1593	Venus and Adonis (poem)
1593–94	The Rape of Lucrece (poem)
1593–1608	Sonnets (154 poems, published 1609 with A Lover’s Complaint , a poem of disputed authorship)
1592–94/1600–03	Sir Thomas More (a single scene for a play originally by Anthony Munday, with other revisions by Henry Chettle, Thomas Dekker, and Thomas Heywood)
1594	The Comedy of Errors
1595	Love’s Labour’s Lost
1595–97	Love’s Labour’s Won (a lost play, unless the original title for another comedy)
1595–96	A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1595–96	The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
1595–96	King Richard the Second
1595–97	The Life and Death of King John (possibly earlier)
1596–97	The Merchant of Venice
1596–97	The First Part of Henry the Fourth
1597–98	The Second Part of Henry the Fourth
1598	Much Ado About Nothing
1598–99	The Passionate Pilgrim (20 poems, some not by Shakespeare)
1599	The Life of Henry the Fifth
1599	“To the Queen” (epilogue for a court performance)
1599	As You Like It
1599	The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
1600–01	The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (perhaps revising an earlier version)
1600–01	The Merry Wives of Windsor (perhaps revising version of 1597–99)
1601	“Let the Bird of Loudest Lay” (poem, known since 1807 as “The Phoenix and Turtle” [turtledove])
1601	Twelfth Night, or What You Will
1601–02	The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
1604	The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
1604	Measure for Measure
1605	All’s Well That Ends Well
1605	The Life of Timon of Athens , with Thomas Middleton
1605–06	The Tragedy of King Lear
1605–08	? contribution to The Four Plays in One (lost, except for A Yorkshire Tragedy , mostly by Thomas Middleton)
1606	The Tragedy of Macbeth (surviving text has additional scenes by Thomas Middleton)
1606–07	The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
1608	The Tragedy of Coriolanus
1608	Pericles, Prince of Tyre , with George Wilkins
1610	The Tragedy of Cymbeline
1611	The Winter’s Tale
1611	The Tempest
1612–13	Cardenio , with John Fletcher (survives only in later adaptation called Double Falsehood by Lewis Theobald)
1613	Henry VIII (All Is True) , with John Fletcher
1613–14	The Two Noble Kinsmen , with John Fletcher

KINGS AND QUEENS OF
ENGLAND: FROM THE
HISTORY PLAYS TO
SHAKESPEARE’S LIFETIME

	*Life Span*	*Reign*
Angevins:
Henry II	1133–1189	1154–1189
Richard I	1157–1199	1189–1199
John	1166–1216	1199–1216
Henry III	1207–1272	1216–1272
Edward I	1239–1307	1272–1307
Edward II	1284–1327	1307–1327 deposed
Edward III	1312–1377	1327–1377
Richard II	1367–1400	1377–1399 deposed

Lancastrians:
Henry IV	1367–1413	1399–1413
Henry V	1387–1422	1413–1422
Henry VI	1421–1471	1422–1461 and 1470–1471

Yorkists:
Edward IV	1442–1483	1461–1470 and 1471–1483
Edward V	1470–1483	1483 not crowned: deposed and assassinated
Richard III	1452–1485	1483–1485

Tudors:
Henry VII	1457–1509	1485–1509
Henry VIII	1491–1547	1509–1547
Edward VI	1537–1553	1547–1553
Jane	1537–1554	1553 not crowned: deposed and executed
Mary I	1516–1558	1553–1558
Philip of Spain	1527–1598	1554–1558 co-regent with Mary
Elizabeth I	1533–1603	1558–1603

Stuart:
James I	1566–1625	1603–1625 James VI of Scotland (1567–1625)