The section covering Shakespeare the Playwright covers the reasons why Play writers were not held in high esteem and why the profession could be dangerous!
The playwrights would sell their plays to the theatre companies for a ‘one-off’ sum. There were no ‘royalties’ during the Elizabethan era!
Plays were blatantly copied and stolen – read the section on Quarto Texts and this plagiarism led to different versions of some plays, including those of William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s time copyright did not exist!
William Shakespeare invested in the Globe Theatre and it was in his interest to produce as many plays as possible! The type of plays being shown were advertised by different coloured flags being flown on the theatre – these flags could be seen for miles (remember that most of the population were still illiterate!) Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre
There was a huge amount of competition between the theatres! There was a lot of money to be earned and it was important for the theatres to produce new plays and play a variety of different plays during the week
The majority of the plays of William Shakespeare were published in 1623 in a document called The First Folio – Seven years after his death!
The plays were divided into three themes – Histories, Comedies and Tragedies:
THE FIRST PUBLICATION DATES OF THE PLAYS BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Each of the Plays first print / publication dates are detailed below
FULL TEXT, SUMMARY, CHARACTERS AND INFO ABOUT THE PLAYS BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The links highlighted below will provide access to the following:
Full Text of the whole Play
Short Summary of each Play
Information about each play – first performance dates, number of words, history etc
The Cast and Characters in each Play
Famous Quotes from each Play
Henry VI Part I was first printed in 1594
Henry VI, Part II was first printed in 1594
Henry VI, Part III was first printed in 1623
Titus Andronicus was first printed in 1594
The Comedy of Errors. First printed 1623
Taming of the Shrew was first printed in 1623
Two Gentlemen of Verona was first printed in 1623
Love’s Labour’s Lost was first printed in 1598
Romeo and Juliet was first printed in 1597
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first printed in 1600
The Merchant of Venice was first printed in 1600
Henry IV, Part I was first printed in 1598
Henry IV, Part II was first printed in 1600
Much Ado About Nothing was first printed in 1600
Henry V was first printed in 1600
As You Like It was first printed in 1623
Julius Caesar was first printed in 1623
Richard II was first printed in 1597
Richard III was first printed in 1597
Hamlet was first printed in 1603
The Merry Wives of Windsor was first printed in 1602
Twelfth Night was first printed in 1623
All’s Well That Ends Well was first printed in 1623
Troilus and Cressida was first printed in 1609
Measure for Measure was first printed in 1623
Othello was first printed in 1622
King Lear was first printed in 1608
Macbeth was first printed in 1623
Antony and Cleopatra was first printed in 1623
Coriolanus was first printed in 1623
Timon of Athens was first printed in 1623
Pericles was first printed in 1609
The Tempest was first printed in 1623
Macbeth was first printed in 1623
Cymbeline was first printed in 1623
The Winter’s Tale was first printed in 1623
Henry VIII was first printed in 1623
The Two Noble Kinsmen was first printed in 1634
