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Shakespeare scholars beginning with [[Edmond Malone]] have reconstructed the plays' relative chronology by various means, including contemporary allusions and records of performance, entries in the [[Stationers' Register]], dates of publication as reflected on the title pages of individual plays, visceral impressions and computer studies of the development of the playwright's writing style over time, and (particularly) a 1598 list of many of Shakespeare's plays then extant by [[Francis Meres]].
Shakespeare scholars beginning with [[Edmond Malone]] have reconstructed the plays' relative chronology by various means, including contemporary allusions and records of performance, entries in the [[Stationers' Register]], dates of publication as reflected on the title pages of individual plays, visceral impressions and computer studies of the development of the playwright's writing style over time, and (particularly) a 1598 list of many of Shakespeare's plays then extant by [[Francis Meres]].


===Dissenting viewpoints===
While most scholars have adopted a generally accepted order (see below), many dates continue to be debated and all dates should be taken as highly speculative. A number of orthodox scholars, as well as many [[Shakespearean authorship question#Stratfordians and anti-Stratfordians|anti-Stratfordian]] researchers (so called because they argue that someone other than William Shakespeare of [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] was the [[Shakespeare authorship question|author of the Shakespearean canon]], disagree with the conventional dating (dissenting view: [[Chronology of Shakespeare's plays – Oxfordian]]).<ref>http://www.newsweek.com/id/54134 paragraph 5</ref><ref>http://www.shakespeareauthorship.com/ox6.html</ref><ref>http://shakespeareauthorship.com/ox7.html</ref><ref>http://willyshakes.com/valiant.htm</ref>
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Revision as of 14:20, 13 April 2010

This article presents an estimated chronological listing of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Overview

Difficulty of creating a chronology

The precise chronology of Shakespeare's plays as they were first written and performed is impossible to determine, since no authoritative chronological record survives and many of the plays were performed years before they were published.

Several of the plays appeared first in pirated editions, and about half of Shakespeare's plays remained unpublished until the First Folio (1623). Two plays mentioned as Shakespeare's by his contemporaries have not survived, Cardenio and Love's Labour's Won, and his exact role in writing other existing plays is not known and is still debated.

Shakespeare scholars beginning with Edmond Malone have reconstructed the plays' relative chronology by various means, including contemporary allusions and records of performance, entries in the Stationers' Register, dates of publication as reflected on the title pages of individual plays, visceral impressions and computer studies of the development of the playwright's writing style over time, and (particularly) a 1598 list of many of Shakespeare's plays then extant by Francis Meres.

Dissenting viewpoints

While most scholars have adopted a generally accepted order (see below), many dates continue to be debated and all dates should be taken as highly speculative. A number of orthodox scholars, as well as many anti-Stratfordian researchers (so called because they argue that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was the author of the Shakespearean canon, disagree with the conventional dating (dissenting view: Chronology of Shakespeare's plays – Oxfordian).[1][2][3][4]

Dates in the following lists are estimates. (Dates in parentheses indicate the date of first publication.)

Shakespeare's plays

Other plays

Possible collaborations

Misattributions

The following plays have been attributed to Shakespeare but are in fact of different or uncertain authorship:

References

  1. ^ http://www.newsweek.com/id/54134 paragraph 5
  2. ^ http://www.shakespeareauthorship.com/ox6.html
  3. ^ http://shakespeareauthorship.com/ox7.html
  4. ^ http://willyshakes.com/valiant.htm
  5. ^ The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works
  6. ^ * Bloom, Harold, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York, 1998.
  7. ^ Shaksperian Scraps, chapter: "The Forman Notes" (1933). Tannenbaum reports that "Malone had at first decided that it was written in 1594; subsequently he seems to have assigned it to 1604; later still, to 1613; and finally he settled on 1610–11. Hunter assigned it to about 1605."

See also