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 coauthorship possible)
1591 The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, originally called The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York (element of coauthorship 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
Lifespan 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)
THE HISTORY BEHIND THE HISTORIES: A CHRONOLOGY
Square brackets indicate events that happen just outside a play's timescale but are mentioned in the play.
FURTHER READING AND VIEWING
CRITICAL APPROACHES
Brooke, Nicholas, ed., Shakespeare: Richard II: A Casebook (1973). Invaluable collection of early criticism.
Coyle, Martin, ed., William Shakespeare: Richard II, Icon Critical Guides (1998). Informative introduction with useful collection of historical criticism of play.
Fanell, Kirby, ed., Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Richard II (1999). Useful collection of influential late twentieth-century essays.
Hattaway, Michael, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's History Plays (2002). Excellent general introduction to the histories with illuminating essays on individual plays.
Hodgdon, Barbara, The End Crowns All: Closure and Contradiction in Shakespeare's History (1991). Thoughtful general introduction plus chapters on individual history plays, focusing on theatrical conclusions: chapter 5 on Richard II, pp. 127-50.
Holderness, Graham, Shakespeare's History Plays: Richard II to Henry V, New Casebooks (1992). Theoretically informed collection of important late twentieth-century critical essays.
Holderness, Graham, Shakespeare: The Histories (2000). Useful account of historical context and a chapter on each of the individual plays, Richard II at pp. 175-216.
Kantorowicz, Ernst H., The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology (1957). Influential development of the thesis of the natural versus the political body of the king.
Lopez, Jeremy, Richard II, The Shakespeare Handbooks (2009). Useful guide with chapters on early performance, sources, context, criticism, key productions, and textual commentary.
Sieman, James R., Word Against Word: Shakespearean Utterance (2002). Fascinating detailed linguistic account.
THE PLAY IN PERFORMANCE
Brooke, Michael, "Richard II on Screen," www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1027840/. Overview of television versions, with clips.
Hattaway, Michael, Boika Sokolova, and Derek Roper, eds., Shakespeare in the New Europe (1994). Fascinating account of the continuing international significance of Shakespeare's plays; includes Nicholas Potter, " 'Like to a Tenement or Pelting Farm': Richard II and the Idea of the Nation," pp. 130-47; Michael Hattaway, "Shakespeare's Histories: The Politics of Recent British Productions," pp. 351-69.
Jones, Maria, Shakespeare's Culture in Modern Performance (2003). Thoughtful introduction with detailed account of rece
nt performances; the chapter on Richard II focuses on the use of the crown as a prop.
Page, Malcolm, Richard II: Text and Performance (1987). Good basic introduction to the text in Part 1 with a detailed discussion of important performances from 1973 to 1984.
Rauen, Margarida Gandara, Richard II Playtext, Promptbooks and History 1597-1857 (1998). Detailed account of early texts and editions of play.
Shewring, Margaret, Shakespeare in Performance: King Richard II (1996). Useful introduction--Part 1 discusses the text, Part 2 individual productions and performances, Part 3 the play in other cultural contexts.
Smallwood, Robert, ed., Players of Shakespeare 6 (2004). Actors discuss their performances: Sam West on Richard II, pp. 85-99, David Troughton on Bullingbrook/Henry IV, pp. 100-16.
AVAILABLE ON DVD
Richard II, directed by Deborah Warner (1997). Recording of successful stage production with Fiona Shaw as Richard; contentious cross-casting produced a haunting performance, discussed above.
Richard II, directed by David Giles (1978, DVD 2005). Part of the BBC Shakespeare series. Derek Jacobi gives a bravura performance as Richard in a star-studded cast with John Gielgud as Gaunt.
Richard the Second, directed by John Farrell (DVD 2001). Updated, contemporary version: reasonable performances but sound levels poor. Not for purists.
Richard II, directed by William Woodman (1982, DVD 2001). Well-meaning but misguided.
The Wars of the Roses, directed by Michael Bogdanov (1989, DVD 2005). Recording of English Shakespeare Company's eclectic stage production with Michael Pennington, a compelling Richard.
REFERENCES
1. Tim Carroll, " 'Practising Behaviour to His Own Shadow,' " in Christie Carson and Farah Karim-Cooper, eds., Shakespeare's Globe: A Theatrical Experiment (2008), pp. 40-1.
2. Nahum Tate, The History of King Richard the Second Acted at the Theatre Royal Under the Name of the Sicilian Usurper (1681), sig. A2.
3. Charles Beecher Hogan, Shakespeare in the Theatre 1709-1800 (1952).
4. Lewis Theobald, The Tragedy of King Richard the II; As It Is Acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields (1720), sig. A2.
5. Theobald, The Tragedy of King Richard the II, p. 59.
6. Thomas Davies, Dramatic Miscellanies (1783-84), Vol. 1, pp. 151-3.
7. Davies, Dramatic Miscellanies, p. 124.
8. Margarida Gandara Rauen, "Richard II": Playtexts, Promptbooks and History: 1597-1857 (1998), pp. 141-9.
9. William Hazlitt, A View of the English Stage (1818), p. 100.
10. Leah Scragg, "Introduction," King Richard II: Richard Wroughton 1815 (1970).
11. Theodor Fontane, Shakespeare in the London Theatre 1855-58 (1999), pp. 52-3.
12. Punch 32 (January-June 1857), p. 124.
13. Birmingham Daily Gazette, 24 April 1896.
14. Malcolm Page, Richard II (1987), p. 48.
15. The Times, 19 November 1929.
16. The Times, 30 December 1952.
17. Birmingham Mail, 22 April 1933.
18. Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 25 April 1941.
19. Evening Dispatch, Birmingham, 24 May 1944.
20. Birmingham Mail, 14 June 1947.
21. Quoted in Margaret Shewring, Shakespeare in Performance: King Richard II (1996), p. 97.
22. News Chronicle, 26 March 1951.
23. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 88.
24. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 335.
25. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 231.
26. Eve-Marie Oesterlen, Cahiers Elisabethains, Special Issue (2007), pp. 69-70.
27. Page, Richard II, p. 54.
28. The Times, 30 March 1972.
29. Henry Fenwick, Richard II: The BBC TV Shakespeare (1978), p. 24.
30. Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington, The English Shakespeare Company: The Story of "The Wars of the Roses" 1986-1989 (1990), p. 107.
31. Bogdanov and Pennington, The Story of "The Wars of the Roses," p. 139.
32. John Pettigrew and Jamie Portman, Stratford: The First Thirty Years (1985), Vol. I, p. 175.
33. Terry Doran, Buffalo News, quoted in Pettigrew and Portman, Stratford, Vol. II, p. 159.
34. James Fenton, You Were Marvellous (1983), p. 257.
35. Independent, 14 June 1995.
36. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 182.
37. Observer, 9 October 2005.
38. Independent, 9 October 2005.
39. Sunday Times, 9 October 2005.
40. Telegraph, 6 October 2005.
41. Royal Shakespeare Company Season Guide 2007-2008, p. 7.
42. The queen is reported to have said this to William Lambarde, the keeper of the records of the Tower.
43. RSC Season Guide 2007-2008, p. 2.
44. Stuart Hampton-Reeves, "Theatrical Afterlives," in Michael Hattaway, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's History Plays (2002), p. 229.
45. Theater program, 1951.
46. Hattaway, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's History Plays, p. 354.
47. Jan Kott, Shakespeare Our Contemporary, trans. Boleslaw Taborski (1964), p. 10.
48. Colin Chambers, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company (2004), p. 36.
49. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 98.
50. Coventry Evening Telegraph, 16 April 1964.
51. Birmingham Post, 16 April 1964.
52. Shrewring, King Richard II, pp. 100-1.
53. Harold Hobson, Sunday Times, 16 April 1964.
54. The Times, London, 16 April 1964.
55. Alan Dent, Financial Times, 16 April 1964.
56. Warwick Advertiser, 17 April 1964.
57. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 11 April 1973.
58. Robert Shaughnessy, Representing Shakespeare: England, History and the RSC (1994), p. 91.
59. Ernst H. Kantorowicz, The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology (1957), p. 7.
60. James Stredder, "John Barton's Production of Richard II at Stratford-on-Avon, 1973," Shakespeare Jahrbuch (1976), p. 24.
61. Stredder, "John Barton's Production of Richard II," p. 25.
62. Stredder, "John Barton's Production of Richard II," p. 29.
63. Andrew Gurr, ed., King Richard II (1984), p. 48.
64. B. A. Young, Financial Times, 11 April 1973.
65. Shaughnessy, Representing Shakespeare, p. 94.
66. Stanley Wells found the scene "illustrates a danger of Mr. Barton's production methods; that, at their extremes, they were directing their audience what to think" (quoted in Shewring, King Richard II, pp. 124-5).
67. Michael Billington, Guardian, 12 April 1973.
68. J. C. Trewin, Birmingham Post, 11 April 1973.
69. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 4 April 1980.
70. Chambers, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company, p. 70.
71. Shaughnessy, Representing Shakespeare, pp. 64-5.
72. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 5 November 1980.
73. Hampton-Reeves, "Theatrical Afterlives," p. 239.
74. B. A. Young, Financial Times, 4 April 1980.
75. Shaughnessy, Representing Shakespeare, p. 61.
76. Wardle, The Times, 4 April 1980.
77. Shewring, King Richard II, p. 59.
78. Nicholas Shrimpton, "Shakespeare Performances in London, Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon 1985-6," Shakespeare Survey 40 (1988), p. 180.
79. Jane Edwardes, Time Out, 17 September 1986.
80. Stanley Wells, Times Literary Supplement, 26 September 1986.
81. Giles Gordon, Plays & Players, November 1986.
82. Eric Shorter, Daily Telegraph, 12 September 1986.
83. John Peter, Sunday Times, 14 September 1986.
84. RSC program, Richard II (1990). The quote is from Marie Louise Bruce, The Usurper King: Henry Bolingbroke 1366-99 (1986).
85. Maria Jones, Shakespeare's Culture in Modern Performance (2003), p. 152, quoting Harry Eyres, The Times, London, 13 September 1991.
86. Jones,
Shakespeare's Culture in Modern Performance, p. 153.
87. Michael Coveney, Observer, 11 November 1990.
88. Michael Billington, Guardian, 9 November 1990.
89. Malcolm Rutherford, Financial Times, 12 September 1991.
90. Russell Jackson, "Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon: Summer and Fall, 2000," Shakespeare Quarterly 52 (2001), p. 114.
91. Alastair Macaulay, Financial Times, 31 March 2000.
92. Susannah Clapp, Observer, 2 April 2000.
93. Michael Dobson, "Shakespeare Performances in England, 2000," Shakespeare Survey, 45 (2001), p. 276.
94. Dobson, "Shakespeare Performances in England, 2000," p. 276.
95. Patrick Carnegy, Spectator, 8 April 2000.
96. John Peter, Sunday Times, 9 April 2000.
97. John Gross, Sunday Telegraph, 2 April 2000.
98. Clapp, Observer, 2 April 2000.
99. Carole Woddis, Stratford Herald, 4 April 2000.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND PICTURE CREDITS
Preparation of "Richard II in Performance" was assisted by a generous grant from the CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) of the University of Warwick for research in the RSC archive at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Thanks as always to our indefatigable and eagle-eyed copy editor Tracey Day and to Ray Addicott for overseeing the production process with rigor and calmness.
Picture research by Michelle Morton. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for assistance with picture research (special thanks to Helen Hargest) and reproduction fees.
Images of RSC productions are supplied by the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon. This Library, maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, holds the most important collection of Shakespeare material in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company's official archive. It is open to the public free of charge.
For more information see www.shakespeare.org.uk.