What order did Shakespeare write his plays in?

Answer 1

There are a number of different opinions on this, so you cannot say "Shakespeare's eighth play was " whatever it says on this or another list with any kind of certainty. It is easier to categorize the plays into groups or periods. Thus we are pretty sure that the early plays (Titus Andronicus, the three parts of Henry VI, Love's Labour's Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and the Two Gentlemen of Verona) were written before the formation of the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594. Some would put Richard III into this category.

In the Early Middle Period, from approximately the formation of the King's Men to the building of the Globe theatre in 1599 we find such plays as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King John, the two parts of Henry IV, Henry V, Richard II, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. As You Like It and Twelfth Night might fit here also, or in the next group.

The Late Middle Period, from the building of the Globe until the opening of the Blackfriars in 1608 includes the great tragedies Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, and Coriolanus, as well as the darker or problem comedies Measure for Measure, All's Well that Ends Well, and Troilus and Cressida.

The Late Period, from the opening of the Blackfriars to Shakespeare's retirement is marked by many plays which appear to be collaborations (and one which is explicitly stated to be one) and are of uneven quality. Pericles, Timon of Athens, Henry VIII, Cymbeline, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale and the Two Noble Kinsmen fit in here, along with the lost play Cardenio.

You will find some scholars who state that Julius Caesar was really written before Twelfth Night, or that Coriolanus followed Timon. It could be; there is much dispute over the actual order. The groupings are generally considered to be accurate, however.

Answer 2

The exact order in which Shakespeare wrote his plays is not definitively known. However, scholars generally believe that he wrote his plays over a period of around 20 years, between 1589 and 1613. His early plays are typically classified as comedies, followed by histories and tragedies, with his later works showing a mix of genres.