How many of Shakespeare's plays involved murder?

Answer 1

An awful lot of people die in Shakespeare's plays, by various means. Some die in battle (like Macbeth or Talbot in Henry VI Part 1, Paris in Romeo and Juliet), a fair number commit suicide (Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra), some are executed (Joan la Pucelle, Titus Andronicus's sons Quintus and Martius), and some even die natural deaths (Falstaff). But there are plenty who are killed by others without legal cause and not in a fair fight.

Let's consider the tragedies.

Hamlet is all about the murder of Hamlet Sr. Julius Caesar is all about the murder of Caesar. Macbeth is all about the murder of Duncan. Those ones are easy. In King Lear, Goneril poisons and kills her sister Regan. In Othello, Othello murders his wife and so does Iago. Titus Andronicus features at least one obvious murder; the murder of Bassanius by Chiron and Demetrius.

The only death in Timon of Athens is a suicide. In Antony and Cleopatra those that don't die in battle commit suicide also. In Romeo and Juliet, we have two suicides, three killed in swordfights and one death by grief, but no murders. Coriolanus is a difficult case. Coriolanus dies at the hands of Aufidius and the Volscians, but in part he has egged them on to do it, and in part it is just retribution for his treason. Is it murder, execution, or suicide? Possibly a bit of all three, but we'll call it murder for now.

Let's look at the histories now.

King John dies of poison; he's murdered for sure. Richard II is also murdered while in prison, although he fights gamely at the end. Richard III is also full of murders. In Henry VI Part 3, Richard also murders King Henry VI. Humphrey Duke of Gloucester is murdered in Henry VI Part 2. Henry IV has Hotspur die in battle, Henry IV dies peacefully in bed, and there are some executions in Henry V, as well as Falstaff's natural death. Henry VIII does not have murders.

Troilus and Cressida, which is hard to place, involves the murder of Hector by Achilles and his Myrmidons.

The comedies often involve attempted murders which are thwarted. Shylock's attempt at judicial murder in Merchant of Venice, Angelo's similar attempt to abuse justice and kill Claudio in Measure for Measure, Oliver's mission in As You Like It, Antonio and Sebastian's conspiracy in the Tempest, Leontes attempt to kill his daughter Perdita in The Winter's Tale, all fail to result in anyone's death. In fact, people almost never die in the comedies. The few plays which do have people dying are the late plays such as The Winter's Tale (where a character is eaten by a bear), or Cymbeline (where Cloten is killed in a fair fight, and his mother dies of grief), or the Two Noble Kinsmen (where a character is killed in a traffic accident).

So, we have the tragedies Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Othello, King Lear, Titus Andronicus and, we'll say, Coriolanus, the histories King John, Richard II, Henry VI Parts 2 and 3 and Richard III, plus Troilus and Cressida. That is a total of thirteen plays with murders.