Shakespeare's histories are plays based on events in English history: the reign of King John (1200-1216), the Wars of the Roses (1397-1485), and the reign of Henry VIII in the 1530s. They are based on history and so are called histories. Plays based on English History were quite popular in Shakespeare's day (and of course still are, viz. The King's Speech) and not only included Shakespeare's 10 history plays but also Peele's Edward I, Marlowe's Edward II, Heywood's two parts of Edward IV, the anonymous Thomas of Woodstock and the anonymous Edward III (thought by some to be by Shakespeare).
Plays based on Roman History (like Julius Caesar) or Scottish History (like Macbeth) were not called histories. Just the English ones.
Some of Shakespeare's plays had been published individually during his lifetime but in 1623 two of his friends decided to publish a collection of as many of his plays as they could get their hands on. This collection is usually called the First Folio but its real title is "Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies Published according to the True Originall Copies"
Many people believed in the supernatural. Shakespeare reflects this in some of the scenes in his plays.
Shakespeare wrote 37 or 38 plays, some of which were co-written with John Fletcher, and a couple more which are lost, and maybe more that we haven't heard about. The 36 plays which were in the First Folio, the first omnibus volume of Shakespeare's plays, were divided into histories, comedies, and tragedies. Some people have invented new categories and have placed some of the plays, usually those called comedies, into them. One such category is "Romances", which are defined as late plays with a kind of fairy-tale plot usually about the dispersal and reuniting of families. Another is "problem plays" for plays which are called comedies but are serious or disturbing in their subject-matter or ending. Sometimes these are called "tragicomedies" reflecting the label given to the very popular plays of Beaumont and Fletcher at the time.
The traditional categorization is into Tragedies, Histories and Comedies. Some people have added new categories like Problem Plays, Romances, or Tragicomedies. It is the three main ones that everyone knows, however.
In the First Folio, all of Shakespeare's plays were divided into Comedies, Tragedies and Histories. Although it is not always easy to place some of the plays in these three categories (and Shakespeare was well aware that they could mix and overlap and be involved with the category of the Pastoral), the division seems to have stuck.
All of the plays called histories are about the Kings of England and the political events of their reign, although some of the kings, like Henry IV and Henry IV, are not major characters in the plays that bear their names.
Some of Shakespeare's plays had been published individually during his lifetime but in 1623 two of his friends decided to publish a collection of as many of his plays as they could get their hands on. This collection is usually called the First Folio but its real title is "Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies Published according to the True Originall Copies"
His plays were greatly affected by the society he lived in. Some of his plays were banned due to the content that the plays contained.
Plutarch,Raphael Holinshed,Saxo Grammaticus, Arthur Brooke, and Giovanni Boccacio
In some places you would pay a penny and stand on the ground watching the play
Many people believed in the supernatural. Shakespeare reflects this in some of the scenes in his plays.
There is one called Twelfth Night that I am aware of, but in the beginning its sad. I think its sad/comedy.
De Vere died in 1604 before some of the plays, including The Tempest and Macbeth, were written.
It depends what you think is distasteful. Did Shakespeare make dirty jokes? Absolutely. Some plays, like Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, and Troilus and Cressida, have more than others.
Shakespeare wrote 37 or 38 plays, some of which were co-written with John Fletcher, and a couple more which are lost, and maybe more that we haven't heard about. The 36 plays which were in the First Folio, the first omnibus volume of Shakespeare's plays, were divided into histories, comedies, and tragedies. Some people have invented new categories and have placed some of the plays, usually those called comedies, into them. One such category is "Romances", which are defined as late plays with a kind of fairy-tale plot usually about the dispersal and reuniting of families. Another is "problem plays" for plays which are called comedies but are serious or disturbing in their subject-matter or ending. Sometimes these are called "tragicomedies" reflecting the label given to the very popular plays of Beaumont and Fletcher at the time.
Traditionally, his plays have been put into the categories of Histories (stories taken from English history), Tragedies (stories that end badly for the main characters), and Comedies (stories which end well for the main characters). Sometimes people invent new categories for the plays which do not fit into those three. It's also fair to say that Shakespeare's plays do not as a rule have realistic dialogue; the characters speak often in heightened poetic dialogue. Nor are the plots naturalistic--some are fantasies, and others have a folk-tale quality.
The traditional categorization is into Tragedies, Histories and Comedies. Some people have added new categories like Problem Plays, Romances, or Tragicomedies. It is the three main ones that everyone knows, however.