Shakespeare's Plays

Though Shakespeare has other types of works, he is best known for his plays. Shakespeare’s plays traditionally fall under 3 genres: tragedy, history, and comedy. Some notable tragedies written by Shakespeare are: Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, each being widely influential.

The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well known stories in English literature, with many modern adaptions, retellings, and productions. The play tells the story of two lovers belonging in opposing families, the Capulets and the Montagues, which eventually leads to their deaths. Romeo and Juliet communicated important themes such as love as a cause of violence, the harmfulness of societal expectations, and fate. Subjects of death and violence generally stem from love and passion in Romeo and Juliet. For example, as Romeo first sees Juliet and falls in love with her, Tybalt (Juliet's cousin) notices that he crashed the Capulets feast, and attempts to kill him. This murderous aim reestablishes the rivalry between the two families while capturing the theme. Upon seeing Romeo, Tybalt's first instinct is to insult and duel with him, which is a stark contrast to Romeos initial reaction to Juliet.

As the story progresses, it can be observed that the two lovers fall deeper in love, yet at the same time draw closer and closer to death and violence. In act 3 Scene 3, Romeo threatens to kill himself for he has been banished from Verona and been forcibly separated from Juliet. In Act 4 Scene 1, Juliet also pulls a knife in an attempt to commit suicide. Furthermore, Juliet acknowledges her own free will to die, and after she's forced by her father to marry Count Paris, she says "If all else fail, myself have power to die" Both lovers accept refuse to be apart from one another and therefore inflict pain upon themselves. The theme of love as a cause of death is persistent throughout the play, up until the very ending of Romeo and Juliet's double suicide.

All in all, Romeo and Juliet conveys new and important themes to its audience and society then should use the text to evaluate its destructive expectations and systems.

In the genre of comedy, some of Shakespeare’s most known are: The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night tells the story of Viola, who is separated from her twin brother Sebastian due to a shipwreck. She washes up on the shore of Illyria and falls for the kingdoms ruler, Duke Orsino. In order to grow closer to the Duke, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario. Cesario finds work in delivering letters for Duke Orsino to his object of affection, Olivia. However, Olivia quickly falls in love with Cesario. Themes of gender and sexuality are prominently communicated within Twelfth Night. Dressing as a man allows Viola to experience intimacy with Duke Orsino, who seems to highly value Cesario's opinions. The play also implies that Duke Orsino's feelings toward Cesario aren't platonic. This may be because of Cesario's feminine qualities (even when dressed as a man). Furthermore, the Duke is saddened to think that Cesario is married to Olivia, yet when Orsino comes to find that Cesario is actually a young woman, he immediately suggests for them to get married. When Duke Orsino learns that Cesario is Viola, he reacts delightfully instead of getting mad at her for misleading him. Even after he learns the truth about Cesario, Duke Orsino continues to refer to Viola as "Boy" or "Cesario".

However, it can be argued that close male friendships were normal in Elizabethan England. It is not clear whether or not Shakespeare intended for Antonio and Sebastian's relationship to be purely platonic or romantic/sexual. Nevertheless, Twelfth Night communicated important ideas of love, gender, and sexuality through its characters.

Works such as King John, Richard II, Henry IV (parts 1-2), Henry V, Henry VI (parts 1-3), Richard III, and Henry VIII classify as Shakespeare's historical plays. These plays cover English history from specifically 1399 to 1485. Each play is named after and focuses on the reigning monarch of the time. The series of plays communicates 5 generations of Medieval power struggles. These plays mostly depict the Hundred Years War with France, the Wars of the Roses, between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. These historical plays give audiences insight to political affairs of the medieval times, as well as renaissance politics. Furthermore, Shakespeare's historical plays communicate a view of life from those who are at the top of society to those who are at the very bottom. This includes the royal court, nobles, brothels, and beggars. In addition, a new way of historical retelling is also communicated within these plays. The insight of medieval history from the eyes of the monarchs of the period is purely from Shakespeare.