All's Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623. The play poses complex ethical dilemmas requiring more than typically simple solutions.

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Helena, the low-born ward of a French-Spanish countess, is in love with the countess's son, Bertram, who is indifferent to her. Bertram goes to Paris to replace his late father as attendant to the ailing King of France. Helena, the daughter of a recently deceased physician, follows Bertram, ostensibly to offer the King her services as a healer. The King is sceptical, but she guarantees the cure with her life. If he dies, she will be put to death. If he lives, she may choose a husband from the court.

The King is cured and Helena chooses Bertram. Bertram rejects her (because of her poverty and low status), but The King forces the union. After the ceremony Bertram immediately goes to war in Italy without so much as a goodbye kiss, claiming the marriage invalid until she carries his child and wears his family ring. Helena returns home to the countess, who is horrified by her son's actions. She claims Helena as her child in Bertram's place.

In Italy, Bertram is a successful warrior. He is also a successful seducer of local virgins. Helena follows him to Italy, befriends Diana, a virgin with whom Bertram is infatuated. They arrange for Helena to take Diana's place in bed. Diana obtains Bertram's ring in exchange for one of Helena's. These actions, without Bertram's knowledge, consummates his marriage to Helena, who now wears his ring.

Helena fakes her own death. Bertram, thinking he is free of her, comes home...

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As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623.

As You Like It follows Rosalind (heroine) as she flees her uncle's persecution to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. Celia, her closest friend and cousin, accompanies her on the journey dressed as a poor lady, Rosalind disguised as a young man.

In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy traveller, Jaques, who speaks many of Shakespeare's most famous speeches (such as "All the world's a stage", "too much of a good thing" and "A fool! A fool! I met a fool in the forest"). Jaques provides a sharp contrast to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing the hardships of life in the country.

Themes found within the play include: love, gender, userpation and injustice, forgiveness, court life vs. country life, religious allegory.

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THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (Shakespeare) The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies. A major part of the humour comes from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play.

Set in the Greek city of Ephesus, The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth.

When Antipholus and his servant, Dromio, travel from Syracuse to Ephesus, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identity occurs.

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IMOGEN, the daughter of the British king CYMBELINE, goes against her father's wishes and marries a lowborn gentleman, POSTHUMUS, instead of his oafish stepson, CLOTEN.

Cloten is the son of Cymbeline's new Queen, a villainous woman who has made the king her puppet.

Cymbeline sends Posthumus into exile in Italy, where he encounters a smooth-tongued Italian named IACHIMO.

Iachimo argues that all women are naturally unchaste, and makes a wager with Posthumus that he will be able to seduce Imogen. He goes to the British court and, failing in his initial attempt to convince the princess to sleep with him, resorts to trickery: He hides in a large chest and has it sent to her room. That night he slips out, observes her sleeping, and steals a bracelet that Posthumus once gave to her.

Cloten, meanwhile, continues to pursue Imogen, but she rebuffs him harshly. He becomes furious and vows revenge while she worries over the loss of her bracelet.

In the meantime, Iachimo has returned to Italy, and, displaying the stolen bracelet and an intimate knowledge of the details of Imogen's bedchamber, convinces Posthumus that he won the bet.

Posthumus, furious at being betrayed by his wife, sends a letter to Britain ordering his servant, PISANIO, to murder Imogen.

Pisanio believes in Imogen's innocence, and he convinces her to disguise herself as a boy and go search for her husband, while he reports to Posthumus that he has killed her....

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Love's Labours Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I.

It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company of women for three years in order to focus on study and fasting. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalisation, and reality versus fantasy.

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Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604.

The play's main themes include justice, "morality and mercy in Vienna", and the dichotomy between corruption and purity: "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall". Mercy and virtue prevail, as the play does not end tragically, with virtues such as compassion and forgiveness being exercised at the end of the production.

While the play focuses on justice overall, the final scene illustrates that Shakespeare intended for moral justice to temper strict civil justice: a number of the characters receive understanding and leniency, instead of the harsh punishment to which they, according to the law, could have been sentenced.

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THe Merry Wives of Windsor explores love and marriage, jealousy and revenge, social class and wealth through irony, sexual innuendo, sarcasm, and stereotypical views of classes and nationalities. These themes help to give the play something closer to a modern-day view than is often found in Shakespeare's plays.

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The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599.

Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the Jew Shylock to help his friend court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan, and without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and saves Antonio.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595-96. The play consists of multiple subplots revolving around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.

One subplot revolves around a conflict between four Athenian lovers, one about a group of six amateur actors who have to act out their interpretation of the play 'Pyramus and Thisbe' at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. These subplots take place in a forest, inhabited by fairies who control the characters of the play.

The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

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Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. The play was published in 1623 and explores gender roles, infidelity, deception, masks and mistaken identity.

Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for one another by gossip, rumour, and overhearing. Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar in the erroneous belief that she has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the two couples.

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Antiochus, King of Antioch, declares all suitors for his daughter's hand must correctly answer a riddle to earn her hand. If they fail, they are executed.

Pericles, the Prince of Tyre, is one of many such suitors. When presented with the riddle, he deciphers the shameful answer, replying in a manner that reveals his knowledge of the incestuous relationship... but only to the guilty father and his daughter. Fearing for his life, Pericles hastens home and then to sea for parts unknown, coming ashore only to deliver provisions to a the famine-stricken land of Tarsus.

In a terrible storm at sea, his ship is wrecked and Pericles is the only survivor. He is saved by two fishermen when he is cast up on the shore of Pentapolis, the kingdom of the good King Simonides. Hearing the king is about to give a tournament in honor of his beautiful daughter, Thaisa, Pericles enters and the princess falls deeply in love with him, swearing she will marry no one else. Her father approves her choice, gains the unknown knight’s joyous consent, and the wedding takes place.

After Pericles and his bride live quietly at the palace for some time, Helicanus, who has been ruling wisely in Tyre in the absence of Pericles, sends word that Antiochus has died and safe for Pericles to return home. He reveals his identity to his delighted wife and her father, and prepares for the journey. On the stormy voyage to Tyre, however, Thaisa dies in giving birth to a daughter. Yielding to the sailors’ superstitions, her grieving husband has her body placed in a box and put overboard, where it is soon cast ashore in Ephesus. A physician opens it to find the woman is not dead and restores her to health. Thaisa, thinking her family is dead, becomes a priestess of Diana.

Meanwhile, Pericles leaves his new daughter, Marina, with the governor of Tarsus, Cleon, to be reared by him and his wife, and continues on to Tyre. After living with Cleon fourteen years Marina grows so beautiful, that jealousy causes Cleon’s wife, Dionyza, to arrange for her adopted daughter's murder. Marina, however, is captured by pirates who sell her into a brothel where she refuses to become a prostitute and even converts many others to her virtuous ways.

Pericles, in the meantime, visits Tarsus. He is so grief-stricken by her supposed death, he refuses to speak for months. Full of sorrow he sails for Tyre, but is blown by the wind to Mytilene, where the beautiful Marina, now delighting the city with her dancing and singing, is brought to cheer this dejected king.

With surprise and great joy Pericles recognizes his lost daughter. Soon after, in obedience to a vision, he visits Diana’s shrine at Ephesus. There he is finds his long lost wife and the family is reunited.

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The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592, and explores the themes of female submissiveness, gender politics, cruelty to women, and money.

The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself. The nobleman then has the play performed for Sly's diversion.

The main plot depicts the courtship of Petruchio and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate shrew. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship; however, Petruchio "tames" her with various psychological torments, such as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's younger sister, Bianca, who is seen as the "ideal" woman.

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The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone.

The first scene takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest. The rest of the story is set on a remote island where a sorceror lives with his daughter and two servants (a savage monster figure and an airy spirit).

The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-the play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.

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Troilus and Cressida is believed to have been written in 1602.

Throughout the play, the tone lurches wildly between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom, with constant questioning of intrinsic values such as hierarchy, honour, and love.

** SPOILER ALERT: We won't tell you what happens, but if you are looking for a happy ending ... you won't get it here.

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Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season.

The play centres on the twins, Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia.

Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her... thinking she is a man.

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The Two Gentlemen of Verona is believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593.

The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the foolish behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, and his dog Crab, who plays a non-speaking role but still manages to steal a scene or two.

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The Winter's Tale was published in the First Folio of 1623.

The first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama, while the last two acts are comedic and supply a happy ending. It explores themes of friendship, betrayal, infidelity, loyalty and falsehoods.

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William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. They also continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories. They are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres. Until about 1608, he wrote mainly tragedies, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays.The volume was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Jonson presciently hails Shakespeare in a now-famous quote as "not of an age, but for all time".

Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around 1607. Its first appearance in print was in the Folio of 1623.

The plot is based on Thomas North's 1579 English translation of Plutarch's Lives (in Ancient Greek) and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antony's fellow triumvirs of the Second Triumvirate and the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The tragedy is mainly set in the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt and is characterized by swift shifts in geographical location and linguistic register as it alternates between sensual, imaginative Alexandria and a more pragmatic, austere Rome.

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Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus.

Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military success against various uprisings challenging the government of Rome. Following this success, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership. His temperament is unsuited for popular leadership and he is quickly deposed, whereupon he aligns himself to set matters straight according to his own will. The alliances he forges along the way result in his ultimate downfall.

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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601.

Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy by William Shakespeare first performed in 1599. It is one of several plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history.

Set in Rome in 44 BC, the play depicts the moral dilemma of Brutus as he joins a conspiracy, led by Cassius, to murder Julius Caesar to prevent him from becoming dictator of Rome. Following Caesar's death, Rome is thrust into a period of civil war, and the republic the conspirators sought to preserve is lost forever.

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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.

It tells the tale of a king who bequeaths his power and land to two of his three daughters, after they declare their love for him in a fawning and obsequious manner. His third daughter gets nothing, because she will not flatter him as her sisters had done. When he feels he has been treated with disrespect by the two daughters who now have his wealth and power, he becomes furious to the point of madness. He eventually becomes tenderly reconciled to his third daughter, just before tragedy strikes her and then the king.

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Macbeth dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.

A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

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Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603.

It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio (a disciple of Boccaccio's), first published in 1565. The story revolves around its two central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, and his treacherous ensign, Iago.

Othello contains varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance.

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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.

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Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton in about 1605–1606, and published in the First Folio in 1623.

It is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon. The central character is a beloved citizen of Athens who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortune on corrupt hangers-on only interested in getting the next payout.

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Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele.

The play is set during the latter days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus, a general in the Roman army, who is engaged in a cycle of revenge with Tamora, Queen of the Goths.

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The Life and Death of King Richard the Second, commonly called Richard II, is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in approximately 1595. It is the first play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV - Part I, Henry IV - Part II, and Henry V.

The play is based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377–1399).

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Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV - Part I, Henry IV - Part II, and Henry V.

Henry IV, Part 1 depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon in Northumberland against Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403.

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Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV - Part I, Henry IV - Part II, and Henry V.

The play is often seen as an extension of aspects of Henry IV, Part 1, rather than a straightforward continuation of the historical narrative, placing more emphasis on the highly popular character of Falstaff and introducing other comic figures as part of his entourage, including Ancient Pistol, Doll Tearsheet, and Justice Robert Shallow. Several scenes specifically parallel episodes in Part 1.

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Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written near 1599. It is the fourth play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV - Part I, Henry IV - Part II, and Henry V.

This play tells the story of King Henry V of England, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years' War. In the First Quarto text, it was titled The Cronicle History of Henry the fift,[1]:p.6 which became The Life of Henry the Fifth in the First Folio text.

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Henry VI, Part I, II and III are set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England.

Part I: deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy.

Part II: deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles and the inevitability of armed conflict.

Part III: deals with the horrors of that conflict.

Richard III concludes this tetralogy.

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Henry VI, Part I, II and III is a trilogy of plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England.

Part I: deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy.

Part II: deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles and the inevitability of armed conflict.

Part III: deals with the horrors of that conflict.

Richard III concludes this tetralogy.

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Henry VI, Part I, II and III is a trilogy of plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England.

Part I: deals with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, as the English political system is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty jealousy.

Part II: deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles and the inevitability of armed conflict.

Part III: deals with the horrors of that conflict.

Richard III concludes this tetralogy.

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Henry VIII is a collaborative history play, written by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII.

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The Life and Death of King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatises the reign of John, King of England (ruled 1199–1216), son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Henry III of England. It is believed to have been written in the mid-1590s but was not published until it appeared in the First Folio in 1623.

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Richard III is a historical play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written around 1593. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England.

Richard III concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy (also containing Henry VI parts 1–3).

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