There have been many attempts to classify Shakespeare’s play types, using labels to place them into categories to define or restrict the ways in which we think about each play. Traditionally Shakespeare play types are defined as: Show
with a number of additional categories proposed over the years:
Here are the types of Shakespeare plays grouped by the standard comedy, history and tragedy classifications: Shakespeare’s Comedy PlaysShakespeare’s comedies are generally identifiable as plays full of fun, irony and dazzling wordplay. They also abound in disguises and mistaken identities, with very convoluted plots that are difficult to follow with very contrived endings. All’s Well That Ends Well Read more about Shakespeare’s Comedy plays Shakespeare’s Tragedy PlaysThe plays grouped as Shakespeare tragedies follow the Aristotelian model of a noble, flawed protagonist (the tragic hero) who makes a mistake and suffers a fall from his position, before the normal order is somehow resumed. These plays (and many others) are filled with tragic Shakespeare moments: Antony and Cleopatra When it comes to Shakespeare tragedies and Shakespeare comedies there are a broad range of dramatic types in each and, whatever those two terms may mean, none of the plays fits comfortably into either of them.
Read more about Shakespeare’s Tragedy plays Shakespeare’s History PlaysThe history plays normally refer to the ten plays that cover English history from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries, and the 1399-1485 period in particular. Each play is named after, and focuses on, the reigning monarch of the period. Henry IV Part 1 Certainly, we can justify calling the Henry plays, the Richard plays and King John Shakespeare’s ‘history plays’ although that would be the most superficial kind of description, given the variety of action, mood, feeling, tone and structure within and between the plays. Read more about Shakespeare’s History plays Shakespeare’s Roman PlaysThe category of Shakespeare’s ‘Roman plays’ is simply a convenient description that scholars and critics have given to the four plays that Shakespeare set in ancient Rome – although Shakespeare experts don’t always agree on this. Antony and Cleopatra Read more about Shakespeare’s Roman plays Additional Shakespeare Play CategoriesThe original classification of Shakespeare’s plays – ‘Comedies’, ‘Tragedies’, ‘Histories’ and ‘Roman plays‘ – don’t adequately describe all of Shakespeare’s plays, and scholars have come up with more names to do so. A nineteenth century critic, F.S. Boas, desperate to classify everything, coined the term ‘problem plays’ for some of them because of the difficulty he had squeezing them into any of the conventional slots. The plays Shakespeare wrote between 1601 and 1603 – All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida – seemed confusing to him as they lurch back and forth between dark drama and a light comic tone. The most widely used categories are ‘Romance plays’, ‘Problem plays’, and Shakespeare’s ‘Tragicomedy Plays’. The plays in those categories have much in common, but there are enough differences to prevent some of them to fall into all three. The Winter’s Tale, for example is a play that does have the features of all three, however. The Winter’s Tale is usually put into the ‘problem play’ category as well. Other people have also placed the Bard’s plays into other categories, such as ‘Lost plays‘, ‘Roman plays‘, ‘Romance plays“, ‘Tragicomedy plays‘, ‘Problem plays‘ and ‘Masque plays‘. Here you can see the generally accepted categorization of these play types, along with further information: Shakespeare’s Lost PlaysShortly after Shakepeare’s death what is known as the First Folio was printed. We know, now, that he wrote several plays that were not included in that volume – plays that are often referred to as Shakespeare’s ‘lost plays’. Cardenio Read more about Shakespeare’s Lost plays Shakespeare’s Masque PlaysA masque is a form of courtly entertainment containing music, dancing, singing and acting out a story. It was popular in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, although it originated in Italy. Henry VIII Read more about Shakespeare’s Masque plays Shakespeare’s Problem PlaysIn the problem plays the journey we take when we watch them we take on a dark road. While most of the protagonists end up in a reasonable place they are almost irretrievably scarred by the experience we have watched them endure. All’s Well That Ends Well Read more about Shakespeare’s Problem plays Shakespeare’s Romance PlaysShakespeare’s later plays had elements of comedy and tragedy as well as having a wider view of life. They have become a new classification, named Romance plays by scholars. Pericles Read more about Shakespeare’s Romance plays Shakespeare’s Tragicomedy PlaysA tragicomedy is a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy, although it has the features of both. Whilst plays that fall between these two stools of tragedy and comedy are generally referred to as Shakespeare’s tragedies, they are sometimes referred to as ‘Problem plays’, making the whole area of play classification something of a grey area. Which are the elements of Shakespearean tragedy select for options?What are the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy? tragic hero with a tragic flaw, humor, conflicts-external and internal, supernatural, revenge motive, chance happening.. Tragic hero. ... . tragic flaw. ... . humor. ... . external conflict. ... . internal conflict. ... . supernatural. ... . revenge motive.. Which are elements of a Shakespearean?Looking at Shakespeare's tragedy plays, a combination of the nine elements below make up the plot, coming together to make up the most tragic Shakespeare moments.. A Tragic Hero. ... . Good Against Evil. ... . Hamartia. ... . Tragic Waste. ... . Conflict. ... . The Supernatural. ... . Catharsis. ... . Lack of Poetic Justice.. What are 3 characteristics of a Shakespearean tragedy?Characteristics of Shakespearean Tragedy. Characteristics of Shakespearean tragedy. One Man Show. Social Status of Hero. Tragic Fall of Hero. The Cause of Suffering and Death. Three Unities in Shakespearean Tragedy. Supernatural Elements and Chance Happening in Shakespearean Tragedies. ... . William Shakespeare: Othello.. What are the six elements of a Shakespearean tragedy?They are: Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Song and Spectacle. The Plot is the most important part of a tragedy. The plot means 'the arrangement of the incidents'. Normally the plot is divided into five acts, and each Act is further divided into several scenes.
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