The fourth age: plays from about 1595 to 1600

• Two profoundly original comedies (Love's Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream)
• A history, not part of a group of history plays (King John)
• A tragedy of youth, love and fate (Romeo and Juliet)
• A comedy that seems at times more like the tragedy of its supposed villain (The Merchant of Venice)
• Four histories, written over several years (Richard II, Henry IV, Parts One and Two, Henry V)
• A tragedy set in Roman times (Julius Caesar)
• A group of three great romantic comedies (Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night)
• A comedy of the fat knight, Falstaff, originally created in the history plays (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
• One of Shakespeare's (or anyone's) finest tragedies (Hamlet)

All are listed in the Chronology.