MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1599)—Partly from Italian.
AS YOU LIKE IT (1599)—Lodge's Rosalynde, Euphues' Golden Legacie.
TWELFTH NIGHT (1599)—B. Riche's Apolonius and Silla.
THIRD PERIOD—1602-1608
JULIUS CÆSAR (1601)—North's Plutarch.
HAMLET (1601-2)—Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (1603?)—Probably Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseide and Chapman's Homer.
OTHELLO (1604)—Cinthio's Hecatommithi.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE (1604?)—Cinthio's Epithia.
MACBETH (1605-6?)—Holinshed.
LEAR (1606)—do.
TIMON OF ATHENS (1607?)—Palace of Pleasure and Plutarch written with G. Wilkins (?) and W. Rowley (?).
PERICLES (1607-8)—Gower's Confessio Amantis, with G. Wilkins (?).
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1608)—North's Plutarch.
CORIOLANUS (1608)—do.
FOURTH PERIOD—1608-1613
CYMBELINE (1610-11?)—Holinshed and Ginevra in Boccaccio's Decamerone.
WINTER'S TALE (1610-11)—Green's Dorastus and Fawnia.
TEMPEST (1611?)—S. Jourdain's Discovery of the Bermudas.
HENRY VIII. (1612-13)—Draft by S. completed by Fletcher and perhaps Massinger.
POEMS
VENUS AND ADONIS (1593).
RAPE OF LUCRECE (1594).
SONNETS (1591-94?).
The evidence as to chronology is three-fold—(1) External, such as entries in registers of Stationers' Company, contemporary references, or details as to the companies of actors; (2) External and internal combined, such as references in the plays to events or books, etc.; (3) Internal, content and treatment, progressive changes in versification, presence of frequency of rhyme, etc. The genius of S. was so intensely dramatic that it is impossible to say confidently when he speaks in his own character. The sonnets, written probably 1591-94 have, however, been thought to be of a more personal nature, and to contain indications as to his character and history, and much labour and ingenuity have been expended to make them yield their secrets. It is generally agreed that they fall into two sections, the first consisting of sonnets 1 to 126 addressed to a young man, probably Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of S., and 9 years his junior; and the second from 127 to 154 addressed or referring to a woman in whose snares the writer had become entangled, and by whom he was betrayed. Some, however, have held that they are allegorical, or partly written on behalf of others, or that the emotion they express is dramatic and not personal.
There are contemporary references to S. which show him to have been generally held in high regard. Thus Ben Jonson says, "I loved the man, and do honour to his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any," and Chettle refers to "His demeanour no
