Experimental plays: from about 1589 to 1594

Before about 1594, Shakespeare experimented with a wide variety of dramatic and literary forms:

• Four history plays (Henry VI, Parts One, Two, and Three; Richard III)
• An erotic narrative poem (Venus and Adonis)
• A severely moral narrative poem (The Rape of Lucrece)
• A comedy in the style of Plautus (The Comedy of Errors)
• A comedy in the courtly style of John Lyly (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)
• A farcical comedy which today we might call a problem comedy (The Taming of the Shrew)
• A tragedy of blood in the style of Kyd (Titus Andronicus)
• Possibly some sonnets
• And possibly a contribution to a play written in collaboration by several authors (Sir Thomas More)

All are listed in the Chronology.