Then, wholly aside from metrical details, there is a large amount of internal evidence of other kinds,—evidence which cannot be measured by the rule of thumb, but which every intelligent reader must notice. We feel instinctively that one play mirrors the views and emotions of youth, another those of middle age. A man's face does not change more between twenty-five and forty than his mind changes during the same interval; and the difference between his thoughts at those periods is as distinct often as the difference between the rounded lines of youth and the stern features of middle age. This is a subject which will be better understood in the light of the next chapter.
The Order of the Plays.—Upon such evidence as has been described, a list of Shakespeare's plays in their chronological order can now be presented. The details of evidence on date may be found in the account of the plays which appears in Chapters X-XIII.
Love's Labour's Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1590-1591
The Comedy of Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1590-1591
II and III Henry VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1590-1592
Richard III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1592-1593
Two Gentlemen of Verona . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1592
King John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1592-1593
Richard II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1593-1594
Titus Andronicus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1593-1594
Midsummer Night's Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1593-1596
Romeo and Juliet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1591, revised 1597
The Merchant of Venice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1594-1596
The Taming of the Shrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1596-1597
I Henry IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1597
II Henry IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1598
Henry V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1599
Merry Wives of Windsor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1599
Much Ado about Nothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1599
As You Like It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1599-1600
Julius Caesar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1699-1601
Twelfth Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1601
Troilus and Cressida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1602
All's Well That Ends Well . . . . . . . . . . . . 1602
Hamlet . . . . . . . . . . . 1602, 1603-1604 (two versions).
Measure for Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1603
Othello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1604
King Lear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1604-1605
Macbeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1605-1606
Antony and Cleopatra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1607-1608
Timon of Athens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1607-1608
Pericles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1608
Coriolanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1609
Cymbeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1610
The Winter's Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1610-1611
The Tempest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1611
King Henry the Eighth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1612-1613
Among the many books and articles on the subject of this chapter, the following may be mentioned: Shakespeare Manual by F. L. Fleay (Macmillan and Co., London, 1876); Shakspere, by E. Dowden (American Book Co., New York); Cartae Shakespeariante by D. Sambert.