10. Chronology
The Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays
Establishing the chronology of Shakespeare's plays is a most frustrating and difficult task. It is impossible to know the exact order of succession because there is no record of the first production date of any of Shakespeare's works. shakespeare-online.com
The problem with any timeline of Shakespeare's works is that most dates are subject to interpretation. While it is easy to say that The Comedy of Errors is an early work and The Tempest is quite later, exact dates are not -and may not ever be- proved. bardweb.net
Dates of performance are often of limited use, as often it is impossible to determine whether a given performance is the first performance; the first presumed performances of only two plays -Henry VIII and 1Henry VI - can be identified, and even in this, there is ambiguity about both titles. Wikipedia
10.1. The dating of several works
10.1.1. The Merchant of Venice (by Martin Peake)
10.1.2. Love’s Labours Lost
10.1.3. Hamlet
10.1.4. Henry the Fourth
10.1.5. Merry Wives of Windsor
10.2. The Date of SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS
10.2.1. Tables I-VIII
10.3. Chronology of the quartos.