The Plays and Playwrights

All plays are annotated, and may be downloaded as pdf files for online reading or printing;
and the annotations are next to the lines for easy reading.

Click here to find brief notes which provide general information on the annotations and downloading the plays and may increase your enjoyment of the plays.
If you have enjoyed reading any of the plays on this site, please drop me a line at Peter@ElizabethanDrama.org.

 Anonymous Plays

Edmund Ironside (1590?)
Arden of Feversham (1592)
The Taming of a Shrew (1594)
George-a-Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield (1599?)

Early Historically Important Plays

 The Summoning of Everyman (c. 1500)
Gorboduc (aka Ferrex and Porrex) (1561)

Ralph Roister Doister (1552-3)
Gammer Gurton’s Needle (1562-4?)
Damon and Pithias (1571)

Beaumont and Fletcher

Introduction to Beaumont and Fletcher
The Scornful Lady (1609-10)
A King and No King (1611)
Cupid’s Revenge (1611-2)

George Chapman

Introduction to George Chapman
The Gentleman Usher (1606)
The Widow’s Tears (1612)

 John Ford

Introduction to John Ford
Love’s Sacrifice (1633)
Perkin Warbeck (1634)

The Complete Plays of Robert Greene

Introduction to Robert Greene
Alphonsus, King of Aragon (c. 1588-1591)
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (c.1590)
Orlando Furioso (c. 1590)
A Looking Glass for London and England
with Thomas Lodge (c. 1590)
The Scottish History of James the Fourth (c. 1590)

   John Lyly

Introduction to John Lyly
Campaspe (1580-1)
Sapho and Phao (1582-84)
Love’s Metamorphosis (1590?)
Midas (1590)

The Complete Plays of Christopher Marlowe

Introduction to Christopher Marlowe
Dido, Queen of Carthage  (1585-6)
Tamburlaine the Great, Part One  (1586-7)
Tamburlaine the Great, Part Two (1587)
The Jew of Malta (1589-1590)
Doctor Faustus (the ‘A’ text) (1589-1592)
Doctor Faustus (the ‘B’ text) (1589-1592)
The Massacre at Paris (c. 1592)
Edward II (1592)

 Philip Massinger

Introduction to Philip Massinger
The Virgin Martyr (1620)
The Duke of Milan (1621)
The Maid of Honour (1621)
The Picture (1629)
A New Way to Pay Old Debts (before 1633)

The Complete Plays of George Peele

Introduction to George Peele
The Arraignment of Paris (c. 1581-84)
The Battle of Alcazar (c. 1588-89)
King Edward the First, aka Edward I (c. 1590-93)

The Old Wives’ Tale (c. 1590-5)
David and Bethsabe (c. 1595-6)