10部喜剧《错误的喜剧》、《驯悍记》、《维洛那二绅士》、《爱的徒劳》、《仲夏夜之梦》、《威尼斯商人》、《温莎的风流娘儿们》、《无事生非》、《皆大欢喜》和《第十二夜》大都以爱情、友谊、婚姻为主题，主人公多是一些具有人文主义智慧与美德的青年男女，通过他们争取自由、幸福的斗争，歌颂进步、美好的新人新风，同时也温和地揭露和嘲讽旧事物的衰朽和丑恶。
4部悲喜剧或传奇剧《泰尔亲王配力克里斯》、《辛白林》、《冬天的故事》、《暴风雨》。这些作品多写失散、团聚、诬陷、昭雪。尽管仍然坚持人文主义理想，对黑暗现实有所揭露，但矛盾的解决主要靠魔法、幻想、机缘巧合和偶然事件，并以宣扬宽恕、容忍、妥协、和解告终。
悲剧
四大悲剧：《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet)、《奥赛罗》(Othello)、《麦克白》(Macbeth)、《李尔王》(King Lear)。四大悲剧不包括《罗密欧与朱丽叶》。
其他悲剧：《罗密欧与朱丽叶》、《泰特斯·安特洛尼克斯》、《裘力斯·凯撒》、《安东尼与克莉奥佩屈拉》(埃及艳后)、《科利奥兰纳斯》、《特洛埃围城记》、《雅典的泰门》等。
喜剧
四大喜剧：《威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of venice)、《仲夏夜之梦》(A Midsummer Night's Dream)、《皆大欢喜》(As You Like It)、《第十二夜》(Twelfth Night)。
据统计，。它广泛采用民间语言(如民谣、俚语、古谚语和滑稽幽默的散文等)，注意吸收外来词汇，还大量运用比喻、隐喻、双关语，可谓集当时英语之大成。莎剧中许多语句已成为现代英语中的成语、典故和格言。相对而言，他早期的剧作喜欢用华丽铿锵的词句;后来的成熟作品则显得更得心应手，既能用丰富多样的语言贴切而生动的表现不同人物的特色，也能用朴素自然的词句传达扣人心弦的感情和思想。
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, two epitaphs on a man named John Combe, one epitaph on Elias James, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.