The Shakespeare Book of Lists

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Chapter 5

Shakespeare’s Plays

The 10 best (worst) villains

1. Aaron, the Moor (Titus Andronicus)
2. King Richard III
3. Iago
4. Macbeth
5. Edmund
6. Regan
7. Goneril
8. Cornwall
9. Leontes

10. The mob (Julius Caesar)

The 10 best lovers

1. Titania and Bottom—A Midsummer Night's Dream
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. Beatrice and Benedick—Much Ado About Nothing
4. Antony and Cleopatra
5. Hamlet and Ophelia
6. Petruchio and Katherine—The Taming of the Shrew
7. Henry V and Katherine
8. Troilus and Cressida
9. Duke Orsino and Viola—Twelfth Night

10. Pyramus and Thisbe—A Midsummer Night's Dream

The plays ranked by length

Play 1. Hamlet 2. Coriolanus 3. Cymbeline 4. Richard III 5. Othello 6. Troilus and Cressida 7. Antony and Cleopatra 8. King Lear 9. The Winter’s Tale 10. Henry IV, Part 2 11. Henry V 12. Two Noble Kinsmen 13. Henry VIII 14. Henry VI, Part 2 15. Romeo and Juliet 16. Henry IV, Part 1 17. All’s Well That Ends Well 18. Henry VI, Part 3 19. Merry Wives of Windsor 20. Measure for Measure 21. Loves Labour’s Lost 22. As You Like It 23. Richard II 24. Much Ado About Nothing 25. Merchant of Venice 26. Henry VI, Part 1 27. Taming of the Shrew 28. King John 29. Twelfth Night 30. Julius Caesar 31. Titus Andronicus 32. Timon of Athens 33. Pericles 34. Macbeth 35. Two Gentlemen of Verona 36. Tempest 37. A Midsummer Night’s Dream 38. Comedy of Errors

Number of Lines 4042 3752 3707 3667 3551 3531 3552 3487 3348 3326 3297 3261 3221 3130 3099 3081 3013 2915 2891 2891 2829 2810 2796 2787 2701 2695 2676 2638 2591 2591 2538 2488 2459 2349 2288 2283 2192 1787

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