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Shakespeare

Shakespeare plays ranking

The community has spoken. Discover the world ranking, compare it to yours and see how everyone else voted.

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35contenders high-voltage

144votes

1TopList

0commentsUpdated on 10/17/2026 at 12:00 AM

Richard III1596

The worldwide ranking generated by 144 votes

35 / 35

Richard III1596

Macbeth1594

Hamlet1566

King Lear1558

Titus Andronicus1556

Othello1551

All's Well That Ends Well1547

The Winter's Tale1544

A Midsummer Night's Dream1544

#10

King John1538

#11

The Comedy of Errors1522

#12

Much Ado About Nothing1520

#13

Romeo and Juliet1515

#14

The Taming of the Shrew1510

#15

Timon of Athens1510

#16

Troilus and Cressida1509

#17

The Tempest1501

#18

Pericles, Prince of Tyre1501

#19

Richard II1500

#20

Cymbeline1499

#21

Julius Caesar1498

#22

Henry VIII1486

#23

As You Like It1479

#24

Coriolanus1465

#25

Henry IV1464

#26

The Merchant of Venice1461

#27

Henry VI1455

#28

Measure for Measure1455

#29

Twelfth Night1453

#30

The Two Gentlemen of Verona1453

#31

Love's Labour's Lost1449

#32

Antony and Cleopatra1445

#33

Henry V1432

#34

The Merry Wives of Windsor1422

#35

The Two Noble Kinsmen1403

What the community says

Rank your favorite Shakespeare plays: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and more masterpieces. Discover the most beloved tragedies and comedies.

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →