1603-1608: Tragedies

A coupled of years ago (1603), Queen Elizabeth died and  James VI of Scotland became James I of England. So instead of the Queen's Men, we are now the King's Men.

From November 1, 1604 to October 31, 1605, we did a total 11 performances!
And I wrote the six plays for seven of these performances!
The Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Othello
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice (we performed this twice!)

People have noticed, though, that my plays have been very cynical lately.

I have also already written Hamlet (1599-1601).
But the comedies that I wrote during these period were comedies that were "distinctly un-funny, and have been called 'problem plays'."
Troilus and Cressida (probably 1602) All's Well That Ends Well (probably 1603-1604)
Measure for Measure (probably 1603-1604)

Then I moved on to more tragic plays.
Othello (probably 1604)
King Lear (probably 1605)
Macbeth (probably 1605)
Antony and Cleopatra (probably 1607)
Coriolanus (probably 1606-1608)* 
Timon of Athens (probably 1606-1608)*

*Out of all my plays, these two were the "worst" ones--not many people liked them and they weren't performed a lot.

Why exactly did I switch from awesome comedies to sad tragedies?
Well I guess you could say that it was because my father died in 1601. Or maybe it was the death of Queen Elizabeth. Or maybe it was because tragedies became more popular and they brought in more money. It also could be because I was just really depressed after writing Hamlet (it was super stressful!). Who really knows? I don't even know myself!

Despite all of this "sadness," however, I managed to buy a cottage opposite my house, New Place!