Shakespeare wrote principally plays and sonnets, as well as a small number of other poems.  His sonnets are among the best-known poetry in the language, and are easily found in single-volume collections.

His plays are divided into the comedies, tragedies, and histories, though of course all have tragic and funny moments, and most of them borrow some aspect or other from history.  His early plays were mostly comedies and histories, and include Richard III, Love’s Labor Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream -- though also the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

As time went on, he seems to have become more invested in tragedy -- perhaps, as some speculate, because of the death of his young son Hamnet.  Even Romeo and Juliet seems light in comparison to the tragedy or black humor of his later works, such as the jealousy of Othello, the pettiness of King Lear, the hubris of Macbeth, and the angst of Hamlet.  His final play, The Tempest, acts as his farewell to writing -- as its protagonist, the magician Prospero, says goodbye to magic and the world of illusion.  It’s not only one of the most intriguing plays in the language; it’s a graceful elegy to a theatrical career.

As with most authors of his era, there are a number of disputed texts.  Sir Thomas More, Sir John Oldcastle, The London Prodigal, and A Yorkshire Tragedy were all at one point attributed to Shakespeare, but are almost certainly not his.  Love’s Labor Won and Cardenio have been lost -- the latter is a retelling of a story from Don Quixote, thus bearing the touch of the two greatest authors of their generation.  Additionally, the specific wording of many of his plays is sometimes unclear, with changes being made in various publications both before and after his death.  Similarly, it is not always clear how the plays were meant to be staged.