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Plays about suicide

  • MacbethWilliam Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Macbeth using material from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, published in 1587. This history book covered England…
  • Romeo and JulietThe story of Romeo and Juliet did not begin in Shakespeare's mind. It emerged from a long tradition of tragic love stories stretching back to antiquity.
  • OthelloWilliam Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice around 1603. This play draws its core plot from a novella by Giovanni Battista Giraldi…
  • Antony and CleopatraThe story of Antony and Cleopatra begins in 1579 with a translation by Sir Thomas North. This English version of Plutarch's Lives provided the raw material…
  • King LearThe Tragedy of King Lear emerged from a convergence of historical chronicles and folk traditions in the early 17th century.
  • Oedipus RexScholars debate the exact year Sophocles first staged Oedipus Rex, though some point to a devastating plague that struck Athens in 430 BC.