How many plays did Shakespeare write that survived?

How many plays did Shakespeare write that survived?

• A. 20
• B. 38
• C. 50
• D. 42

Answer: (B)

Understanding how many of Shakespeare’s plays survive depends on how scholars count works and authorship. The widely accepted total is thirty-eight surviving plays. The First Folio of 1623 collected thirty-six of Shakespeare’s plays, and later scholarship commonly adds two more that are historically linked to him— Pericles, Prince of Tyre (co-authored with George Wilkins) and The Two Noble Kinsmen (with John Fletcher). These works exist in texts that credit or closely associate them with Shakespeare, so they’re counted among his surviving plays. Because of these collaborations and the way texts were preserved, the standard figure is thirty-eight, not twenty, forty-two, or fifty. Some interpretations vary slightly over disputed attributions, but thirty-eight is the commonly cited number.

Understanding how many of Shakespeare’s plays survive depends on how scholars count works and authorship. The widely accepted total is thirty-eight surviving plays. The First Folio of 1623 collected thirty-six of Shakespeare’s plays, and later scholarship commonly adds two more that are historically linked to him— Pericles, Prince of Tyre (co-authored with George Wilkins) and The Two Noble Kinsmen (with John Fletcher). These works exist in texts that credit or closely associate them with Shakespeare, so they’re counted among his surviving plays. Because of these collaborations and the way texts were preserved, the standard figure is thirty-eight, not twenty, forty-two, or fifty. Some interpretations vary slightly over disputed attributions, but thirty-eight is the commonly cited number.