Shakespearean comedies are one of the three (sometimes four) genres of plays by William Shakespeare. Traditionally, his works have been grouped into: tragedies, comedies, and histories, with some scholars adding a fourth category, romances.
"Comedy" in its medieval usage had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakesperean comedy is one that has
- A happy ending, usually involving marriage for all the unmarried characters, and
- A more lighthearted style and tone.
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- All's Well That Ends Well
- As You Like It
- Cardenio (lost)
- Cymbeline
- Love's Labour's Lost
- Love's Labour's Won (lost)
- Measure for Measure
- The Merchant of Venice
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Pericles Prince of Tyre
- Taming of the Shrew
- The Tempest
- Twelfth Night
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- The Winter's Tale