For a _fifth_ play, _Hamlet_, _Lear_, or _Coriolanus_ may be taken; or, if a shorter and lighter play is preferred, the _Midsummer-Night's Dream_. In a course of five plays, I should myself put this first, as a specimen of the dramatist's early work. For a course of five plays arranged with special reference to the illustration of Shakespeare's career as a writer, the following may be commended: A _Midsummer-Night's Dream_ (early comedy); _Richard II._, _Henry IV. Part I._, or _Henry V._ (English historical period); _As You Like It_, _Twelfth Night_, or _Much Ado_ (later comedy); _Macbeth_, _Hamlet_, or _Lear_ (period of the great tragedies); and _The Tempest_ or _The Winter's Tale_ (the latest plays, or "romances," as Dowden aptly terms them). For a series of _six_ plays, following this chronological order, instead of one English historical play take two: _Richard III._, _Richard II._, or _King John_ (earlier history, 1593-1595), and _Henry IV. Part I._, or _Henry V._ (later history, or "history and comedy united," 1597-1599). _Richard III._ is a favorite with many teachers in a course of three or four plays; but, for myself, I should never take it up unless in a course of six or more, and only as an example of Shakespeare's earliest work--not later than 1593. As Oechelhäuser says, "_Richard III._ is the significant boundary-stone which separates the works of Shakespeare's youth from the immortal works of the period of his fuller splendor." As such it has a certain historical interest to the student of his literary career; but this seems to me its only claim to attention. I am not disposed, however, to quarrel with those who think otherwise. To return to our courses of reading: for a series of _seven_ plays I would insert in the above chronological list either _Romeo and Juliet_ (early tragedy) _before_ "early history," or the _Merchant_ (middle comedy) _after_ "early history"; and for a series of _eight_ plays I would include _both_ these. _Henry VIII._ can be added to any of the longer series as a very late play, of which Shakespeare wrote only a part, and which was completed by Fletcher. _The Taming of the Shrew_ may be mentioned incidentally as an earlier play that is interesting as being Shakespeare's only in part.