You could actually say there are five categories.
Traditionally, Shakespeare's plays could be divided into three different categories; Comedies, Tragedies and Histories, in order of how many of each Shakespeare wrote, with the most first.
However, recently some have argued for a fourth category, Romances, which include The Tempest, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre (though Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's famous 'love story', remains a tragedy due to the nature of the ending).
Finally, some plays have become so notoriously difficult to categorise that they've been labelled Problem plays, rather aptly, which normally refers to three plays; All's Well That Ends Well, Measure For Measure and Troilus and Cressida, though some critics might extend this to The Winter's Tale, The Merchant Of Venice and Timon of Athens.
And there you have it. The four (or five) categories of Shakespeare's plays; Tragedies, Comedies, Histories, Romances and Problem Plays, the fifth category.
Traditionally, Shakespeare's plays could be divided into three different categories; Comedies, Tragedies and Histories, in order of how many of each Shakespeare wrote, with the most first.
However, recently some have argued for a fourth category, Romances, which include The Tempest, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre (though Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's famous 'love story', remains a tragedy due to the nature of the ending).
Finally, some plays have become so notoriously difficult to categorise that they've been labelled Problem plays, rather aptly, which normally refers to three plays; All's Well That Ends Well, Measure For Measure and Troilus and Cressida, though some critics might extend this to The Winter's Tale, The Merchant Of Venice and Timon of Athens.
And there you have it. The four (or five) categories of Shakespeare's plays; Tragedies, Comedies, Histories, Romances and Problem Plays, the fifth category.