This is a list of the settings of Shakespeare's plays. Included are the settings of 38 plays, being the 36 plays contained in the First Folio, and Pericles, Prince of Tyre and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Places mentioned in Shakespeare's text are not listed unless he explicitly set at least one scene there, even where that place is important to the plot such as Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors or Milan in The Tempest. Similarly, the place where an historical or mythical event depicted by Shakespeare is supposed to have happened is not listed unless Shakespeare mentions the setting in the play's text, although these places are sometimes mentioned in the text or footnotes. For example, most editors place act 3 scene 2 of Julius Caesar ("Friends, Romans, countrymen...") at "the Forum" but there is no listing for the Forum on this page because Shakespeare's text does not specify it. Contents: Nations, cities and towns:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | V | W | Y Less-specific settings More-specific settings Wars and battles Settings by scene:
All's Well That Ends Well | Antony and Cleopatra | As You Like It | The Comedy of Errors | Coriolanus | Cymbeline | Hamlet | Henry IV, Part 1 | Henry IV, Part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, Part 1 | Henry VI, Part 2 | Henry VI, Part 3 | Henry VIII | Julius Caesar | King John | King Lear | Love's Labour's Lost | Macbeth | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Much Ado About Nothing | Othello | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Richard II | Richard III | Romeo and Juliet | The Taming of the Shrew | The Tempest | Timon of Athens | Titus Andronicus | Troilus and Cressida | Twelfth Night | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale References
Nations, cities and towns
A Actium in Greece is the location of Antony's and Cleopatra's preparations for the Battle of Actium, and of the sea battle's spectators, in Antony and Cleopatra. For Albania see "Illyria". Alexandria: See also "Cleopatra's Monument" under more-specific settings below. Alexandria in Egypt is the setting of the greatest number of scenes in Antony and Cleopatra. Also a number of scenes are set outside its walls, and in the camp of the Romans attacking it. Angiers (Angers in France) and the camps and battlefields in its vicinity, especially the pavilion of the French king, are the settings of the second and third acts of King John. Antioch in modern-day Turkey - but in the play referred to as located in Syria - is the setting of the opening scene, with its incest sub-plot, in Pericles. Antium in present-day Italy is the Volscian city to which the banished Coriolanus travels to forge an alliance with Aufidius, in Coriolanus, and is the setting of the play's climax. Athens: See also "Forest" under less-specific settings, below. Athens in modern-day Greece is the setting of a short scene between Antony and his new wife Octavia, in Antony and Cleopatra. Athens in modern-day Greece, but in the world of the play a city-state governed by a duke - and a forest outside its walls - are the settings of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Athens in modern-day Greece - and a forest outside its walls - are the settings of Timon of Athens. Athens in modern-day Greece, but in the world of the play a city-state governed by duke Theseus accompanied by his wife Hippolyta, is the primary setting of The Two Noble Kinsmen. For Austria see "Vienna".
B Barnet in England is the site of the Battle of Barnet, at which Warwick died, and which is dramatized in Henry VI, Part 3. Belmont is a fictional estate some twenty miles from Venice, Italy: the home of Portia and her household, and the setting of the "casket" scenes, and of the play's conclusion, in The Merchant of Venice. For Berkeley see "Berkeley Castle" under more-specific settings below. For Berwick see the "England" entry for Henry VI, Part 3. Bohemia, the landlocked modern-day Czechia, is, in The Winter's Tale, a coastal kingdom of which Polixenes is the king. It is the setting of the end of Act 3 and the whole of the long act 4. Bordeaux in France is the setting of the defeat of Talbot, and of the deaths of him and his son John, in Henry VI, Part 1. In two related parallel scenes without specific locations, York and his army, then Somerset and his army, fail to send reinforcements to Talbot. For Bosnia and Herzegovina see "Illyria". Bosworth in England, site of the battle of Bosworth Field, including the camps of both armies, and the tents of the leaders Richmond and Richard, are the settings of the climactic scenes of Richard III. For Bristol see "Bristol Castle" under more-specific settings below. Britain: See also "England", "Scotland" and "Wales". Britain in the Roman era is the primary setting of Cymbeline. Shakespeare does not locate King Cymbeline's court any more precisely. Britain in the pre-Christian era is the only setting of King Lear. In the world of the play the only location specified is Dover. The other significant settings (the homes of Lear, of Goneril and Albany, and of Gloucester, and the various outdoor settings) are not identified any more specifically. For Bury St Edmunds see "St Edmundsbury".
C Corioli (typically spelled Corioles in the First Folio) in modern-day Italy, although its precise location is unknown - and the battlefield and the trenches of the Romans attacking it - are the settings of the scenes in which Caius Martius earns the honorary name "Coriolanus", in Coriolanus. Coventry: Coventry in England is the setting of the lists at which Mowbray and Bolingbroke are scheduled to fight in Richard II. Near Coventry, in England, Falstaff delivers a soliloquy about his abuse of the King's press, in Henry IV, Part 1. Coventry in England is the setting of Clarence's defection back to Edward's party, in Henry VI, Part 3. For Croatia see "Illyria". Cyprus is the setting of the last four acts of Othello. No specific town or city within Cyprus is mentioned. For Czechia see "Bohemia".
D For Denmark see "Elsinore". Dover in England and various places in its vicinity, including the camps of the French and British armies nearby, are settings in the latter half of King Lear.
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