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...")Julius Caesar 3.2.74. 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 __NOTOC__
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.Antony and Cleopatra 3.7.50-52. 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.Antony and Cleopatra 3.13.171-172. 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.King John 2.1.1. 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.Pericles 1.17-19. 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.Coriolanus 4.4.1-2. 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.Antony and Cleopatra 3.1.34-35.Antony and Cleopatra 3.6.64. 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.A Midsummer Night's Dream 1.1.11-12.A Midsummer Night's Dream 1.1.160-163. Athens in modern-day Greece - and a forest outside its walls - are the settings of Timon of Athens.Timon of Athens 2.2.17-18. 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.The Two Noble Kinsmen 221-222. 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.Henry VI, Part 3 113-114. 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.The Merchant of Venice 1.1.161.The Merchant of Venice 3.4.84-85. 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.The Winter's Tale 3.3.1-2. 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.Henry VI, Part 1 4.2.1. 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.Richard III 5.3.1 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.Cymbeline 3.1.12-14. 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.King Lear 4.3.21. 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.Coriolanus 1.2.27.Coriolanus 115-117. Coventry: Coventry in England is the setting of the lists at which Mowbray and Bolingbroke are scheduled to fight in Richard II.Richard II 198-199. Near Coventry, in England, Falstaff delivers a soliloquy about his abuse of the King's press, in Henry IV, Part 1.Henry IV, Part 1 4.2.13.Henry IV, Part 1 4.2.1.Henry IV, Part 1 4.2.38-39. Coventry in England is the setting of Clarence's defection back to Edward's party, in Henry VI, Part 3.Henry VI, Part 3 4.10.32. For Croatia see "Illyria". Cyprus is the setting of the last four acts of Othello. No specific town or city within Cyprus is mentioned.Othello 2.1.213. 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.King Lear 3.6.48-50.King Lear 4.1.54.
E For Egypt see "Alexandria" and, under more-specific settings below, "Cleopatra's Monument". Elsinore: See also "Graveyard" under less-specific settings, below. Elsinore (i.e. Helsingør in Denmark), particularly its castle and its environs, are the only settings of Hamlet. The only scenes outside the castle are one on the Danish coast (act 4 scene 4) where Hamlet sees the Norwegian forces, and one set in a graveyard (act 5 scene 1).Hamlet 1.2.173. England: See also "Barnet", "Bosworth", "Coventry", "Dover", "London", "Rochester", "Salisbury", "Shrewsbury", "Southampton", "St Albans", "St Edmundsbury", "Tewkesbury", "Wakefield", "Windsor" and "York", and, under less-specific settings, below, "Castle", and, under more-specific settings below, "Baynard's Castle", "Blackfriars", "Eastcheap", "Ely House", "Forest of Arden", "Gad's Hill", "Garter Inn", "Gaultree Forest", "Gloucestershire", "Herne's Oak" "Kenilworth Castle", "Kimbolton Castle", "Pomfret Castle" "Southwark", "Swinstead Abbey" "Temple Garden", "Tower of London" "Westminster Palace" and "York Place". See also "English Court" under more-specific settings below. The frame story of The Taming of the Shrew (i.e. the two scenes of the "Induction" and a short exchange at the end of act 1 scene 1), in which the drunken tinker Christopher Sly is persuaded he is a lord and is invited to watch a play, has no specified setting, but appears to be in England since Sly claims to be from Burton Heath,The Taming of the Shrew Induction.2.16-17. Warwickshire, and to know a "fat alewife of Wincot".The Taming of the Shrew Induction.2.20 England, probably at the court of Edward the Confessor, is the setting of a lengthy scene in which Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty, and then Macduff learns of the murder of his family, in Macbeth.Macbeth 4.3.44-45. England, somewhere near the border by Berwick (which was, at the time the play is set, in Scotland), King Henry visits his former dominions, and is captured by two keepers, in Henry VI, Part 3.Henry VI, Part 3 2.5.128.Henry VI, Part 3 3.1.13-14. "England" is the only location given in a stage direction in Henry VI, Part 3, presumably to clarify the location since the scene (act 4 scene 2) includes French soldiers. Neither it nor the following scene, in which Warwick's powers overcome Edward's guards at his tent and take him prisoner, is given any more specific location.Henry VI, Part 3 4.2.0SD Ephesus: See also "Diana's Temple at Ephesus" under more-specific settings, below. Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey, but in the play a city state governed by a Duke, is the only setting of The Comedy of Errors.The Comedy of Errors 1.1.28-30. Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey, is the scene of Thaisa's rescue by Cerimon, and later of Thaisa's reconciliation with Pericles at Diana's temple, in Pericles.Pericles 5.1.227.
F Fife in Scotland is the home of Lady Macduff and her children, and the setting of their murders in act 4 scene 2 of Macbeth.Macbeth 2.4.36-37. For Flint see "Flint Castle" under more-specific settings below. Florence, in modern-day Italy but in the play an independent state governed by a duke, is the place to which Bertram runs away to take part in the Tuscan Wars, in All's Well That Ends Well, and is the setting of the gulling of Paroles, and of the bed-trick played upon Bertram by Helen and Diana.All's Well That Ends Well 3.2.68-69.All's Well That Ends Well 5.3.125-128. Forres in Scotland is the site of Duncan's court in the early part of Macbeth.Macbeth 1.3.37. France: See also "Angiers", "Bordeaux", "Harfleur", "Marseille", "Orleans", "Paris", "Rouen", "Roussillon" and, under less-specific settings, below, "Battlefield" and "Castle", and, under more-specific settings below, "Agincourt", "Auvergne", "Forest of Arden" and "French Court". France is the location of As You Like It. The location of the scenes in Duke Frederick's court, and at Oliver's house, are not specified any more accurately.As You Like It 1.1.133-134. France is the location of most of the last four acts of Henry V. Some scenes are not located more specifically, but occur on the march between Harfleur and Calais.Henry V 3.0.22-24.
G For Greece see "Actium", "Athens", "Mytilene", "Philippi" and "Thebes".
H Harfleur in France is the setting of the Siege of Harfleur, dramatized in the third act of Henry V.Henry V 3.0.26-27. For Harlech see "Wales". For Helsingør see "Elsinore". For Higham see "Gad's Hill" under more-specific settings below.
I Illyria, a coastal region on the eastern Adriatic sea, including parts of modern-day Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania, is the only setting of Twelfth Night.Twelfth Night 1.2.1. Inverness in Scotland is the location of Macbeth's castle prior to his becoming king, and is the setting of the events surrounding the murder of Duncan, in Macbeth.Macbeth 1.4.41-42. For Iran see "Parthia". For Iraq see "Parthia".