List of Shakespearean settings

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.^[5][6][7][8]
• 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.^{[9][10][11][8]}
• 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.^[12][13][14]
• 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.^[15][16][17]
• 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.^[18][19][c]
• 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.^{[20][21][22][23]}
  • 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.^{[24][25][26][27]}
  • Athens in modern-day Greece - and a forest outside its walls - are the settings of Timon of Athens.^[28][29][30]
  • 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.^[31][32]
• 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.^[33][34]
• 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.^{[35][36][37][38]}
• 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.^[39][40][41]
• 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.^[42][43][44] In two related parallel scenes without specific locations, York and his army, then Somerset and his army, fail to send reinforcements to Talbot.^[d]
• 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.^{[45][46][47][48]}
• 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.^[49][50][51]
  • 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.^[52][53]
• 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.^{[54][55][56][57][c]}
• Coventry:
  • Coventry in England is the setting of the lists at which Mowbray and Bolingbroke are scheduled to fight in Richard II.^{[58][59][60][61]}
  • Near Coventry, in England, Falstaff delivers a soliloquy about his abuse of the King's press, in Henry IV, Part 1.^{[62][63][64][65]}
  • Coventry in England is the setting of Clarence's defection back to Edward's party, in Henry VI, Part 3.^[66][67]
• For Croatia see "Illyria".
• Cyprus is the setting of the last four acts of Othello. No specific town or city within Cyprus is mentioned.^[68][69][70]
• 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.^{[71][72][53][73]}

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).^{[74][75][76][77]}
• 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,^[78] Warwickshire, and to know a "fat alewife of Wincot".^[79][80]
  • 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.^{[81][82][83][84]}
  • 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.^[85][86][87]
  • "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.^[88][89]
• 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.^[90][91][92]
  • 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.^[93][16][94]

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.^[95][96]
• 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.^[97][98][99]
• Forres in Scotland is the site of Duncan's court in the early part of Macbeth.^{[100][101][102]}
• 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.^{[103][104][105][106]}
  • 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.^{[107][108][109]}

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.^[110][111]
• 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.^[112][113]
• 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.^{[114][115][116]}
• For Iran see "Parthia".
• For Iraq see "Parthia".
• For Italy see "Antium", "Belmont", "Corioli", "Florence", "Mantua", "Messina", "Milan", "Padua", "Rome", "Sicily", "Venice", "Verona" and, under more-specific settings below, "Capitol" and "Pompey's Galley".

K

• For Kenilworth see "Kenilworth Castle" under more-specific settings below.
• For Kimbolton see "Kimbolton Castle" under more-specific settings below.

L

• For Libya see "Pentapolis".

• London:
  • See also "English Court" under more-specific settings below.
  • See also "Baynard's Castle", "Blackfriars", "Eastcheap", "Ely House", "Southwark", "Temple Garden", "Tower of London", "Westminster Palace" and "York Place" under more-specific settings below, and "Road" under less-specific settings below.
  • London and Kent provide a series of settings for the rebellion of Jack Cade and its aftermath, dramatized in Henry VI, Part 2. Among the locations speculated by editors from clues in the text or from historical sources, but not explicitly stated by Shakespeare, are Blackheath, Sevenoaks, Cannon Street and Smithfield. The home of Alexander Iden, who captures and kills Jack Cade, has been placed in the counties of Sussex or Kent.^[e][118] See also "Tower of London" and "Southwark" under more-specific settings below.

M

• Mantua in present-day Italy is the city to which Romeo flees when exiled in Romeo and Juliet, where he hears of Juliet's supposed death and purchases the poison which will eventually kill him.^{[119][120][121]}
• Marseille, in France, is the setting of a short scene in All's Well That Ends Well. Helen, Diana and the Widow have followed the King there, only to learn that he has moved on to Roussillon.^{[122][123][124]}
• Messina:
  • See also "Pompey's Court" under more-specific settings below.
  • Messina, on Sicily in modern-day Italy, is the only location of Much Ado About Nothing.^[125][126]
• Milan:
  • See also "Forest" under less-specific settings, below.
  • Milan in modern-day Italy, but in the play governed by a duke, is the setting of most of the action of The Two Gentlemen of Verona.^{[127][128][129]}
• Milford Haven in Wales, and the area surrounding it, are the settings of most of the second half of Cymbeline, including the cave of Belarius, the site of the battle between Rome and Britain, and the denouement at Cymbeline's camp.^[130][131]
• For Montenegro see "Illyria".
• Mytilene on Lesbos in modern-day Greece is the location of the brothel to which Marina is sold, and is the setting (together with Pericles' ship, while moored there) of much of the last two acts of Pericles.^{[132][133][134]}

N

• For Naples see "Pompey's Galley" under more-specific settings, and "Sea" under less-specific settings, below.
• Navarre in present-day Spain but in the play an independent kingdom whose fictional king, Ferdinand, is one of the central characters, is the only setting of Love's Labour's Lost.^{[135][136][137]}

O

• Orleans:
  • Near Orleans in France is the site of the Dauphin's first meeting with Joan in Henry VI, Part 1.^[138][139]
  • Orleans in France is the site of the first conflict between Joan and Talbot in Henry VI, Part 1.^{[140][141][44][f]}

P

• Padua in modern-day Italy is the primary setting of The Taming of the Shrew.^{[142][143][144][145]}
• Paris:
  • See also "French Court" under more-specific settings below.
  • Paris, in France, is the setting of the court scenes of All's Well That Ends Well.^[146][147]
  • Paris in France is the setting of Henry VI's coronation and the events surrounding it in Henry VI, Part 1.^[148][149]
• Parthia at its border with the Roman Empire in modern-day Syria, Iran or Iraq is the scene of Ventidius' victory over Pacorus, in Antony and Cleopatra.^{[150][151][152][153]}
• Pentapolis in modern-day Libya is the setting of the middle-part of Pericles, where the title character is shipwrecked, and meets his wife Thaisa.^{[154][155][156][g]}
• Philippi, in Macedonia in present-day Greece, is the site of the Battle of Philippi which forms the action of the fifth act of Julius Caesar.^{[157][158][159][160]}
• For Pontefract see "Pomfret Castle" under more-specific settings below.

R

• Rochester:
  • See also "Gad's Hill" under more-specific settings below.
  • Rochester in Kent, England, is the setting of a scene in an inn yard in Henry IV, Part 1 in which the Gad's Hill robbery is planned.^[161][162]
• Rome:
  • See also "Capitol" under more-specific settings and "Forest" under less-specific settings, below.
  • Rome in modern-day Italy is the secondary setting of Antony and Cleopatra, contrasted throughout the play with Alexandria.^{[163][164][165]}
  • Rome in modern-day Italy, and later in the play the camp of the Volscian army threatening it, are the primary settings of Coriolanus.^[166][167]
  • Rome in modern-day Italy is the site of the home of Philario, where Posthumus encounters Iachimo and wagers upon Innogen's loyalty, and also the setting of a short scene between two senators and a tribune at the end of act 3, of Cymbeline.^{[168][169][170][171]}
  • Rome in modern-day Italy is the settling of the whole of the first three acts of Julius Caesar.^{[172][173][174]}
  • Rome in modern-day Italy, together with a forest outside it, and the camp of the Goths led by Lucius preparing to attack it, are the only settings of Titus Andronicus.^{[175][176][177]}
• Rouen:
  • See also "French Court" under more-specific settings below.
  • Rouen in France is captured by Joan and the French, then recaptured by Talbot and the English, in Henry VI, Part 1, and is the site of the Duke of Burgundy's defection to the French side; and later is the scene of Joan's execution at the stake.^{[178][179][180]}
• Roussillon in France, of which Bertram is the young Count, is a setting of several episodes in All's Well That Ends Well, including its beginning and ending.^{[181][182][147][183]}

S

• Salisbury in England is the setting of the death of Buckingham in Richard III.^{[184][185][186]}
• Sardis in present-day Turkey, at Brutus' camp and mainly in his tent, is the setting of most of Act 4 of Julius Caesar, including the conflict between Brutus and Cassius and the first appearance of Caesar's ghost.^[187][188]
• Scotland:
  • See also "Fife", "Forres" and "Inverness", and, under more-specific settings below, "Birnam Wood" and "Dunsinane Hill".
  • Scotland is the setting of most of Macbeth: and the witches' scenes and most outdoor scenes do not have any more specific setting.^{[189][190][191]}
• Shrewsbury in England, the camps of the opposing forces, and the battlefield, are the settings of the Battle of Shrewsbury, which comprises most of the action of the last two acts of Henry IV, Part 1.^{[192][193][194][195]}
• Sicily:
  • See also "Messina", and, under more-specific settings below, "Pompey's court".
  • Sicilia in modern day Italy, but in the world of the play a kingdom of which Leontes is the king, is the setting of acts 1, 2, most of 3, and 5 of The Winter's Tale.^{[196][40][197]}
• Southampton in England is the setting of Henry's departure for France, and of the exposure of the traitors Cambridge, Scroop and Grey, in Henry V.^{[198][199][200]}
• For Spain see "Navarre".
• St Albans in England is the setting of several scenes surrounding Cardinal Beaufort's opposition to the Lord Protector in Henry VI, Part 2, and later the play climaxes at the Battle of St Albans.^{[201][202][203][204]}
• St Edmundsbury (i.e. Bury St Edmunds in England) is the setting of a battle between the forces of King John and the Dauphin in the final act of King John.^[205][206]
• For Syria see "Antioch" and "Parthia".

T

• Tarsus in modern-day Turkey is the place where the child Marina is fostered to Cleon and Dionyza, and the location of the later plot to murder her, in Pericles.^{[207][16][208]}
• Tewkesbury in England is the site of the Battle of Tewkesbury, which secured Edward's victory, and which is dramatized in Henry VI, Part 3.^{[209][210][211]}
• Thebes in modern-day Greece, but in the play governed by the tyrant Creon, is the setting of our first encounter with Palamon and Arcite, the title characters of The Two Noble Kinsmen.^[212][213]
• For Towton see "York".
• Troy:
  • See also "Ilium" under more-specific settings below.
  • Troy in modern-day Turkey, the camp of the Greek soldiers besieging it, and the battlefield outside it, are the settings of Troilus and Cressida.^{[214][215][216]}
• For Tunis see "Sea" under less-specific settings, below.
• For Turkey see "Antioch", "Ephesus", "Sardis", "Tarsus" and "Troy" and, under more-specific settings below, "Ilium".
• Tyre in modern-day Lebanon is the home of the title character of Pericles, Prince of Tyre and the setting of several scenes in the first act, before he embarks upon the journey which comprises most of the play's plot.^{[217][16][218]}

V

• Venice:
  • See also "Sagittary" under more-specific settings below.
  • Venice in modern-day Italy, but in the play governed by a duke, is the primary setting of The Merchant of Venice.^{[219][37][220][221]}
  • Venice in modern-day Italy, but in the play governed by a duke, is the setting of the first act of Othello.^{[222][223][69][224]}
• Verona:
  • Verona in modern-day Italy is the main setting of Romeo and Juliet.^[225][226]
  • Verona in modern-day Italy is the home of Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and the setting of most of the 4th act.^[227][228]
  • Verona in modern-day Italy is the original home of Julia, Valentine and Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and is the setting of most of the first two acts.^{[229][230][231][232]}
• Vienna:
  • Vienna in present-day Austria, although not literally a setting of Hamlet, is the setting of its play-within-a-play The Murder of Gonzago, also known as The Mousetrap.^{[233][136][234]}
  • Vienna in present-day Austria, but in the play a city state governed by a duke, is the only setting of Measure for Measure.^{[235][236][237]}

W

• Wakefield in England is the site of the Battle of Wakefield, dramatized in Henry VI, Part 3, in which young Rutland, and later his father the Duke of York, are killed by Clifford and the Queen.^[238][239]
• Wales:
  • See also "Milford Haven" and, under more-specific settings below, "Flint Castle".
  • Wales is the setting of two related scenes in Richard II. In the first, which is given no more specific location, the Earl of Salisbury is abandoned by the king's Welsh forces.^[h] The related scene of King Richard's return from Ireland to discover he has no military support is, in the text, set near "Barkloughly Castle", which means Harlech Castle.^{[i][240][243][244]}
  • Wales, without being specified more accurately in the text, is the location of Glendower's court, where the rebels - Glendower, Mortimer, Worcester and Hotspur - meet to plan the division of the kingdom, in Henry IV, Part 1.^{[j][246][245]}
• Windsor
  • See also, under more-specific settings below, "The Garter Inn" and "Herne's Oak".
  • Windsor in England and its environs are the only setting of The Merry Wives of Windsor.^{[247][248][249][250]}

Y

• York:
  • See also "Park" under less-specific settings below.
  • York in England is the place where Queen Margaret has had the Duke of York's head placed above the gates in Henry VI, Part 3.^[251][252]
  • Near York in England, and immediately following the scene mentioned above, are several battle scenes which dramatize the Battle of Towton, although Shakespeare does not mention Towton as a location, in Henry VI, Part 3.^[253][254]
  • York in England is the setting of a stand-off where Edward is, at first, barred the gates by the Mayor, and then of the alliance between Edward and Montgomery, in Henry VI, Part 3.^[255][256]