Researchers at ETH Zurich have revealed that Antony and Cleopatra is William Shakespeare's most complex play to follow after analyzing character relationship networks across thousands of theatrical works.
The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, found that the tragedy scored 83 out of 100 on a complexity scale. That score made it 5.9 times more complex than Shakespeare's least complex play, The Tempest, which scored 14 out of 100.
Measuring Character Networks and Complexity
Researchers at the Swiss university analyzed more than 3,000 European plays written between 472 BC and 2017 AD, including 37 plays by Shakespeare. The cast sizes in the studied works ranged from as few as three characters to as many as 103.
Overall, the analyzed plays had an average complexity score of 11.20 out of 100. However, Shakespeare's works tended to sit at the upper end of the scale, averaging 41.22 out of 100.
"Complexity varies substantially across Shakespeare's plays," the team wrote.
Antony and Cleopatra took the top spot among Shakespeare's plays due to its structural design and large ensemble. The work features more than 40 short, jumpy scenes spanning multiple countries and historical decades, alongside an enormous cast.
Out of all 3,000 European plays evaluated in the study, only four were found to be more complex than Antony and Cleopatra. These included Danton's Death by Georg Büchner, which features 103 characters, and The Land of Upside Down by Ludwig Tieck, which contains 74 characters.
Ranking Shakespeare's Plays From Hardest to Easiest
Following Antony and Cleopatra at the top of Shakespeare's rankings was Henry VI Part Two in second place, followed by Henry VI Part One in third. Both plays feature complex political power struggles and large casts of nobles.
Some of Shakespeare's most popular plays landed in the middle of the complexity table, including Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet.
At the bottom of the table, The Tempest was deemed the easiest play to follow, owing to its relatively short and straightforward plot.
The full ranking of Shakespeare's plays evaluated in the study, ordered from most to least complex, is:
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Henry VI Part 2
- Henry VI Part 1
- Richard III
- Coriolanus
- Timon of Athens
- Henry VI Part 3
- Henry V
- Henry VIII
- Julius Caesar
- Macbeth
- Pericles
- Troilus and Cressida
- Richard II
- Cymbeline
- Romeo and Juliet
- The Winter's Tale
- Hamlet
- King Lear
- All's Well That Ends Well
- The Taming of the Shrew
- As You Like It
- Measure for Measure
- The Merchant of Venice
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Titus Andronicus
- Othello
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- King John
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Twelfth Night
- The Comedy of Errors
- Love's Labour's Lost
- The Tempest
Commercial Constraints and Human Cognition
The researchers observed that across European theatre history, most plays feature few characters and maintain low complexity scores. They noted that financial and practical considerations likely drive this trend.
"An obvious reason for this skew may be that plays with fewer characters are easier and cheaper to produce, making them more appealing to theatres aiming for practicality and profitability," the team wrote.
However, the researchers highlighted that high narrative complexity did not restrict Shakespeare's theatrical success.
"Many, if not most, of the plays of one of the most popular European playwrights - William Shakespeare - lie at the upper end, both in terms of number of characters and complexity of character networks," the team wrote. "Putting relatively high demand on people might not make plays successful, but it also does not necessarily get in the way of success."
"Under the assumption that even the least successful of Shakespeare's plays is still successful by many standards, complexities across a broad range do not hinder success," the researchers added.
"The most complex play - Antony and Cleopatra - was 5.9 times more complex than the least complex play, The Tempest," the team wrote in Royal Society Open Science.
The researchers suggested that by quantifying how difficult a narrative is to follow, theatre can be utilized to study the capacity of human cognition.
Obsolete Words and Evolving Definitions
In addition to narrative structure, Shakespeare's dense wordplay presents challenges for readers due to language evolution. A recently released dictionary, titled The Arden Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's Language, documents over 20,000 words and phrases used by the playwright during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The project was conceived and led by Jonathan Culpeper, a professor of English language and linguistics at Lancaster University. The two-volume, 900-page compendium details terms that have fallen out of use alongside familiar words that carried different historical meanings.
For example, Shakespeare used the word "dotage" to refer to reduced mental ability or infatuation, such as being blindly in love, rather than as a term for old age. The expression "bone ache" referred to syphilis, while "ear-kissing" meant whispering or spreading rumours.
The word "successes" referred broadly to outcomes whether positive or negative, allowing writers to refer to a "bad success." Meanwhile, "adamant" meant impenetrably hard stone, only evolving into its modern definition of refusing to be persuaded in the 1930s.
Shakespeare preferred the word "dinner" for what modern speakers consider lunch, although his contemporaries also used it for an evening meal. Additionally, the word "clock" meant to make a noise like a hen, though it also referred to a timepiece.
The Life and Legacy of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who is widely believed to have been the greatest dramatist of all time. He holds a unique position in world literature, with works translated into every major language and performed thousands of times annually across the globe.
Shakespeare was credited with producing 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and three long poems. Born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, he married Anne Hathaway at age 18 and had three children with her: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Between 1585 and 1592, Shakespeare established a career in London as an actor and writer. He became part owner of the playing company Lord Chamberlain's Men, which was later renamed the King's Men.
The company built the Globe Theatre in Southwark, South London, where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed. The original theatre was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt in 1614, closed in 1642, and subsequently pulled down. A modern reconstruction named Shakespeare's Globe opened in 1997 less than 800 feet from the original site.
Shakespeare retired to Stratford at age 49 and died three years later. Scant records of his private life survive, leading to ongoing speculation regarding his physical appearance and whether all works attributed to him were written by others.
