Which play is believed to be Shakespeare's first tragedy?

Which play is believed to be Shakespeare's first tragedy? Titus Andronicus is the play generally identified as Shakespeare's first tragedy.

Probably written between 1588 and 1593, Titus Andronicus belongs to the tradition of Elizabethan revenge tragedy, a popular form filled with violence, political betrayal, and demands for retribution. Shakespeare appears to have been responding to works by contemporaries such as Thomas Kyd, whose The Spanish Tragedy helped establish the genre.

The play follows Titus, a Roman general whose decision to sacrifice Tamora's son triggers a devastating cycle of revenge. Its graphic scenes, including mutilation and murder, made it controversial for later audiences, although it was initially popular. Modern scholars still debate the extent of collaboration in its composition, but the play is routinely treated as Shakespeare's earliest tragedy.

A common mix-up is to choose Romeo and Juliet, which is an early tragedy but was probably written later. Macbeth and Julius Caesar are also much later works, dating from Shakespeare's mature career.