Claim: Richard III is the longest of Shakespeare's plays.
Evidence: It is the second longest play in the canon after Hamlet , and is the longest of the First Folio , whose version of Hamlet is shorter than its Quarto counterpart.
The plays written by English poet , playwright , and actor William Shakespeare -LRB- 1564 -- 1616 -RRB- have the reputation of being among the greatest in the English language and in Western literature.