I've always really connected with Hamlet, loved the play and found a lot there. I wish I felt the same about Romeo and Juliet but the characters keep distracting me with how dumb they are. If you kill yourself every time someone doesn't show up in time, you're not gonna make it. I fully understand that I'm the problem, not Shakespeare, but jeesh I can hardly believe that those two plays were written by the same person.
There's a quote out in the web that says, Romeo and Juliet is an inappropriate relationship between and 13-year-old and 17-year-old that ends in the death of six people. I have a t-shirt that says "Personally, I think Romeo and Juliet could have handled things better."
Captivating introduction to Shakespeare’s world for those who were too scared to touch it, but if we are being precise, “Much Ado About Nothing” is the most delightful sleight of hand Shakespeare ever pulled off, not only a good entry point. And yes, it’s my favourite play of his, not despite its wit and warmth, but BECAUSE of it.
While Hamlet peers into the abyss, Macbeth shows us the abyss staring back, and Julius Caesar lets rhetoric tip an empire into chaos, “Much Ado” dances along the knife’s edge of comedy and melancholy, desire and distrust, reputation and reality. Beatrice and Benedick are Shakespeare’s most psychologically modern creation: two people who fear vulnerability more than loneliness, who weaponise wit to deflect intimacy, and who ultimately risk everything by putting their egos down and letting love in. What could be braver?
Their banter is more than entertainment, it’s armour, it’s seduction, and it’s a kind of philosophical fencing match. Beatrice, with her acid tongue and aching heart, is a proto-feminist long before the term existed, and Benedick’s transformation is one of the most tender arcs in all of Shakespeare: a slow, reluctant rise into emotional maturity, not a fall from grace.
Yes, the language can be thorny.
Yes, the plots can tangle.
But Shakespeare wrote for drunkards, dreamers, queens, and commoners, not for academics. “Much Ado” reminds me that love, especially hard-won love is revelation, not only simple romance.
So if you want to understand the Bard, don’t start with ghosts or daggers. Start with laughter, and see where it leads….
I think the best way to approach Shakespeare is to see it being acted out! I started taking my daughters to Shakespeare's Globe in London when they were about 5 and 7 years old! I would give them a quick synopsis and leave them to it. The ear adapts to the language and the rhythm after the first few minutes. It doesn't matter if you don't understand everything being said when there are actors on stage acting it all out. I would recommend David Tennant's Hamlet which was recorded and Laurence Olivier's Richard III and Henry V are well worth watching. I've never understood why schools insist on children reading Shakespeare and not seeing it. Once you've seen it then you can dive into the words. (I'm off to see the excellent Simon Russell Beale at Stratford upon Avon next month in Titus Andronicus. He's a good speaker of verse - seen him as King Lear, Timon of Athens and Prospero). I could rave on about Shakespeare for hours - absolutely love him!
100%! These are meant to be performed by living people. It's like reading the script of a film. That's also the fascinating aspect about the plays - that each performance can change their meaning and emphasis dramatically.
As a teenager, mid 70's, a substitute teacher played Much Ado about Nothing from a record. I sat, listening closely. Loved it. Your column is incentive to read some Shakespeare again.
Somewhere along the way, I read - (copied from a search)
The book "Shakespeare by Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare" by Mark Anderson argues that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of Shakespeare's works, according to Amazon.com. Good read.
Also his The Western Canon, his defence of said canon against the approaching wave of the criticism of "resentment" (French word, Foucault prolly), now the mainstay of academia.
You are to be commended for reaching out to the plebs and rubes (a mindset that CAN be altered for the better). Most of my close friends including a few of extraordinary intelligence are nyet kulturni. No Shakespeare, no Milton, no Pope, no Johnson, no Byron, no Handel, no Rossini, no Caravaggio, no Delacroix or Durer. Until a few years ago I tried to convey the incomparable richness and grandeur of our pre-fallen civilization to my companions with the zeal of a true believer. Recently my ardor has cooled and I am reminded of C. S. Lewis damning description of post modern man: a "mere trousered ape who has never been able to conceive the Atlantic as anything more than so many million tons of cold salt water."
Such fond memories. I saw Macbeth and Hamlet played in Switzerland. To learn English, our class saw Laurence Olivier as Macbeth and Hamlet. We all shuddered, no matter the simplicity of the settings: the words made us travel in time. The words "By the pricking of my thumbs" and "Sleep well, sweet prince" are still engraved in my skull.
Thanks for this. I find Shakespeare hard to read but usually manageable with effort. I went on a Shakespeare reading kick a couple of years ago. I started with Hamlet and Macbeth, which I first read in high school 30 years ago, long ago enough to have mostly forgotten the story. I really enjoyed them. Then, I decided to try King Lear, but I found it pretty unmanageable and gave it before finishing.
This left me wondering whether Hamlet and Macbeth are the most assigned plays because they are the most readable, and most of the others are like King Lear. I’d prefer to assume there are other plays out there for me and will use this a guide to more readable plays.
(Sometimes, I wonder if Shakespeare was ever easy to read, even for people who live during his time. Other contemporary writings, like the King James Bible, written 5 years before Shakespeare’s death, is much easier for a modern English speaker to understand than Shakespeare’s plays.)
Great list and summaries! But, also, where was Midsummer?! I LOVED teaching that play to teenagers. There is a graphic novel with the original text that is an excellent resource for classrooms. It really helps students get into the language by pairing original text with gorgeous, emotive illustrations. I’d link it here, but I’m worried it will look like spam. 😂
I just came here to vote for Hamlet. I recommend that to people that want to read Shakespeare. I think it is really accessible. I reread it occasionally and every time I discover new themes and elements.
Performed in the great Bard's plays over a long career. My favourite Hamlet (played Ophelia when young and Gertrude later on) reason being that audiences really respond to that play, as they do to King Lear (played Goneril) and the other that deserves a mention is 'Merchant of Venice' (played Portia twice) again it's because the audience get it from the get-go which really helps! Don't buy the 'Bacon' theory at all at all btw.
Starting out reading Romeo & Juliet in 7th grade was probably not the best way to introduce Shakespeare, but there I was. I kept reading other plays on my own and was able to see a few of them in live performances. I read plays and Sonnets aloud to my son beginning when he was a few weeks old. I helped the high school drama teacher with the annual Shakespeare play - translating and giving the kids blocking for sight gags and other actions to go with the words they didn't quite understand. My son took a class in college that included reading two plays. He was really concerned about passing the class, but it was required. Giving him the outline of the plot and taking him to see the plays before the class started was the key to success. With all the internet options now, most can be found to watch on demand. I would do it that way if I ever need to help introduce Shakespeare to someone again. Makes me sad that so many miss out because they think it is "too hard."
I've always really connected with Hamlet, loved the play and found a lot there. I wish I felt the same about Romeo and Juliet but the characters keep distracting me with how dumb they are. If you kill yourself every time someone doesn't show up in time, you're not gonna make it. I fully understand that I'm the problem, not Shakespeare, but jeesh I can hardly believe that those two plays were written by the same person.
There's a quote out in the web that says, Romeo and Juliet is an inappropriate relationship between and 13-year-old and 17-year-old that ends in the death of six people. I have a t-shirt that says "Personally, I think Romeo and Juliet could have handled things better."
These are great little summaries that make me want to read the plays again. Thanks.
Captivating introduction to Shakespeare’s world for those who were too scared to touch it, but if we are being precise, “Much Ado About Nothing” is the most delightful sleight of hand Shakespeare ever pulled off, not only a good entry point. And yes, it’s my favourite play of his, not despite its wit and warmth, but BECAUSE of it.
While Hamlet peers into the abyss, Macbeth shows us the abyss staring back, and Julius Caesar lets rhetoric tip an empire into chaos, “Much Ado” dances along the knife’s edge of comedy and melancholy, desire and distrust, reputation and reality. Beatrice and Benedick are Shakespeare’s most psychologically modern creation: two people who fear vulnerability more than loneliness, who weaponise wit to deflect intimacy, and who ultimately risk everything by putting their egos down and letting love in. What could be braver?
Their banter is more than entertainment, it’s armour, it’s seduction, and it’s a kind of philosophical fencing match. Beatrice, with her acid tongue and aching heart, is a proto-feminist long before the term existed, and Benedick’s transformation is one of the most tender arcs in all of Shakespeare: a slow, reluctant rise into emotional maturity, not a fall from grace.
Yes, the language can be thorny.
Yes, the plots can tangle.
But Shakespeare wrote for drunkards, dreamers, queens, and commoners, not for academics. “Much Ado” reminds me that love, especially hard-won love is revelation, not only simple romance.
So if you want to understand the Bard, don’t start with ghosts or daggers. Start with laughter, and see where it leads….
I am so excited for Lewis. Wonder, imagination & guilelessness are key in all his works
I think the best way to approach Shakespeare is to see it being acted out! I started taking my daughters to Shakespeare's Globe in London when they were about 5 and 7 years old! I would give them a quick synopsis and leave them to it. The ear adapts to the language and the rhythm after the first few minutes. It doesn't matter if you don't understand everything being said when there are actors on stage acting it all out. I would recommend David Tennant's Hamlet which was recorded and Laurence Olivier's Richard III and Henry V are well worth watching. I've never understood why schools insist on children reading Shakespeare and not seeing it. Once you've seen it then you can dive into the words. (I'm off to see the excellent Simon Russell Beale at Stratford upon Avon next month in Titus Andronicus. He's a good speaker of verse - seen him as King Lear, Timon of Athens and Prospero). I could rave on about Shakespeare for hours - absolutely love him!
100%! These are meant to be performed by living people. It's like reading the script of a film. That's also the fascinating aspect about the plays - that each performance can change their meaning and emphasis dramatically.
YES!
As a teenager, mid 70's, a substitute teacher played Much Ado about Nothing from a record. I sat, listening closely. Loved it. Your column is incentive to read some Shakespeare again.
Somewhere along the way, I read - (copied from a search)
The book "Shakespeare by Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare" by Mark Anderson argues that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of Shakespeare's works, according to Amazon.com. Good read.
Great read on Billy the Bard
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20942.Shakespeare
Also his The Western Canon, his defence of said canon against the approaching wave of the criticism of "resentment" (French word, Foucault prolly), now the mainstay of academia.
Bloom as good to read as his subjects!
You are to be commended for reaching out to the plebs and rubes (a mindset that CAN be altered for the better). Most of my close friends including a few of extraordinary intelligence are nyet kulturni. No Shakespeare, no Milton, no Pope, no Johnson, no Byron, no Handel, no Rossini, no Caravaggio, no Delacroix or Durer. Until a few years ago I tried to convey the incomparable richness and grandeur of our pre-fallen civilization to my companions with the zeal of a true believer. Recently my ardor has cooled and I am reminded of C. S. Lewis damning description of post modern man: a "mere trousered ape who has never been able to conceive the Atlantic as anything more than so many million tons of cold salt water."
Such fond memories. I saw Macbeth and Hamlet played in Switzerland. To learn English, our class saw Laurence Olivier as Macbeth and Hamlet. We all shuddered, no matter the simplicity of the settings: the words made us travel in time. The words "By the pricking of my thumbs" and "Sleep well, sweet prince" are still engraved in my skull.
Wow! I saw Jude law as Macbeth on Broadway which was killer
Thanks for this. I find Shakespeare hard to read but usually manageable with effort. I went on a Shakespeare reading kick a couple of years ago. I started with Hamlet and Macbeth, which I first read in high school 30 years ago, long ago enough to have mostly forgotten the story. I really enjoyed them. Then, I decided to try King Lear, but I found it pretty unmanageable and gave it before finishing.
This left me wondering whether Hamlet and Macbeth are the most assigned plays because they are the most readable, and most of the others are like King Lear. I’d prefer to assume there are other plays out there for me and will use this a guide to more readable plays.
(Sometimes, I wonder if Shakespeare was ever easy to read, even for people who live during his time. Other contemporary writings, like the King James Bible, written 5 years before Shakespeare’s death, is much easier for a modern English speaker to understand than Shakespeare’s plays.)
Great list and summaries! But, also, where was Midsummer?! I LOVED teaching that play to teenagers. There is a graphic novel with the original text that is an excellent resource for classrooms. It really helps students get into the language by pairing original text with gorgeous, emotive illustrations. I’d link it here, but I’m worried it will look like spam. 😂
Would also heavily recommend Julius Caesar. Mark Antony's speeches are amazing and (imo) quite approachable.
I just came here to vote for Hamlet. I recommend that to people that want to read Shakespeare. I think it is really accessible. I reread it occasionally and every time I discover new themes and elements.
Performed in the great Bard's plays over a long career. My favourite Hamlet (played Ophelia when young and Gertrude later on) reason being that audiences really respond to that play, as they do to King Lear (played Goneril) and the other that deserves a mention is 'Merchant of Venice' (played Portia twice) again it's because the audience get it from the get-go which really helps! Don't buy the 'Bacon' theory at all at all btw.
Starting out reading Romeo & Juliet in 7th grade was probably not the best way to introduce Shakespeare, but there I was. I kept reading other plays on my own and was able to see a few of them in live performances. I read plays and Sonnets aloud to my son beginning when he was a few weeks old. I helped the high school drama teacher with the annual Shakespeare play - translating and giving the kids blocking for sight gags and other actions to go with the words they didn't quite understand. My son took a class in college that included reading two plays. He was really concerned about passing the class, but it was required. Giving him the outline of the plot and taking him to see the plays before the class started was the key to success. With all the internet options now, most can be found to watch on demand. I would do it that way if I ever need to help introduce Shakespeare to someone again. Makes me sad that so many miss out because they think it is "too hard."
Great picks but H5 and R3 are great too. And Coriolanus is under-appreciated.