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Which is your favourite Shakespeare play? I'll admit that I've not read many but of those Macbeth takes my fancy. A wonderful tragedy with some supernatural events. And set in my homeland.
I would expect that the tragedies are more likely to be others' favourites since they have fared better down the years. I never could see the funny side of Malvolio's yellow socks in Twelfth Night. I guess you had to be there.
Hamlet, but I can't read it. I can only enjoy Shakespeare's plays when I watch them, they fall flat when I read them. Every production of Hamlet I've seen has been massively different from the rest. I know it's bleak, but I find it massively entertaining. The one I absolutely cannot stand to watch is Romeo and Juliet. I hate it. I hate every version I've ever seen.
His comedies can be good fun, but it's Hamlet I'll always make the trek to see.
Did you see the modern remakes that were on tv a while ago? Similar to the modernisation of the Canterbury Tales.
Macbeth (hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends) is a great one, to be sure. It's got action, it's got psychology, it's got ghosts, and one of my favourite twist endings (at least in pre-20th century literature, before the twist ending became the standard). Even if it bothers me that
Macbeth (hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends) dies off-stage
his last words are a thing of beauty indeed. I'll put that up against any one-liner in any western and/or action movie ever.
At the risk of sounding hopelessly clichéd, I really like "Hamlet" too. I never quite figured out whether it's just our post-modern times that makes me think like this or if Shakespeare really intended it, but "Hamlet" is a damn illusive play. Almost everything in it is open to interpretation - such as, is Hamlet really mad, or pretending to be, and to what extent? Is there really a ghost? Does Horatio and the guards who also see the ghost even exist, or are they just alter egos in Hamlet's mind (note that they never interact with anyone else
until after Hamlet's death
, and even Horatio's last words to Fortinbras can be seen as asides to the audience that F. never even hears)? Etc.
"Othello" is a another one in the same vein, though it must be hell for any black actor wanting to play Shakespeare.
- We have just the part for you. We figured you would make an ideal-
- DON'T SAY OTHELLO!
Never did care much for his comedies, though. Clever wordplay, but...
EDIT: I guess it's ridiculous to use spoiler tags here. But what the hell.
No, I missed the modern remakes. I read about them in the paper in the morning but I was always doing something in the evening. But can you truly call them Shakespeare remakes when even the words are changed and all that's left is the plot, of which many other texts also make use of.
I like Macbeth too, there's a film being made (has been made, not sure) set in Melbourne that I'm quite interested in seeing. Not sure how close it sticks to the actual play, but an interesting idea, I feel.
I also like A Midsummer Night's Dream for a bit of a laugh. I studied Romeo and Juliet in high school (as did everyone on tha planet I imagine), and hated it. Antony and Cleopatra was okay, but I felt no sympathy for either of them. I have studied Twelfth Night and The Tempest, but can barely remember either of them, if that's any iondication of how much I liked them!
I like 'hamlet' and 'twelfth night'. I also like 'the taming of the shrew' and 'a midsummer night's dream'. I certainly haven't read them all, though! it's bound to change. we're reading macbeth in my shakespeare class in a few weeks and I'm excited about that, so maybe I'll have to repost!
I actually enjoy reading the plays, and I've read a lot of them now. Granted there isn't anything that can compare to seeing something live, but I also enjoy playing it out in my head. I do, however, prefer to read editions with lots of notes, just in case I have trouble. Context is certainly harder to determine when you are reading them to yourself.
My favorite is absolutely Much Ado About Nothing, although The Taming of the Shrew is a close second. I think I prefer the comedies because they aren't pushed in school the way Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet are.
I've only read a few - I never even did any at school which surprises a lot of folk. Of the ones I've read I liked Macbeth and Hamlet best.
Although after reading Nigel Tranter's "Macbeth the King" I always did feel kind of sorry for the poor guy. It suggested a very different picture of him and while Shakespeare's really set him up as the ultimate literary villain I suppose there's not really any proof either way.
I always felt that Shakespeare was portraying Macbeth as a weak man, very susceptible to forces around him and his desire to claim more power. I feel that Lady Macbeth is the villain of the story.
My favorite is absolutely Much Ado About Nothing, although The Taming of the Shrew is a close second. I think I prefer the comedies because they aren't pushed in school the way Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet are.
I agree 100%. Much Ado About Nothing was the only one I've read that I didn't feel I needed to do in-depth research to figure out what he was talking about. And it's much more fun to read something your teachers aren't having to explain to you line by line.
i also loved macbeth and romeo and juliet. guess i'm in the minority here on that one - try reading it as an adult, though, and maybe you'll enjoy it more. most people i know who hate it only read it when they were 14. being a thespian in times past, i have had the privilege of playing juliet (when i was much younger). i really enjoyed it. i also loved how they imagined it was created in "shakespeare in love." it always brings me to tears!
I'd have to agree with Litany, I enjoy watching the plays more than reading them, although I have read quite a few of them. Admitedly this
could be because I always end up reading out loud, using weird accents.
But hearing the words spoken on stage is just something else, no matter how weak the story, the language just puts so much life and meaning into it.
I guess i'd have to go with (predictably) Hamlet as favourite, although Macbeth does come a close second. Any recommendations from his lesser known works?
I'm ashamed to say that I've been working with a client in London fo about a year who is just round the corner from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and I've never actually managed to get in to see one which I know is pathetic.
I prefer watching the plays, or the movie adapations, if they're good. I love Henry V very much because of Kenneth Brannagh's beautiful version. Kurosawa's Ran is also a good adaptation of King Lear. I'd say these two filmmakers taught me to love Shakespeare.
Since I was only introduced to Shakespeare three years ago in my freshman English class, I'm not familiar with much of his work. But I'm a huge fan of him, and my favorite so far is Hamlet.
I could sympathize with Hamlet because he, like me, often seems confused about what course of action to take. He was a vivid, very three-dimensional character, and one that I cared deeply about.
I also have an undying addiction to angst, and this fed it well from all angles. There were even a couple of funny scenes, such as the one where Hamlet is being questioned about where Polonius is. (Can't you just see everyone's faces when he says, "At supper?")
