What is your favorite play by Shakespeare?

jellymonty · Post by **jellymonty** » 22 Dec 2013, 13:23

Definitely Macbeth.. only because I played Lady Macbeth and one of the witches in our high school play.

Meg0169 · Post by **Meg0169** » 22 Dec 2013, 13:58

Hamlet is my favorite play by Shakespeare. Over the past year or so I've been going back and reading his works. Some I could care less for, but Hamlet has always had a special place in my heart. I still remember the first time I read it in my English class. We were only supposed to read until the end of class, but I ended up taking it home and finishing it. Ever since then I've read it every year or so. I also always try and see it when it's done at the theater. I think it's Hamlets character that draws me in. He has been through so much, the weight of the world on his shoulders, so his darkness and schemes resonate with me. I don't think many of us could handle what he has been put through and found out. There are so many quotes from Hamlet that has stuck with me. Some of them have become well known and perhaps have lost their charm from overuse, but I still read them with awe.

Nathrad Sheare · Post by **Nathrad Sheare** » 23 Dec 2013, 00:42

I loved that scene! It's one of the best Shakespeare wrote! Of course, Hamlet is one of his masterpieces. Another scene I liked in a Shakespeare play was the one of the three chests in The Merchant of Venice when you- know- who finally wins the fair Portia. Amazing verse.

authorkcfinn · Post by **authorkcfinn** » 23 Dec 2013, 05:47

That's so difficult to say!
I really enjoyed Cymbeline because it was so different to a lot of his other stories, the characters seemed more complex somehow. But Ralph Fiennes' interpretation of Coriolanus caught me off guard recently. It really gave me a new vision of that play.

indigolucky · Post by **indigolucky** » 24 Dec 2013, 01:58

While I love his comedies, histories and romances I think Shakespeare is at his greatest in the tragedies. Most critics would say Hamlet is his greatest achievement. I think Macbeth is his most perfect play structurally and Romeo and Juliet is my personal favorite -- because of the extraordinary power of its theme -- young love that transcends hatred but is nevertheless doomed by it.

ladylioness · Post by **ladylioness** » 28 Dec 2013, 02:31

Hamlet is my favorite, followed by Julius Caesar and Taming of the Shrew.

juicyfruitsxoxo · Post by **juicyfruitsxoxo** » 01 Jan 2014, 20:31

MacBeth

srittyx3 · Post by **srittyx3** » 05 Jan 2014, 13:19

Julius Caesar and Romeo & Juliet have always been my favorite.
They are the only plays that I truly remember from high school.

Nathrad Sheare · Post by **Nathrad Sheare** » 05 Jan 2014, 19:28

I read a children's version of the play, Julius Caesar, when I was around eleven or so... I thought it was a little boring, but I liked the complexity of Brutus' character. It was all quite a story... I was astonished when I read all the history about it in the fourth grade.

Valerie0 · Post by **Valerie0** » 19 Jan 2014, 00:01

Hmmmm. Othello or The Merchant of Venice. They are all great.

cglr · Post by **cglr** » 19 Jan 2014, 13:55

There cannot be one favorite I guess. Much Ado About Nothing is nice.

RekhaSeshadri · Post by **RekhaSeshadri** » 19 Jan 2014, 15:15

I like Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream and Merchant of Venice - a tragedy, a comedy (both plays with fantasy/paranormal elements) and a take on human nature and prejudices.

FlorenceDupuis · Post by **FlorenceDupuis** » 19 Jan 2014, 16:10

The only one I read is Romeo and Juliet, and it's okay, but I think it's kind of stupid how they'd die for each other after only seeing each other and knowing each other for less than 24 hours.

Devon Drake · Post by **Devon Drake** » 24 Jan 2014, 22:59

This is an easy decision for me. I will always have a special place in my heart for "The Merchant of Venice." Even though it's considered one of his "problem plays," I just take that to mean it's a more challenging script than most of what he wrote. I think it will always be my favorite but I haven't read all his plays so who knows, I might discover a different favorite someday.

SheldrakeWriter · Post by **SheldrakeWriter** » 25 Jan 2014, 14:51

My current favourite is Richard II. What an absolutely glittering portrayal of a monarch in decline that is. And the language is both some of Shakespeare's most eloquent and some of his most under-rated. ' Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings...'. It has a fascinating stage history too; a performance seems to crop up around every European revolution. Hungary in 1956 springs to mind.