Favorite Shakespeare Works?

[Zomby Woof]

Comedy: "Twelfth Night"

Tragedy: "Macbeth"

History: "Richard III" (this is just a cheap way for me to double up on the tragedies, since his histories are embellished)

Underrated: "Titus Andronicus"

Overrated: "Romeo & Juliet" (He had to eat too)

[GOPisEvil]

1. Taming of the Shrew was one of my favorites.

[existentialist]

5. King Lear

[Shakespeare]

2. Henry V, Much Ado, and on and on and on....

And I agree with you that Titus is underrated! Have you seen Julie Taymor's spectacular adapation with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange?

The history plays, collectively speaking, are so underappreciated. The second henriad (RII, HIV1, HIV2 and HV) is one of the best studies in political evolution (and its connection to the personal) I've ever encountered.

[GOPisEvil]

3. Fancy seeing you here.

:yoiks:

[Shakespeare]

24. off topic, but....

Are you as unimpressed with Coach Fran as I am?

I want R.C. back--they never should've booted him. :-(

[GOPisEvil]

26. It's Fran's bad karma.

I was afraid of this, actually. It HAS been 3 years, shouldn't we be better?

I loved RC - he is such a nice guy. And, unlike a certain Mack Brown, RC actually won a Big 12 Championship. :7

[Shakespeare]

28. Yep, we should be better--especially with the talent that we have.

I blame last week's loss on the coaching decisions more than I do on the players. That had to be one of the worst-coached games I've ever seen.

I was one very unhappy Aggie Saturday night.

[GOPisEvil]

30. You and me both.

Unhappy and really pissed off. x(

[Zomby Woof]

14. Yes I did

Which made me go back and re-read it and reassess it.

I should re-read the second Henriads as your points illustrate. Henry V is stunningly great.

[Initech]

4. I've always been a fan of Macbeth...

Mainly because I have fantasies about the ending happening to most of the right-wingers we have in charge now.

Yeah, that's pretty sick, but when you think about it...

[Lavender Brown]

6. Much Ado About Nothing

I just love Beatrice and Benedick.

[JimmyJazz]

7. Taming of the Shrew -

it's just so bawdy ;)

[Zomby Woof]

15. Bonus points

You used the word "bawdy" in a great context! :D

[DrZeeLit]

27. Yes! You need a good copy, with full on footnotes. That's the key!

The better the footnotes, the more you're gonna "get" the sexual stuff.

I used to teach that one every year for ... 'lo those many years.
Really fun!

[MN ChimpH8R]

8. I loved "The Tempest" when

I read it in college and still do. IMO the smartest and most elusive of Willie's plays.

[Patiod]

13. My favorite too

The language is so gorgeous

[trackfan]

9. The comedies all sort of run together in my mind

right now.

Tragedy - Richard III

I'm going to see a performance of Othello on Thursday night.

[BigMcLargehuge]

10. Favorites -

I don't really break them into categories anymore...

The Tempest
Henry the 4th Parts 1 and 2
MacBeth

[Zomby Woof]

16. But it sure is a good excuse to list multiples

:D

[Shell Beau]

11. Macbeth

[Shine]

12. Hamlet's soliloquey: Great stuff. Very deep.

"To be or not to be
that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler of the brain
to suffer the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune
or take arms against a sea of troubles
and by opposing, end them

To die, to sleep
To sleep, perchance to dream
Aye, there's the rub
For in this sleep of death
What dreams may come
When we have shuffled off
this mortal coil?"

I had to memorize that back when I was in high school..It's been over 20 years, I'm AMAZED I still remember that! Weird.

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Hamlet; Midsummer's Night Dream; Cymbaline; King Lear;

and that one comedy with the twins who switch roles...can't think of the thing. Hilarious!

And personally, I *like* Romeo and Juliet! I think it is one of the best.

Aw, hell, choosing a fave Shakespeare is like choosing a fave Zappa album or a favorite ice cream - they're all fucking good!

[Felix Mala]

18. Shrew/MacBeth

Othello reminds me too much of high school love affairs (that is without the murder)

I like the word play of Hamlet, but don't think it adds up to a lot

[no name no slogan]

19. I saw a Royal Shakespeare Co production of "Richard III"

It was a semi-modern adaptation which I saw at the RSC theatre at Stratford-on-Avon back in January 1991. Absolutely incredible.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

20. Macbeth is just amazing

I never get tired of watching it. I recently picked up the Polanski version which really was excellent.

Titus is pretty bat-shit crazy! When I discovered it at high school Shakespeare seriously went up in my estimation. I'd love to see it live, but for now the Hopkins version will have to surfice.

My favorite history is (cheating slightly) Henry IV Parts 1 & 2. Partly because I studied it and actually grew to love it rather than loate it (see The Tempest), partly for Falstaff & partly for the development of Hal.

Comedy -- generally not a fan, but Merry Wives of Windsor (again for Falstaff!)

Overrated -- the comedies, esp Twelth Night & Much Ado about Nothing

on edit -- if you're a Richard III fan, look our for Al Pacino's film "Looking for Richard". It's a really great insight into the acting process and interpreting Shakespeare. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116913/

[edbermac]

21. Gay Boys In Bondage

Tis the story of a man's love for his fellow man...Tis like Hamlet, what a genius!

[Burma Jones]

22. Lear

I read it for the first time on a bus trip from Galesburg, Illinois to Evansville, Indiana. All through Indiana and Illinois, it was foggy and lightly snowing, the light was the dimmest of the year. It was Winter Break and I was having a cosmic hangover after an hallucinogenic excursion. By Act V, I was just wiped out, crying, stunned. Each time I have read it in the 20 years since, it teaches me something else that I just couldn't get without being the age at which I read it. So, I read it every year or two. As Harold Bloom says (I think it's Bloom - it may be Bradley - I don't know off the top of my head) Lear is like the Sistine Chapel or Beethoven's Ninth - but it is well nigh un-performable....

My favorite in performance is As You Like It. I have also really liked Macbeth in performance. 12th Night is also indeed exceptional....

My favorite role I've played is Prospero in the Tempest.

I have to agree with you on R&J

Henry IV, pts 1 and 2 is/are my favorite of the Histories - Falstaff Rules.......

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

23. "Macbeth" and "The Tempest"

"Titus Andronicus" story is more over the top than Tarantino on meth.

[NYdemocrat089]

25. I've only read three of his plays.

Tragedy: Romeo and Juliet (overrated...but I still liked it)

Political/History:Julius Caesar

Overrated: Hamlet (I hated Hamlet)

[WindRavenX]

29. "Hamlet"

Rather obvious and overdone, but the character of Hamlet can be played in so many ways that everytime I see a live performance of it I'm always entertained.
And of course, the ghost...

[Orsino]

31. Twelfth Night. (duh)

That's my favorite play, since I sang Feste twenty years ago.

Branagh's Henry V is my favorite movie, but his Much Ado is also on my short list.

My wife and I regularly visit the Shakespeare Tavern; it's our favorite date.

[JitterbugPerfume]

32. I love King Lear

I find him very appealing

Also A Midummers Night Dream

what fools these mortals be