Favourite Shakespeare Play

[Mr. TM]

It would be easy for me to write Hamlet, as I consider it one of the best things I have ever read, however, I havent read it in 5 years now, and I want to refresh my Shakespeare palette.

I guess instead of picking my favourite play, I would rather pick my favourite Comedy for right now. The Comedy of Errors is regarded as Shakespeare's earliest play, and its arguable that he hasn't reached his level as a writer. But I think its one of his funniest early comedies and one of the funniest things I have ever read. The story of two misplaced sets of twins reuniting, and the story of the short time before their uniting. A lot of mistaken identies, makes for an almost slapstick comedy which for somre reason I really enjoy a lot of the time.

So what is your favourite play from Shakespeare?

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

In my opinion, Shakespeare's plays blow. His sonnets are great, but I think the alleged profundity of Shakespeare's plays lies solely with the eminent literary critics (e.g., Harold Bloom) who ascribe so much meaning to them. When I was forced to read Hamlet and Macbeth, I had no fucking clue what was going on. It was only after listening to my professor/reading some annotations that I got an idea of what was what; ultimately, I didn't think much of what was being preached to me.

 

[Razor]

I've always been able to pick up a Shakespeare play and understand what was going on. I didn't get the hidden sex jokes or the "Ha ha, he made a joke that only we 17th century men would get. Hahahaha" jokes, but I understood Mercutio got stabbed or when Hamlet was getting his curse on.

I would have to say my favorite Shakespeare play would have to be The Tempest. It's got Stephano, a drunken butler, teaming up with the evil monster spawn of an island witch fairy thing, Caliban. It also has Prospero, a very manly (I imagine Liam Nesson-esque) wizard of the island, and a king's entourage that is shipwrecked on the island during a storm.

It has everything from hilarious drunken buffoonery to straight up, ass kicking wizard. I'm sorta sure this the play that has the line "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse," though I could be completely wrong. Probably Hamlet or something like that.

As far as what Tdigs is saying, I do believe that Shakespeare is a bit overplayed. I wouldn't go as far as to say he's shit, but he's the reason we have so many horrible cliches running around nowadays. And he made words up like there was no tomorrow. Are we to celebrate a man who made up words, made up shitty phrases, and wrote in iambic pentameter?

..Alright, I guess we are. My creative writing teacher would probably kill me if she caught me even questioning that point anyway.

 

[Cookie]

I feel obligated to respond to this topic since I'm a theatre major and am spoon fed Shakespeare on an almost daily basis.

I tend to judge which play I like best by the characters that most interest me and I lean more towards his tragedies as opposed to his comedies, though I do love Much Ado About Nothing.

Julius Caesar is my default answer when I'm asked what my favourite is. I have always been fascinated by Roman history and especially all the events surrounding Caesar and his assassination so I initially picked this up and read it not knowing much other than it was a play Shakespeare wrote about Julius Caesar. After quickly realizing that this wasn't so much Caesar's play as it was Brutus', I became immersed in his struggle and his will to do the honorable to a fault. It was so interesting to me to find a world created around the events of the assassination (fictitious or not). I just loved taking it all in. I'd love to see a production of this live.

This year I was forced to read Henry IV part 1 and despite my initial trepidation I ended up loving it. I'd say that Hal (or Prince Henry) is one of my favourite characters Shakespeare has ever written, so much so that I wish I was a guy and could play him. Really just a fascinating character and his interactions with Hotspur and especially Falstaff are so engaging.

ETA: I definitely don't worship the guy. However, I understand the importance of his work and the importance of it in relation to my field.

 

[Big Time]

I'm gonna go with The Tempest, either that or Othello. I think the Tempest wins because three characters from it also appears in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. Prospero, Ariel and Caliban are members of the first incarnation of the League in the 15th century

 

[HBK-aholic]

I've never been a fan of reading Shakespeare. I did what I had to in school and college, which consisted of Romeo and Juliet and Othello. But most of the time it just made no sense to me. If I was watching the play, which I guess is how he meant it anyway, you can follow based on facial expressions, tone of voice, and actions which give sense to the often confusing words. But if I had my choice I'd never have to read or watch Shakespeare again, I prefer the more modern stuff.

 

[Nitafrong]

I always really enjoyed studying Shakespeare when I was in school. The whole literary argument of his importance and whether his huge fame and success rests upon the favouritism of the British school system for him who imported his works to every country in their Empire and beyond is one probably best saved for another thread. I just know that I personally took pleasure from every Shakespeare play that I read. I found his humour and references and hidden meanings and the flow of his words made for happy study material. Personally I was always a fan of metaphor heavy writing anyway- which was why Yeats was also another favourite of mine.

Anyway my favourite Shakespeare play has to be Macbeth that name which is not to be spoken before a theatre production While I like the general plot and the tragic figure of Macbeth (though I don't think he has quite the poignancy of King Lear) my main reason for this selection is due to the character of Lady Macbeth. In all of his plays (or at least in all of the number I have read anyway) I don't think there is a character with quite as much ambiguity. Is she the evil witch driven by desires of advancement corrupts her husband and then is later driven mad as she cannot cope with the enormity of their actions? Or instead is she the most dutiful and sacrificing of wives, who so in love with her husband that she welcomes the daemon to come inside her so that she can have the strength to help him achieve his purpose when he falls short. And then following their dreadful deed is driven into un-mitigating despair when she realises that the in transforming herself through her love she has in fact destroyed any chance of her future happiness. Her husband who no longer sees her as his wife- perhaps due to her seizing his manhood from him abandons her. One could argue that it is she rather than Macbeth who is the true tragic figure. The witches also- with their oft imitated lines- and their unnerving preening and yet sneering presence, promising Macbeth the world and in the end engineering his fate.

While I am not quite as fascinated by Macbeth as by his wife he is still an interesting figure- the physically indomitable, and mentally fragile at the beginning goes through a curious reversal as by the end he at last attempts to forge his own destiny, but yet too late and he is bested by the man born of no woman. He shares a lot of traits with another favourite of mine Jean Valjean