Census How many of Shakespeare's plays have you read?

Poll by Drac39

 

In full? None.

 

Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. Hated them both.

 

Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

 

31. I've yet to finish the complete list, mostly because there are a few that keep nagging me - Shakespeare is not perfect by far, and honestly, some of his plays really suck and I either read them and didn't enjoy them, or tried to read them and gave up.

Anyway, it's easier to list the ones I haven't read: King John; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Troilus and Cressida; Timon of Athens; Pericles, Prince of Tyre; and Coriolanus.

What would be a better question is how many Shakespeare plays have you seen, either live or on film - after all, plays are meant to be performed, not read.

(Though I highly doubt many people have seen performances of all of Shakespeare's plays, since there are quite a few that are almost never performed)

 

Off the top of my head, I've read and seen Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, the Tempest, Othello, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing. I prolly read more, but those are the ones I can remember.

 

I've read (and in some cases seen, though mostly as movies):

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Twelfth Night
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet

So five more me!

I've also seen but not read Titus Andronicus.

 

I've read

Much Ado About Nothing
Hamlet
Tweltfth Night
Macbeth
Merchant of Venice
King Lear
Coriolanus
Antony and Cleopatra
The Tempest
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Romeo and Juilet
Troilus and Cressida
Henry V
Titus Andronicus

This is honestly much better than I might have expected. I intend to eventually read them all. But I have reread some of my favorites of the 14 I've read. I also acted in a production of Macbeth.

I definitely recommend both Troilus and Cressida and Coriolanus. Neither really recieve much love but I think both are very powerful works. Troilus and Cressida's love story is much more compelling and tragic than Romeo and Juilet IMHO.

 

I'm excited to see what Fiennes does with Coriolanus even if people hate Butler.

 

I admit that Troilus and Cressida and Coriolanus are two plays that I haven't picked up because... I haven't. I should probably read them sometime soon; I just haven't ever gotten around to it. So, you definitely recommend them, Drac? If Troilus and Cressida have a compelling, tragic love story, I'm all there -- IMHO, Romeo and Juliet isn't much of a love story, more like a tale of two teenaged idiots and the pitfalls of early romantic love.

 

21-25

 

I agree 100% about Romeo and Juliet and I personally think it's my least favorite Shakespeare play for much of the same reasons you state. Troilus and Cressida is the anti-Romeo and Juliet in that it's characters are more mature and calculated. It's very much a tragedy but in a somber way. Bodies don't litter the stage at the end of it and the tragedy stems from having to live with what these characters went through. I love also that it is an anti-war play.

 

I have to admit everything Shakespeare that I read was at school. Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. I think there was another I don't remember.

 

Just 5: Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Richard III and Tempest.

 

13.

Macbeth was my favorite. It had so many parallels to Star Wars.

 

6...I think. Or maybe 5.

 

10

 

Less than 5 for sure. Off the top of my head I can only remember 2. Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

 

4

Henry IV, Part 1
Macbeth
Measure For Measure
Hamlet

 

MacBeth (My favorite!), Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and most of Romeo and Juliet. I plan on reading more, especially since two are on my list of books for British Lit this year.

 

16

My favorites are the history plays. I've read 8 of those. They don't enough enough love.

 

I read Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth (I hate Macbeth!) in high school, and then I read Hamlet which is my favorite!