Classics Without All the Class discussion

In honor of William Shakespeare's birthday we decided to open up some discussions for an optional for Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Read whichever tickles your fancy, open a thread and discuss. :)

Please do us a favor and wait until April to discuss content though as that's the month of discussion. Thanks!

yayyyyy! optional read for Shakespeare! whoot whoot

ouch. I should've waited til April to say that. I got carried away!

LOL It's ok. I should have said wait until April to discuss content. I'll fix it.

No I was being a wise arse

Why must you toy with me?! lol

Bahahaaaa. !!!!!!! It's not enough you have two little boys You have your "kids" at CWAtC!

I know! You guys keep me on my toes for sure.

so what's good? what's everyone gonna read?

I am partial to A Midsummer Night's Dream if anyone is looking for suggestions.

This is great. Our high school literature club is reading Hamlet and creating a puppet show. We'll discuss it in April. I love the coincidence of that with this reading group.

I'm thinking about Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth

I've never read Hamlet. Now seems like a good time!

Karena wrote: "I am partial to A Midsummer Night's Dream if anyone is looking for suggestions."

I think I might read that one since I never have. I love Taming of the Shrew. But I might re-read Romeo and Juliet since it has been FOREVER since I have read it.

Welcome back, Angie!

there are a few of the plays I haven't read and/or seen performed. I guess what I am missing is the histories. any suggestions about where to start?

hi, Leora. I started with Julius Caesar as my starting point for the histories. Let us know what you go with!

Leora, I'd saying Henry V is the most readable of the histories. The BBC Hollow Crown performance is also recommended.

For my April readings I'm hoping to get through Julius Caesar and Merchant of Venice.

Can anyone recommend a new Shakespeare play for me that has a particularly good film version? I like reading the play first then watching it, either live or film. I'm partial to the tragedies, never read/seen any of the histories.

Here's the ones I've already read:
Hamlet, Caesar, Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo & Juliet
As you like it, Comedy of Errors, Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado, Taming of the Shrew, Tempest, Twelfth Night.

Our local Shakespeare in the Park is going to put on Anthony and Cleopatra this summer, so I'm saving that one for later in the year.

I just read The Tempest and would love to discuss it more in depth.

Seeing as Huxley got his title 'Brave New World" from The Tempest, I think I'll have a go at that.

Martin wrote: "Seeing as Huxley got his title 'Brave New World" from The Tempest, I think I'll have a go at that."

Funny story as none of us realized that when Brave New World was selected and then picked the optional for Shakespeare due to his birthday. So now we also have the coincidence that Shakespeare is constantly quoted throughout BNW. Pretty awesome.

I am thinking I'm going to try to read a few of his sonnets as I never have.

Hello. I´ve never read Shakespeare, but of course I know the main plots of the stories. I tried to read Tempest once, but it was too complicated to me (My first language is portuguese, not english). Does anybody have a suggestion of one of the books that would be ´´easier´´ to read. Or maybe the sonnets? Any suggestion I would appreciate

I might suggest Romeo and Juliet, considering it is so universally known at this point. It might even have a translation.

Also, the editor can make a huge difference, especially when you're first starting out. You might want to take a look at the ' no fear shakespeare' editions which have modern beside the original or ' folgers shakespeare library' which are very well annotated and explain the obscure passages.

Hi! For accessible Shakespeare material, there is also "Shakespeare After all" by Marjorie Garber.

I am thinking of Titus Andronicus or a tragedy :) xxx

Me too, Martin!

Just finished chapter eight and was going to ask the Tators if the optional read was chosen on purpose ... What a coincidence!

I know I'm a little late to the game in this board but I just finished reading "Much Ado About Nothing" to prepare for the upcoming movie. I loved it. The banter between the main characters is smart and funny. I can't wait to see it come to life on the big screen.

What I was wondering though, is why this isn't one of his plays that is taught in school? It's been a debate between a friend and me for some time and I can't figure out why Much Ado falls to the dusty corners like it does. It's one of his better pieces, in my opinion.

I wrote a blog about it not too long ago. Take a look if you're interested. http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013...

I just saw a version of Midsummer Night's Dream with Diana Riggs on TV this afternoon. Everyone was painted green! ha! One of my favorites!

Had a little trouble following Henry V, so how about covering some of the histories?