Read all of Shakespeare's plays

by how sad I am to be finished with this goal – I caught myself dragging my feet on the last few plays just to kind of stretch it out. Now I’m reading some commentary on the plays, and I’m just thrilled that I know where all the references come from.

which was awesome, I totally loved it, just as much as I did in high school. Next is Twelfth Night, which I’ve never read before, and then Hamlet.

Ooooh, creepy, and weird, but terrific in a weird way – the way the Italians in this play treat the Jew is the same way people in high school treat that unpopular freakazoid. However, there are some of the most tender love scenes I’ve read yet in here.

I totally stalled on Romeo and Juliet; maybe it’s because I’ve read it so many times before, and seen the movies, and whatever. But I finally powered through it last month and them jumped into Richard II, just another piece in the House of Lancaster debacle. Really amusing, though I wish I would have read it before I read Henry IV the first time, everything would have made a hell of a lot more sense.

Midsummer Night’s Dream –
I was kind of dreading it, since it reeks of 7th grade English class to me, but I found it rather delightful, really. Now I need to re-wade through Romeo and Juliet (8th grade!), which is more difficult than it should be.

Love’s Labours Lost – totally interesting, but much more difficult than I thought it would be, what with all the punning. Very interesting, though, fascinating, really.

Two Gentlemen of Verona – very enjoyable, kind of light – I can’t believe that Valentine just gets over Proteus’s bullshit in the last scene, but whatever.

Richard III! I tell you what, it was hard to get into this one. Maybe I was just sick of the War of the Roses, the Yorks vs. the Lancastrians, but I was pretty pleased with it in the end. There are ghosts in this one! And people get their comeuppances! But now we’re on to some comedies, thank god.

Okay – I liked Henry VI part 3 – lots of good killings and machinations and things. I have to do tons of research to understand who everybody is, but that’s cool.

The War of the Roses is mildly interesting, although I don’t really care who gets to be the king of England.

So, I’m trying to read them in order, and I have read the Henry IVs and Henry V, but I haven’t read Richard II, which would have been extremely helpful, but no matter, I think I’ve figured everybody out. Let’s just say now I have a convoluted list of notes illuminating how the characters are all related – I’m ready for some War of the Roses showdowns.