Ooooh, ooh, I'm reading Julius Caesar! I love the part where Brutus and Cassius are talking and Cassius says someone is a noble warrior and Brutus replies, "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah, so's my horse."

Also, Antony's speech is amazing. I love how he's listening to Brutus's order not to say anything bad about them, and keeps saying "Brutus is an honorable man. So are they all, ALL honorable men!" Also, I love the irony of the townsfolk wanting to be violent after hearing his speech, and he says "Oh, hey, dudes, no, not that! Don't let my speech do that!" when he totally is trying to incite violence on Brutus and Cassius 😛

I also like his sonnets. I memorized Sonnet 60 for school 🙂

The first Shakespeare I ever read/watched was Hamlet. That was at least four years ago and I still love it. 😛 We saw it at a Shakespeare festival and I thought it was hilarious how Horatio was the only character left alive onstage at the end. Hamlet remains my favorite Shakespeare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X9C55TkUP8 Antony's speech. I love this representation. 😀
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I've never read Hamlet. I have it, but haven't read it. I should do that next.

I have read parts of his histories, including the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry the ... Fifth? I don't remember. But I have it memorized 😛

I think my favorite bit of Shakespeare is The Tempest. I've got an audiobook of it that I like to listen to sometimes 🙂 I like Miranda. 🙂

When we started reading Shakespeare in school, everyone was too young to really understand it - I've been meaning to reread Much Ado About Nothing since then, so as to actually see what it is about. 😛 Since then I've figured out how to actually read and understand it (my Drama class helped with that too) - Julius Caesar was the first play I read that I actually understood (Oh man, Marc Antony's speech is SO LONG).

Has anyone read any of the histories? Are they interesting? I've mostly only read comedies.

Speaking of Marc Antony's speech, a couple years ago I was one of two narrators for a play that summarized a number of Shakespeare's most popular plays, and one kid read all of that speech, but halfway through he glanced up at the audience and when he looked down he forgot where he was. There was a long pause, and then he stammered, "Methinks I have forgotten my line!" Everyone laughed, offstage and on.

And I don't believe I've fully read any of the histories, no.

*excitedly pokes in* At my theater company this term I'm taking a Shakespeare class! It's really awesome! I've been learning a lot more about Shakespeare and his plays. Last week we performed our monolouges in which I was Lady Macbeth. 🙂 So fun. And now for our performance next month we're practicing doing the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet. I'm Lady Montague in that. (Why am I always a Lady?!) But yes, I love Shakespeare. 🙂 Oh, and I'm reading A Midsummer Night's Dream for school right now. I think my favorite one is Macbeth, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Nice, Jill! (As someone who recently read Mackers - which monologue?)

It's the one where they're planning Duncan's murder--the "screw your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail"--that whole paragraph.
Oh, and change of plans-I got moved from R&J to Macbeth! So it's the same part, where they're planning the murder. A lot more lines...ahhh!

I had to read Romeo and Juliet for school... it was interesting, though I do think I'll never make a hasty decision again. Didn't work out too well for them. 😉

Right, Jaygee! 🙂 See? Treebeard was right all along 😉 Don't be hasty!... and never read it. Hope I don't have to, to be honest. 😛

None for As You Like It and the comedies?

I actually enjoyed Romeo and Juliet - except for the very tragic end.

Noted that Juliet was fourteen but could have married at twelve?

That did not change in the Catholic Church or in Spain (and I think some States of US) up to last century. For boys it was fourteen.

Note that Romeo and Juliet could marry secretly, just before Father what's-his-name, the Franciscan friar?

That DID change at council of Trent. Matrimonial witnesses and usually priest are a must.

Verona also has the same flag as Sweden and as Toulon : gold cross on blue.

@hansgeorg: Does "A Winter's Tale" count? It's half-tragedy, half-comedy. 😉 I read that one in college and quite enjoyed it.

In school, I had to read Romeo and Juliet, Othello and The Tempest. I was kinda chuffed that we got to read The Tempest in Grade 12, because they usually set depressing tragedies. I was too young at the time to appreciate Shakespeare properly though, I think I'd enjoy it better now. Most people don't like Prospero because he's manipulative of the whole storyline, but I was quite impressed by his ability at the end to give up his magic abilities. I think because of the fantasy works I'm used to reading, where the corruptive nature of magic is often emphasised (e.g. the power of the ring), I always saw his laying aside his power as a show of great character (like Faramir in Rings) 😛

Incidentally, I did The Tempest again at second year at university (which was interesting, since it was taught quite differently on the two occasions).