Yeah, Shakespeare, woohoo! I'm not sure yet what I want to focus on this semester or even what I want to read. I've had only limited experience with the Bard, and it's been a mixed bag.
Plays I've Read
Romeo and Juliet: read it in ninth grade, hated it except for Benvolio
Julius Caesar: read it in eleventh grade, was ambivalent
King Lear: read it in twelfth grade, thought Cordelia was the bomb-diggety
Much Ado: read it on my own after seeing the film, loved it
Othello: read it sophomore year, thought it didn't measure up to Lear
Hamlet: read it sophomore year, thought Hamlet was an emo poser
Films I've Seen
Romeo and Juliet (Baz Luhrmann): saw it in ninth grade, thought it was terrible
King Lear: FOREVER SCARRED by the eye-gouging scene
Much Ado (Kenneth Branagh, of course): thought it was hilarious, minus the part in the beginning with all the butts--seriously, what is that?
Hamlet (David Tennant): BEST PLAY EVER. This view was probably influenced by my love of Doctor Who, but I thought Tennant absolutely nailed Hamlet, the production was clever, and to my surprise Hamlet is actually a pretty funny play!
Performances I've Seen
A Midsummer Night's Dream: saw this when I was six and had no idea what was going on
A Comedy of Errors: saw it in ninth grade; again, it was funny, but I really couldn't understand what was going on
Macbeth: saw it in Cedar City, thought it was boooooring
Merchant of Venice: saw it in Cedar City, was completely blown away by the moral complexity of the characters
So that's my direct Shakespeare experience in a nutshell. I think I'd like to read Taming of the Shrew, because it's my roommate's favorite, and The Tempest, because I'd like to go see the film and I think I should read it first, and probably one of the Richard or Henry plays, because I feel like I'm 'post to.
