Reading Shakespeare A Play A Month Challenge

I realize now I had not created that post yet!

So here are the plays we will be reading this year.

I got stuck for my reviews, so I’ll just add a few words for the last plays I did not review, as anyway the blogger who hosted the challenge gave up after a few months.

This year experience reminded me strongly that Shakespeare is definitely more enjoyable to watch than to read, especially the comedies for me. All the subplots can be sometimes confusing on paper.

January — A Midsummer Night’s Dream
February — Macbeth
March — Henry V
April — Much Ado About Nothing
May — Antony and Cleopatra
After reading this play, a blogger mentioned to me John Dryden’s All For Love, which is based on the same historical characters: I loved it very very much! I found the poetry very flowing, and sometimes so funny. This was the first time I read something by Dryden. Nice discovery!
June — The Taming of The Shrew
July — As You Like It – I enjoyed some funny lines from Rosalind.
August — King Lear – I had read it years ago, but did not remember how gloomy this is. Madness in all its manifestations…
September — The Merry Wives of Windsor – now that one I really found funny, and there were not too many confusing subplots
October — Twelfth Night – I liked the characters of Viola and of the clown
November — Othello – I have to admit that I actually prefer Verdi’s version. His Iago is total personification of evil, with lots of depths of character. Verdi goes all along with it, whereas Shakespeare has a more timid version, with some comic elements here and there to lessen the impact of evil.
December — The Tempest – I chose to read this one because last year, I saw a fascinating documentary on a group using Shakespeare’s plays for inmates. They played The Tempest, and it was really fascinating to see how playing its characters made them reflect on their own lives. It is really worth watching: Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005)