I was recently thinking about this as well. Perhaps because Close Reads’ Heidi White mentioned that Henry IV Part I (I believe I got that right) is her favorite Shakespeare. I took a Shakespeare’s histories, & I guess I get intimidated by my wish to look up all the historical facts and see where Shakespeare is adding or changing or downplaying things, which feels research intensive. But we really should. Which one would you want to do?
This is very helpful. Alright, adding histories to my TBR for the year. No promises yet for next year’s list though! Macbeth’s “poor player” speech is a very frequent presence in my mind & reading. But then again, folks (like me) may pick up Macbeth, it’s less likely to pick up a history, and for that reason alone it’s a good idea to do one.
Shakespeare does "pure" comedy and "pure" tragedy so magnificently! And, I believe that in his best histories he masterfully weaves these two forms together, deviating from him sources much, much less than I expected. I find them fascinating.😁
Haven’t tackled The Merchant of Venice yet, so thus will be great!
Thanks for including me!
Shakespeare month is one of my favorites!
Spoken like a true literature lover! I never read enough Shakespeare, but every Shakespeare month has been one of the best book club discussions!
Could we sneak in a history one year😁😅
I was recently thinking about this as well. Perhaps because Close Reads’ Heidi White mentioned that Henry IV Part I (I believe I got that right) is her favorite Shakespeare. I took a Shakespeare’s histories, & I guess I get intimidated by my wish to look up all the historical facts and see where Shakespeare is adding or changing or downplaying things, which feels research intensive. But we really should. Which one would you want to do?
I love Henry V, and Richard III is just excellent villainy with great real history behind it
I love the Henry plays. Richard II (2nd not 3rd) is a marvelous start. Or Henry IV part I, or Henry V.
I think in reading Shakespeare's History, there are so many things. I bet an ICE edition would help us.
J. J. Norwich, wrote a lovely book, Shakespeare's Kings:) He compares the plays with contemporary source materials and with what we "know now."
This is very helpful. Alright, adding histories to my TBR for the year. No promises yet for next year’s list though! Macbeth’s “poor player” speech is a very frequent presence in my mind & reading. But then again, folks (like me) may pick up Macbeth, it’s less likely to pick up a history, and for that reason alone it’s a good idea to do one.
Shakespeare does "pure" comedy and "pure" tragedy so magnificently! And, I believe that in his best histories he masterfully weaves these two forms together, deviating from him sources much, much less than I expected. I find them fascinating.😁
Macbeth is fantastic!
Close Reads is doing something like this on their subscriber only feed! I can’t remember the exact details.
See...it wasn't even hard to convince her!
You gotta get a word in the Shakespeare lady's ear (aka Jess...you gotta convince Jess).
Ahhhhh! Merchant is my all-time favorite! Yes!
Oh I'm so glad! I can't wait to read it together!
Gah! I guessed wrong! But still, this one is so good.
This one seems a little more niche! What did you guess?
The Tempest
Also a good one!