I've only read Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. I need to

>reading plays
Not sure I'll ever understand this meme

File: cover.jpg (102KB, 612x612px) Image search: [Google]

102KB, 612x612px

>>9170454
I have to do what I need to do in order to succeed in this major. I don't like it either, in all honesty.

No one's gonna care that you... before... but anyway...

Henry IV and Henry V are more essential than Henry VI.

Also: Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, The Tempest, Richard III, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Very roughly in order of importance.

>>9170477
Just watch film versions bruh. The two seasons of the Hollow Crown cover a lot of the historical plays. Plus there are good versions of King Lear, Macbeth and (I think) Othello out there.

>>9170454
Sure reading plays is stupid, but reading Shakespeare is not.

If you want to watch one, OP, my favorite is Julius Caesar (1953) with Marlon Brando.

File: ab2c7b64592b7acfc6f55355f383ed25.jpg (48KB, 399x556px) Image search: [Google]

48KB, 399x556px

>>9170521
It's not for vanity; I just want to be able to contribute in discussions. It would be a shame for a potential English major not to be well-read in Shakespeare. It's about time I caught myself up.

I will definitely take your advice and drop Henry VI, then substitute it for Henry IV and V. I'll find myself a copy of Macbeth, Much Ado, and Othello as well.

You seem experienced with Shakespeare, so I hope you don't mind my asking you this: should I read these plays with present-day vernacular/prose "translations," or go for the versions with the original text?

>>9170698
Original. Kind of ludicrous question, considering your purpose here.

But anyway any good edition will have footnotes to define archaic words and stuff. I recommend The Pelican Shakespeare, Yale, or Oxford.

>>9170446
Just read the Shakespeare they assign you. Your life and contributions in your class won't hinge on if you've read Shakespeare beforehand.

>>9170821
Pelican Shakespeare is outdated, Oxford is good but some editions take liberties (Folio text for Hamlet, Anthony with an H for Antony and Cleopatra, etc). Can't say about Yale.

New Cambridge I can recommend, but above all there's Arden. If you are going into an English major, Arden is the way to go. But beware of the Arden edition for The Merchant of Venice. The introduction is rathera long essay with a post-structuralist perspective. It may interest you if you are into that sort of thing, but it is too complex anyway.

>>9170446
Richard III

Lear can get right the fucked off for I'll I'm concerned, and take R&J and MacBeth with it.

MoV, Hamlet, Richard III: these are the best ones.

>>9170477
I know right. It's like wtf are you trying to differentiate between you dumb ass math fucks. Two numbers? Real hard. Good work wasting your lives on that shit.