What are Shakespeare's essential plays? Which are the best?

The "essential" plays would be the ones included in the No Fear Shakespeare set. The "best" ones are Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello, as every critic ever has said. Harold Bloom has a great fondness for the Henry IV plays and Antony & Cleopatra as well. I really liked Cymbeline, Love's Labor Lost, The Tempest, As You Like It and 12th Night. My guilty pleasures = Titus Andronicus and Taming of the Shrew. Plays of his I don't like are Midsummer Night's Dream (weird), Pericles (forgettable) and Troilus and Cressida (blasphemous against Greek myth and not even funny/good/necessary satire at that)

>>9709972
Thanks bump

Is everything he's written in blank verse?

Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Tempest
King Lear

Julius Caesar is probably my favorite, if not Hamlet. Midsummer Night's Dream is good as an exercise of looking at classical poetic language (especially for a comedy), referencing classical works and common themes and concepts, even if there is something a little too British about it.


Don't forget his sonnets and other non-dramatic poems.

If you're looking for a starting place, I'd suggest Titus Andronicus. It's very active and has violence that would make modern movie directors cringe, and as such I'd say it's the absolute best play to introduce young people to (since, at least in Britain right now, a public interest in literature is in dire need). Not suggesting you're young or inexperienced, but its quick action and ease of understanding makes it a good introduction to anyone.

As for his best, I think pretty much this (>>9710144) guy got it right. But add to that Macbeth and Othello. They're his most popular for a reason, normally.

>>9710144
These plus Othello, the eternal GOAT