Let's face it; Shakespeare isn't going to fall from popularity any time soon. Whether you are navigating his works through whatever English class you are currently attending (or in the minds of some skeptics, imprisoned in), or cozying up to a relaxing Disney picture (that's right kids, The Lion King has strong ties to Shakespeare's epic Hamlet), or even just having a casual conversation (Shakespeare's work is credited with either inventing or at least being the print origin of over 1700 words), Shakespeare is all around you, and in many ways has shaped not only our perception of literature but the world around us.
Recently a friend of mine proposed the idea of creating a midnight gathering discussing the works of the Bard, to which I cheerfully obliged. For you see, I have been a lifelong fan of Shakespeare almost as long as I have had any honest measure of literacy. I still recall being excited to visit my Grandmother's house, for she had two leather-bound volumes from the 1920's that comprised the complete works of the master playwright, and as early as 9 years old, I was pouring over the pages and plunging into the Elizabethan world from which the material was birthed. In preparing for the midnight gathering, and as I was in the midst of reading Bill Bryson's "Shakespeare: The World As Stage" (which, by the way, is as detailed of a biography as you'll likely get on such an enigmatic figure as Shakespeare, and a fascinating read to boot), I inquired as to what play we would begin with for our inaugural midnight gathering. It was decided that we would decide the night of the actual meeting; but this started to form an entirely new, more ambitious objective in my brain. It is still the first week of January, when resolutions tend to be developed (and sadly, most of them are broken after the three week period. The first week of February is usually wrought with the smell of Cellulite and tears). Why not commit to reading all 37 of Shakespeare's plays, the entirety of his poetry, and finally the handful of plays that he has been identified as at least a partial contributor, and record this epic venture in blog format? I mean, this is an idea I haven't really seen played out as of yet, and I feel......
HEY! HOLD ON, WAIT!!!!! QUIT TRYING TO RUN AWAY! YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THIS HARDER ON YOURSELF! NO, DON'T CLOSE THIS PAGE! AND DON'T "NEW TAB" ME AND JUST AVOID THE PAGE EITHER, I'M NOT A FOOL!
..............(pant, pant).............Ok, now that you've conceded temporary defeat......listen, I know to some of you reading this, spending a year with a writer who has been dead for 400 years is a horrifying test of will (HAHAHAHAHAHA! "Will"?????? Get it? Because his name is "William", and "Will" is an abbreviated- eh, nevermind). But fear not, those of you who have decided to follow me on this journey. I will be reading all 38 of Shakespeare's plays, as well as giving my thoughts and a summary of each through this blog. And yes, I will be reviewing them like a real-life human being, and not in some Ben Stein-esque attempt at synthetic intellectualism.......just don't plagiarize my post in lieu of actually reading the play yourself. For those who are unfamiliar with Shakespeare's full body of work, his plays are as follows (in order from shortest length in regards to total lines to longest):
- The Comedy of Errors
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- The Tempest
- Pericles
- Macbeth
- Twelfth Night
- Timon of Athens
- Titus Andronicus
- Much Ado About Nothing
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- Julius Caesar
- The Taming of the Shrew
- King John
- The Merchant of Venice
- As You Like It
- Henry VI Part 1
- Love Labour's Lost
- Richard II
- Measure for Measure
- All's Well That Ends Well
- Henry VI Part 3
- Henry IV Part 1
- Romeo and Juliet
- Henry VI Part II
- The Two Noble Kinsmen
- Henry V
- Henry VIII
- Henry IV Part 2
- The Winter's Tale
- Troilus and Cressida
- King Lear
- Othello
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Richard III
- Cymbeline
- Coriolanus
- Hamlet
In addition to this core body of work by Shakespeare I will also be reading his collected sonnets (154 in total) and 4 narrative poems written by him as well. Finally, I will be reading some of the works that have come to be known as "apocryphal" Shakespeare works; these are works where either the extent of Shakespeare's authorship is questioned, or where there is debate over whether he was an author at all. I will be carefully selecting which of these titles I will be including in my literary journey from these titles, but as both "Sir Thomas More" and "The Reign of Edward III" are both printed in "The Complete Oxford Shakespeare", these titles at the very least will most certainly be included in this project. I will also be reviewing and commenting on books pertaining to Shakespeare and films inspired by Shakespearean works as well, but the central focus will be the works themselves, so don't expect a terribly prolific influx outside of that.
Why am I doing this? Well, Stephenie Meyer has only written 6 books, and the 4 I read sucked horribly, so Shakespeare seemed like a healthy alternative. Where else can I read articulate, intelligent, classy writing that is universally hailed as among the finest literature in the English language, while also being inundated with bawdy humor, gleefully politically incorrect humor that feels like its right out of "Blazing Saddles", stabbings, cannibalism, implied incest, embarrassingly cheesy puns, cross-dressing, comedic drunkenness, teen gangs (I'd love for clowns dressed in baseball outfits to yodel "HEY CAPULETS, COME OUT AND PLAYYYYYY"), interracial drama, and just about every other madcap atrocity one can imagine?
As I have begun this blog on January 4, 2012, that leaves January 4, 2013, as the date in which this project is scheduled to be complete. That averages out to a little over 3 plays per month of the central Shakespeare canon, plus 2. That doesn't include the sonnets, poems, and apocryphal works as well, but hey, we will get to those. Let the journey begin!
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