Jettison Macbeth in favor of Henry V? Tough choice. I don’t know if I could bring myself to do it, although the topicality of the latter right now must make for some good discussion. I have always loved how that play seems so straightforward on the surface, but turns out to be deeply equivocal about its subject when you dig into it. So much of Shakespeare is like that.

The only person I know who has read all the plays is my Shakespeare professor, but as I hope to become a Shakespeare professor myself, I am slowly but surely making my way through the plays. For anyone who claims not to like the histories, try Henry V. It’s so great that I cut Macbeth from my curriculum in favor of it. There are also a lot of cultural references to it that escape the notice of anyone who has not read it.

Cardenio is a lost play, but there is a play called Double Falsehood that is thought to be taken from Shakespeare’s version, and perhaps even contains some of Shakespeare’s text, so it is possible for someone to have read Cardenio, in a manner of speaking. If anyone is interested in the story, read “Interred with their Bones” by Jennifer Lee Carrell. It’s a novel about the authorship question and the search for Cardenio. It has a lot of fact mixed in with the fiction, although the implication at the end might not make you happy if you’re a strong Stratfordian (as I am). It’s still worth the read.

Amen Alan and Paradox, nothing compares to Shakespeare onstage, but some aren’t produced very often. Thank goodness for the BBC videos. I also listen to the Arkangel Shakespeare audio series. It’s a nice way to pass the time while driving.

William, I think a lot of people reading them all does have to do with a “collecting the set” mentality. Part of my motivation to read it all has to do with that. I think it’s a good thing. It’s a completion of something. An accomplishment. But I also agree with what Bill said that reading them all isn’t everything. Studying a play, re-reading, spending some time with it is also important. I suppose a different question I could ask and get far fewer affirmative responses is, “have you STUDIED each of Shakespeare’s works?” That’s next on my to do list. :-p

David – Where on Earth did you find a copy of Cardenio to read? To the best of my knowledge this play no longer exists!

As far as the plays go, I tend to read them when I do them. Hence I’ve read Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet far too often, in all their various forms – first folio, penguin, bad quarto, riverside, etc. So some plays I simply know too deeply. Others, like Troilus or Love’s Labors I read only fleetingly. And Timon of Athens is the one Tragedy I haven’t read – yet.

I remember going to see a Pericles in a garden setting in London and my companion said, ‘this is the last of the plays that I need to see and I’ve seen the lot.’ I realised at that moment that some people enjoy this ‘collecting the set’ mentality and that I too had seen all 37 plays of the folio. Again it just happened.

Also when you start reading about him and the inevitable analyses of his plays, you cannot escape the clever clogs who have read them and use them in their arguments. His contemporaries are also worth reading, just so he doesn’t remain in such elevated isolation.

But the plays are a gateway to a whole world of knowledge and knowledgeable people and that’s why I continue to read his words and speak and act his words some twenty years after Richard 2nd (Derek Jacobi) first blew my mind open at the British Council screening here in amsterdam.

I will be studying English in college, which will certainly give me the opportunity to read more. Goodness knows I need to take advantage of the two copies of his complete works that I bought:)

And I agree; nothing compares to seeing Shakespeare come to life on stage.