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The Best William Shakespeare Plays and Books

Most Recommended Books

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

“Antony and Cleopatra is, in some ways, the most romantic of Shakespeare’s plays. It takes over, in a way, from Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet gives a wonderful exploration of young love, of first love, of romantic attitudes to love. Antony and Cleopatra are mature lovers. They are seasoned. They are disillusioned. It’s an extraordinarily rich play, poetically—as Romeo and Juliet is—but the poetry of Antony and Cleopatra is that of a mature person who has gone through a lot of experiences himself and is capable of expressing the disillusionment of middle-aged love as well as the raptures of it. “

Stanley Wells, Literary Scholar

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Macbeth by William Shakespeare

“This is going to sound heretical, but I think that—particularly in the theatre—a lot of Shakespeare is too long. I think Act 4 in a lot of Shakespeare plays is a bit of a bum-number, and not much happens. I like to see Shakespeare intelligently cut, often to speed it up. Macbeth is a play that may have been cut. We don’t really understand the provenance of that text. It’s very short by Shakespearean standards and it’s very powerful because of that. There’s no subplot, there’s no parallel plot. Just this really intense journey through a psychological drama. It’s a really punchy play because everything is tightly headed in the same direction: the language, the imagery, the plot, the way the characters work. It’s a really superbly powerful, compact, condensed play.”

Emma Smith, Literary Scholar

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Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

” What I really like about this play is its sexual playfulness. It seems very modern in that way. There’s no way to play it straight. You’ve either got Orsino in love with Cesario, or you’ve got Olivia in love with Viola, and you’ve always got Antonio in love with Sebastian. It feels to me as if its subtitle What You Will, is a cheeky way of saying ‘whatever, anything goes’. I like the fact that quite often you see productions where at the end Olivia and Orsino are still mixing up the twin they are with and there’s still playfulness. “

Emma Smith, Literary Scholar

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King Lear by William Shakespeare

“Lear is about all sorts of things but one of the things it’s about is people getting old and not ceding what their kids think they should to them and the kids trying to bully them.”

Kathleen Taylor, Science Writer

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream has always been a great favourite of mine, ever since my school days. I was introduced to it at school when I was about 11 or 12. I’ve seen many productions of it. It’s the first play I edited, for the New Penguin Shakespeare, in 1967. I very much enjoyed writing about it then. It’s a play about imagination, about Shakespeare’s own heart, in many ways. The Mechanicals’ scenes, as they’re called, in which Shakespeare portrays amateur actors putting on the play of Pyramus and Thisbe, actually tell us an awful lot about Shakespeare’s attitude towards the theatre and the acting profession. They’re also wonderfully playable.It’s a play that appeals very much to young people. I’m speaking now from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at Stratford-Upon-Avon and we have what’s called ‘Shakespeare Week,’ when we engage with over 10,000 primary schools. The Royal Shakespeare Company put on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which uses amateur actors, including schoolchildren.”

Stanley Wells, Literary Scholar

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Five Books has a series of interviews with world-leading Shakespeare scholars discussing the best William Shakespeare plays and the best books on William Shakespeare.

Disillusioned when forced to study him at school but ready to engage with Shakespeare plays again? Or do you already know your Hamlet from your Lear but are keen to explore more about the man? Even if you are completely new to Shakespeare, our interviews with the world’s foremost Shakespeare experts will set you on the right path.

These include:

Sir Stanley Wells, honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford, and General Editor of The Complete Oxford Shakespeare; Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University, and acclaimed expert of Shakespeare's First Folio; and James Shapiro, Professor of English at Columbia University, and award-winning author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? and 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear.

Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me
From mine own library with volumes that
I prize above my dukedom.
(The Tempest, I. 2)

    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources

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    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Metamorphoses Ovid (translated by A D Melville)

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    Metamorphoses
    Ovid (translated by A D Melville)

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    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Roman Lives Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield)

    2

    Roman Lives
    Plutarch (trans. Robin Waterfield)

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    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Four Comedies Plautus (ed. Erich Segal)

    3

    Four Comedies
    Plautus (ed. Erich Segal)

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    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Six Tragedies Seneca (translated by Emily Wilson)

    4

    Six Tragedies
    Seneca (translated by Emily Wilson)

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    Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources - Holinshed's Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed

    5

    Holinshed's Chronicles
    by Raphael Holinshed

Robert S Miola on Shakespeare’s Sources

William Shakespeare has a strong claim to be the most influential writer of all time. But whose works influenced him? And how? Robert S Miola discusses the breadth of Shakespeare’s reading, the vexed question of how we can reconstruct what he read, and the staggeringly innovative ways that Shakespeare shaped his sources

    Shakespeare’s Best Plays, recommended by Emma Smith

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    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    1

    Macbeth
    by William Shakespeare

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    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

    2

    Measure for Measure
    by William Shakespeare

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    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    3

    Twelfth Night
    by William Shakespeare

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    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Pericles by William Shakespeare

    4

    Pericles
    by William Shakespeare

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    Shakespeare’s Best Plays - Richard II by William Shakespeare

    5

    Richard II
    by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Best Plays, recommended by Emma Smith

Shakespearean scholar Emma Smith picks her five favourite plays of the Bard, and controversially argues that not only are some of his plays just too long, but also that the most moving moments in Shakespeare’s oeuvre are where we might not expect them

    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays

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    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - King Lear by William Shakespeare

    1

    King Lear
    by William Shakespeare

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    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    2

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    by William Shakespeare

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    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

    3

    The Winter's Tale
    by William Shakespeare

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    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

    4

    Antony and Cleopatra
    by William Shakespeare

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    Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays - Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    5

    Twelfth Night
    by William Shakespeare

Stanley Wells recommends the best of Shakespeare’s Plays

In our Shakespeare series, we ask experts to select their favourite plays from the Bard’s oeuvre. Here, preeminent Shakespearean scholar Sir Stanley Wells chooses five plays that best chart the evolution of the Bard of Avon during his 25-year career.

    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare

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    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - King Lear by William Shakespeare

    1

    King Lear
    by William Shakespeare

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    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

    2

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    by William Shakespeare

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    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    3

    Romeo and Juliet
    by William Shakespeare

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    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

    4

    Antony and Cleopatra
    by William Shakespeare

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    René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare - Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    5

    Macbeth
    by William Shakespeare

René Weis on The Best Plays of Shakespeare

In the second of a Five Books series marking the 400th year since the world’s most popular playwright’s death, eminent Shakespearean René Weis picks his five favourite plays, and explains why King Lear will change your life.

    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life, recommended by James Shapiro

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

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    Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare
    by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - William Shakespeare by E K Chambers

    2

    William Shakespeare
    by E K Chambers

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - Shakespeare’s Lives by S Schoenbaum

    3

    Shakespeare’s Lives
    by S Schoenbaum

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - The Lodger by Charles Nicholl

    4

    The Lodger
    by Charles Nicholl

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Life - William Shakespeare by Peter Holland

    5

    William Shakespeare
    by Peter Holland

The best books on Shakespeare’s Life, recommended by James Shapiro

Writing a traditional biography of Shakespeare is impossible, says Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro. But here he selects the best five books that tackle the life of the Bard.

    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids, recommended by Natasha

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    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare by Anna Claybourne, Rosie Dickins & William Shakespeare

    1

    Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare
    by Anna Claybourne, Rosie Dickins & William Shakespeare

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    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - The Shakespeare Stories by Andrew Matthews

    2

    The Shakespeare Stories
    by Andrew Matthews

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    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - To Wee or Not to Wee by Pamela Butchart

    3

    To Wee or Not to Wee
    by Pamela Butchart

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    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Macbeth by Conrad Mason

    4

    Macbeth
    by Conrad Mason

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    Best Shakespeare Books for Kids - Twelfth Night by Rosie Dickins

    5

    Twelfth Night
    by Rosie Dickins

Best Shakespeare Books for Kids, recommended by Natasha

Are you longing to get your children as excited about Shakespeare as you are? There’s a lot of books out there to introduce kids to the Bard. Here, Natasha, a 10-year old living in Oxfordshire, recommends some of her favourite retellings of Shakespeare stories.

    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, recommended by Scott Newstok

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Shakespeare's Sonnets by Katherine Duncan-Jones & William Shakespeare

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    Shakespeare's Sonnets
    by Katherine Duncan-Jones & William Shakespeare

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Helen Vendler & William Shakespeare

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    The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets
    by Helen Vendler & William Shakespeare

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - All the Sonnets of Shakespeare by Paul Edmonson, Stanley Wells & Willliam Shakespeare

    3

    All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
    by Paul Edmonson, Stanley Wells & Willliam Shakespeare

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Jane Kingsley-Smith

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    The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets
    by Jane Kingsley-Smith

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Nets by Jen Bervin

    5

    Nets
    by Jen Bervin

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    The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Lucy Negro, Redux by Caroline Randall Williams

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    Lucy Negro, Redux
    by Caroline Randall Williams

The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, recommended by Scott Newstok

The beauty of Shakespeare’s sonnets speaks to us down the centuries, their lines peaking out at us from the titles of famous books or enjoying outings at weddings or other romantic occasions. But they were not always regarded as perfectly-formed jewels, and the relationships they portray not as conventional as many of us presume. Here, Shakespeare scholar Scott Newstok talks us through books that help us learn more about Shakespeare’s sonnets, from the best introduction to the poems for students through to their afterlife and recent creative interpretations.

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

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