Dear Book Club Readers,
Today I'm very excited to run through my personal ranking of the complete works of Shakespeare with you. This is a reverse ranking, from worst to best, with each play given a grading and an IMDB-style numerical rating.
I hope the above video provides an enjoyable way to reminisce for those who have journeyed through the bard’s poems and plays as part of the chronological Shakespeare Project. But I am also hoping to tempt newcomers to the bard into picking up some of his great works.
So, whether you're a veteran bardolator, have a handful of plays under your reading belt, or you're a curious newcomer to Shakespeare, please do treat yourself to a drink and enjoy the discussion in the way that best suits you.
It’s funny, since making this video, I've revisited the plays again (reading according to the genres delineated by the First Folio) and a few of my positions and gradings have already shifted slightly. This is normal and will happen if you read Shakespeare consistently over the course of your life. But, overall, the above discussion captures how I feel about Will's phenomenal canon right now.
Timestamps:
0:00 why read the works of Shakespeare?
1:00 reading the bard chronologically
3:00 the book club’s Shakespeare Project
4:00 ranking Shakespeare worst to best
5:00 Shakespeare’s all-time worst play
5:30 The Merry Wives of Windsor
6:30 the inexhaustible Falstaff
8:00 Shakespeare’s second weakest play
8:30 The Two Gentleman of Verona
10:00 Pericles, Prince of Tyre
11:00 romance and tragicomedy
12:30 three parts of Henry VI
14:00 Hollow Crown tv series
15:00 history vs myth and propaganda
16:00 the history of King Henry VIII
16:30 Globe Theatre burns down
17:00 why did Shakespeare retire?
18:30 how to perform and view this play
20:00 writing Lucrece in times of plague
21:00 invention of the human in King John
23:00 All’s Well That Ends Well
25:30 Shakespeare’s health struggles
26:00 tragedy of Titus Andronicus
27:30 an abominable banquet of blood
29:00 The Comedy of Errors
30:30 lyricism in Love’s Labour’s Lost
32:00 what makes a comedy a comedy?
33:30 lost plays of Shakespeare
34:00 tragedy of Timon of Athens
35:00 was Shakespeare a misanthrope?
37:00 how to live a virtuous life
38:00 The Two Noble Kinsmen
39:30 the last lines Shakespeare wrote
40:30 narrative poem Venus and Adonis
41:00 was Will more poet or playwright?
42:00 who influenced Shakespeare?
43:00 mythic formula in Shakespeare
44:00 The Taming of the Shrew
45:00 irony and feminism in Shakespeare
47:00 tragedy of Troilus and Cressida
48:00 London’s satirical Poet’s War
49:00 what makes a problem play?
50:00 what is a closet drama?
52:00 ‘now is the winter of our discontent’
52:30 pantomime fun in Richard III
54:30 history vs reality of Richard
56:00 Cymbeline as palace of tropes
57:30 cult status vs historical popularity
58:00 the history of Richard II
59:00 Elizabethan politics and treason
1:00:00 a viewing assignment for you
1:01:00 The Merchant of Venice
1:03:00 is Shakespeare Shylock?
1:04:00 ‘hath not a Jew eyes?’
1:05:00 opening season of the Globe
1:05:30 patriotism in King Henry V
1:07:00 Much Ado About Nothing
1:08:00 enjoying a merry war of words
1:09:00 light comedy with a dark streak
1:10:00 Measure for Measure
1:10:30 Elizabethan vs Jacobean plays
1:11:30 plague, governance, tyranny
1:13:00 was Shakespeare religious?
1:15:00 the tragedy of Coriolanus
1:17:30 Twelfth Night, or What You Will
1:20:00 the best fools in Shakespeare
1:21:30 the tragedy of Julius Caesar
1:22:00 ‘friends, romans, countrymen’
1:23:00 the world stage in As You Like It
1:24:00 the healing power of literature
1:25:00 freedom in the Forest of Arden
1:26:30 why I adore Romeo and Juliet
1:27:30 how to know you’re in true love
1:28:30 Sonnets of William Shakespeare
1:31:00 lifelong reading assignment for you
1:32:30 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1:33:30 historical criticism of the Dream
1:36:00 The Winter’s Tale
1:37:00 from tragedy to romance
1:38:00 the tragedy of Othello
1:39:00 the sublime tragic procession
1:40:00 the machiavellian Iago
1:42:00 tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra
1:42:30 Shakespeare vs classical unities
1:43:30 one of the most alluring characters
1:45:00 the tragedy of Macbeth
1:46:00 scorpions and daggers of the mind
1:48:00 ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’
1:48:30 appreciating The Tempest
1:50:00 Will’s farewell to the theatre
1:51:00 reading both parts of Henry IV
1:52:00 Sir Falstaff and Prince Hal
1:54:30 comfort and genius in these plays
1:55:30 second greatest Shakespeare play
1:57:00 stage history of King Lear
1:58:00 Shakespeare’s greatest achievement
2:01:00 all-time greatest Shakespeare play
2:02:00 the masterpiece of Hamlet
2:06:00 how to read the complete works
2:09:00 your experience with Shakespeare?
I’ll pop my list down in written form soon, but there are timestamps on the video to see the positioning of works at a glance or jump to any topics or specific plays you want to hear about.
It may be worth saying that this ranking is not gospel. I do strongly believe that the higher positioned plays are objectively some of the greatest works of art ever achieved, but this is ultimately a deeply personal list based on what works subjectively for me at this moment in time.
The plays and poems of Shakespeare are sublime Rorschach tests that reveal enormous amounts about those who read and watch them. So, this is my list, but please let me know your list.
Let me know the ways that Shakespeare has moved you. I would love to know the highs and lows of this bookish mountain valley for you. Or any experiences you have had with Shakespeare.
If you're planning to take the journey for the first time, let us know what you're most excited about. If you've read a fair bit of Shakespeare, what advice would you give to get more readers into the works?
Happy reading, bardolators!