Today we celebrate the life of the great William Shakespeare on what would have been his 450th birthday if the speculations regarding his birthday are true. It is also the 398th anniversary of his death today also, as it is believed that both his day of birth and day of death is the 23rd April.
So, with this day being inherently Shakespeare, it only seems fitting to discuss his best works.
Here are my top three choices for Shakespeare’s best plays.
The story of a young prince who struggles with the death of his late father, his mother the Queen’s hasty marriage to her brother-in-law, and Hamlet’s uncle (who also happens to be the murderer of the late King, his brother), and the woes of whether or not to take action upon dark thoughts. Hamlet is set apart from other revenge plays by the lead character’s constant need for more knowledge on a subject before he acts upon anything. This dilemma is apparent throughout the play, and ultimately Hamlet often makes things happen inadvertently through his omissions. He himself is a very interesting character, someone who might be said to be obsessed with the idea of death after the demise of his father, and he ponders about death over the course of the play. Hamlet holding up a skull belonging to a dead court jester named Yorick is the main image that comes to mind when someone is asked to describe the Tragedy of Hamlet. Hamlet’s occupation with death splits into two different forms during the play; the need for the death of his uncle Claudius which was promoted by the murder of his father, and also suicide, which Hamlet asks himself about often. The famous ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy is prompted by this idea, and is Hamlet discussing with himself that surely no one would chose to suffer in that which is life if they were not afraid of what is to come after death. These kind of thoughts are those which lead to omissions and failure to act. This kind of deep thinking and plain differences to many other revenge plays sets Hamlet at the top of the list for Shakespeare’s best works.
This play has prompted many different TV shows, films, musicals, ballets and literature, and is certainly one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. Themes of the difficulty of love, magic and dreams occur throughout, with love being the central element to the story. Pieced around the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazon, it also includes the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled by a group of fairies who dwell in the forest where much of the play is set. Featuring three interconnecting plots, A Midsummer Night’s Dream gives the audience plenty of action and characters to focus on. With the motif of unbalanced love, it is heart-wrenching and at times not pleasant to watch, but also very funny. This is helped by characters such as Puck, who revels in pranks and tricks, especially when playing them on mortals. Full of fantasy wonder, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is certainly one to read or watch when you are in the mood for some silliness, but also a reminder that your own life isn't as crazy as you think!
In my opinion, one of the most interesting eras of British history is The War of the Roses, which occurred between 1455-1487 between the rivalled houses of York and Lancaster. Battles were fought sporadically but they were all vicious and spilled a lot of blood for the throne. These are the events which inspired one of Shakespeare’s most thrilling historical plays; Richard III.
Richard III was a man of the house of York, who was brother to King Edward IV and George Duke of Clarence. He was the last in line of the Plantagenet dynasty. In Shakespeare’s play, we see Richard’s story pan out, with many readers viewing Richard as the anti-hero of his own tale, for it is based on a true story of bloodshed and deception, greed and death in order for many men to gain the crown, whether for personal gain or wealth, or a mixture of both. It is almost an interactive history lesson for those who do not know the events of Richard III, and therefore is one of Shakespeare’s best historical plays, set apart from the others which he write by its intense and intrinsic background that is The War of the Roses.