William Shakespeare Literature: Some of My Best Choices

The best choices of William Shakespeare in my opinion are as follows:

Romeo and Juliet

Merchant of Venice

Macbeth

Othello

Midsummer Night’s Dream

Hamlet

My fascination with each script gave me a greater opportunity to enjoy literature from a different perspective.

Learning the English standard of education opened my eyes to a better learning attitude and I enjoyed English best.

Every aspect part of the English language was interesting to me and I looked forward to going to school each day.

The dramatization of literature gave me more to act out and besides Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice my best. Do not get me wrong I had taste for the others the above-mentioned but there was something about the two selected that energized something in me.

The following are my best choices.

Romeo and Juliet:

A romantic tragic play was written by William Shakespeare during the time of 1595. The action is set in Verona, where bitter hatred divides the powerful Montague and Capulet families.

Romeo who is the young Montague, and Juliet the young Capulet fall in love and secretly get married. However, Romeo is banished for duelling and he and Juliet have just one night together.

Juliet's parents are meanwhile planning the marriage of Juliet to Count Paris. In desperation, she consults the friar who married her to Romeo.

She arranges to take a potion which makes her appear dead while the friar turns and drinks poison at her side.

She wakes and, finding him dead, kills herself with his dagger. When the two families realize what has happened, they then vow to end their tragic feud.

When Juliet utters the well-known exclamation ‘Romeo, Romeo!'

Wherefore art thou Romeo?'' she is lamenting Romeo's name because it ties him to the Montague family.

''Wherefore,'' means, ''why.''

The 1957 musical West Side Story transferred the tale of Romeo and Juliet onto the streets of New York.

The Merchant of Venice:

A play was written between the years 1596 and 1598. A Venetian merchant, Antonio borrows money from Shylock, a Jew, to help his friend Bassanio to woo Portia. If Antonio fails to repay the money on time, he is to forfeit a pound of his flesh.

Bassanio marries Portia, but Antonio's ships are wrecked and he is not able to repay the debt. Portia, disguised as a lawyer, appeals to Shylock to have mercy on Antonio, but he refuses.

She concedes the moneylender's right to Antonio's flesh but points out that the agreement does not permit him to spill a single drop of blood. Outwitted, Shylock gives up the case and, as punishment for conspiring against the life of a Venetian he is required to become a Christian and leave his money to his runaway daughter Jessica.

Although the play reflects the anti-Semitic attitudes of the time, it also contains a moving speech in which Shylock asserts his common humanity:

''I am a Jew,'' he says. Hath, not a Jew hands, organs dimensions senses, affections passions?''

Macbeth:

A tragedy dated in the time of 1606 and the events are based on historical events of the eleventh century. The Scottish nobleman, Macbeth, encouraged by the prophecy of three witches and by his ambitious wife, murders the king, Duncan, and usurps the throne.

This is to maintain his ill-gotten position.

Macbeth is driven to increasingly desperate measures and arranges the murders of his friend Banquo and the family of his enemy Macduff. In the end, Lady Macbeth loses her mind and dies and Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff.

Many lines from Macbeth have become familiar expressions:

''The milk of human kindness.''

''Is this a dagger which I see before me?

''The witches' chant 'Double, double, toil and trouble.''

''Out damned spot!''

''Lay on Macduff.''

Within theatrical circles, superstition precludes any mention of the title ''Macbeth'; it is always called the Scottish play.

Othello:

Another Tragic play was written by the popular William Shakespeare. It was written between 1602 and 1604. Othello, a Moor, has command of the Venetian forces in Cyprus.

However, the villain Iago cunningly convinces Othello that Demons, his beautiful and faithful wife, has committed adultery with Cassio, a lieutenant.

Consumed by jealousy, Othello murders Desdemona by smothering her while she is in bed. When he realizes his error and Iago's malice, Othello kills himself.

Midsummer Night's Dream:

A comedy play was written in 1595. Four lovers spend a night in a wood outside. Athens is where the fairy king and queen, Oberon and Titania, have argued.

To punish Titania. Oberon gets the sprite Puck to drop the juice of a magic herb on her eyes while she sleeps so that she will fall in love with the first thing she sees when she wakes.

This turns out to be the weaver Bottom wearing a donkey's head mask for a play rehearsal.

Puck also uses the herb on human lovers who unfortunately set eyes on the wrong partners first. When Titania and Oberon are reconciled, Oberon releases the human lovers from the spell.

Well-known lines from the play include:

''I'll meet by moonlight, proud Titania, and ''Lord, what fools these mortals be!''

Hamlet:

Hamlet was written during the year 1599-1601. Before the play opens, the king of Denmark has been murdered by his brother. Claudius, who has taken the throne and married the queen, Gertrude.

The ghost of the dead king visits his son, Prince Hamlet, and urges him to avenge the murder. Hamlet, tormented by this revelation, appears to be mad and cruelly rejects Ophelia, whom he loves.

Using a troupe of visiting players to act out his father's death, the prince can prompt Claudius to expose his guilt.

Hamlet then kills Ophelia's father Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius and Claudius tries, but fails, to have Hamlet killed. Ophelia drowns herself in grief, and her brother Laertes fights a duel with Hamlet.

The play ends with the death of the poison of the main characters and the arrival of Fortinbras, the Prince of Norway, who assumes control.

Hamlet contains several fine examples of SOLILOQUY, such as Hamlet's speech lamenting his mother's hasty remarriage and Claudius's reign, which opens 'O! That this too too solid flesh would melt,'' and 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE!''

Much-quoted lines include ''Neither a borrower nor a lender is.''

''Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.''

''Brevity is the soul of wit.''

''To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there is the rub.''

''The lady doth protest too much, methinks,''

''Alas, poor Yorick.''

My favourite two plays were Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice I did enjoy the others as well we had to act out these plays and that was my precious time performing the plays of such great talent.

A writer deserves credit for all the hard work produced and William Shakespeare was one of those great writers.

The wide range of literary works has gained the interest of many readers around the world.

I am one of those who still find the work of this talented writer so fascinating.

Writing is from the heart and the way one chooses to express oneself makes all the difference between meaningful quotes to simple texts.

Whether based on historical facts or not the plays have been extraordinary.

Poetry too has touched my emotions.