Shakespeare in Planning

Background

I am a recovering English Lit major. I graduated with a degree in information technology, not with a liberal arts degree in English literature. However, one of the classes that just killed me as an English major was Shakespeare. We had to read a thousand plays and sonnets and write papers about them -- papers like "compare and contrast Mercutio, Rosencrantz, and boiled broccoli." I bombed the class but walked away with a love of The Tempest, Hamlet, Henry V, and the sonnets. I still have my Complete Works of Shakespeare textbook -- or at least one I traded it in for, and a handful of Arden or Oxford Shakespeare plays.

To Study Shakespeare or Not To Study Shakespeare

I have been thinking about studying Shakespeare's works again. When I read deeply and paid attention to the essays and notes in annotated editions, I accelerated my learning and appreciation for the nooks and crannies of Shakespeare's oeuvre. It's been a few decades since those muddle-headed days. Perhaps it's time to give the bard another shake.

I found a nice reading-order list from Benjamin McEvoy on reading the complete works in a year. I like the order, but not the timeline. I'm currently in the midst of two other time-based reading lists -- Daf Yomi and Dracula Daily, so committing pages per day will further stretch my time commitments. Perhaps the better way for me is to devote at least 15 minutes per day to reading/studying Shakespeare. If I choose to read more or much more on a day, then I grant myself permission to read ahead, so to speak.

The first play I study will be Hamlet, from the 1994 Arden Shakespeare collection. When I am finished with it, I'd like to watch it as a play or as a movie.

Today is Day 1.

Image Attribution and Information

For more information about the image at the top of this page:

• Bust of Shakespeare at Shakespeare's funerary monument
• Image attribute: Sicinius - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0