As You Like It – William Shakespeare

Title: As You Like It

Author: William Shakespeare

Date Finished: 31/01/14

Re-Read? : First time read

Challenges? : Yes – The Classics Club 

Overall: 4/5 – rather good

I always try to read the play before seeing the performance when it comes to Shakespeare, and as I’m seeing As You Like It at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol in March, I thought I’d better read it now.  I enjoyed it, even though I did get slightly confused as I also went to see our school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream this week.

The plot is of course very silly and farcical and unrealistic but it’s meant to be this way – surely no-one now or in the 1600s would have really believed that a boy dressed up as a girl who was pretending to be a boy in minimal disguise would really fool anyone!  I can’t say I loved this plot quite as much as some of the other Shakespeare I’ve read but it was still enjoyable.

The characters are (for once) not too confusing to follow, apart from there being two Jaques (I only realised about 3/4 of the way through!) and I think all of the characters will really be brought to life for me when I see the play.  Rosalind is very memorable, if a bit silly but then who isn’t silly in Shakespeare’s comedies?  Again, the characters were good but didn’t rival my favourite characters in Much Ado About Nothing (my favourite Shakespeare so far)!

It was nice to have a French setting and the language was (unsurprisingly) amazing and I didn’t struggle to follow the story really.  As usual, I had my ladybird children’s, 60 page ‘Story from Shakespeare’ version alongside me just to read over after I’d read a few scenes to make sure I hadn’t missed any important details.  I recommend this play as it’s a nice short read and I am very much looking forward to seeing it performed next month.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona – William Shakespeare

Title: The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Author: William Shakespeare

Date Finished: 7/04/13

Re-Read? : First time read

Challenges? : Yes – The Classics Club 

Overall: 4/5 – rather good

This is the second of Shakespeare’s plays that I have read recently, and it is for the same reason as the first (Richard III) – in Bristol there is a theatre called ‘The Tobacco Factory’ and it hosts a couple of Shakespeare plays every year, which me and my family always go and see.  They are put on spectacularly well and the theatre is small, in the round, usually with amazing live music so you can see why we like going so much.  Anyway, I have already seen Richard III, which was completely brilliant and in a few weeks I will be seeing The Two Gentlemen of Verona, hence the reading of it now.

I didn’t know anything about the story before I started reading it, apart from it’s a comedy, so I kept checking sparknotes after every couple of scenes to check I had understood everything (on the whole I had, which was encouraging).  I am proud of myself for persevering with the Shakespearean language and not letting this relatively short play drag out too long, which can easily happen.

The plot is really good in this play and I was genuinely surprised at the different twists and turns that came along, especially when Julia dressed up as a boy and the business with the outlaws.  Obviously, the plot follows the usual format of a Shakespearean comedy but this felt more like a familiar friend than a boring repetition.  Maybe this is also because I haven’t actually read a comedy since January 2012 (Much Ado About Nothing) anyway.

There are several main characters a few minor characters and that’s about it in this play, which is quite nice really.  There are the Two Gentlemen – Proteus and Valentine and their respective love interests – Julia and Silvia.  I thought they were all reasonably well developed, if a bit too forgiving at the end!

The setting of Verona/Milan doesn’t actually feature that much, but the language of Shakespeare in this play is a perfect balance between poetic and emotive and also easy to understand.  I didn’t miss the finer details like I suspect I may have done slightly with Richard III, however, this could also be due to a less complex plot and a shorter play duration too.

Overall, this is a nice comedy and I would recommend it, but there is a reason why it is not so well known as other comedies and I don’t think it is going to change anyone’s life after reading it!

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

Title: Macbeth

Author: William Shakespeare

Date Finished: 30/10/12

Re-Read? : Second time read

Challenges? : Yes – The Classics Club & The Literary Classics

Overall: 4/5 – rather good

Ah it feels so nice to be reading Shakespeare again.  Before this I had only read one play – Much Ado About Nothing (which I love) – last January and before that, I had only studied Macbeth at school in 2010.  I enjoyed Macbeth even more than when we read it in school and I can’t wait to get onto my next Shakespeare.

On my Classics Club list, there are (currently) 11 Shakespeare plays.  This is probably going to change soon as I am reshuffle my list after I have read 12 books (20% of the list) to reflect new books I have acquired/heard about since I came up with the original list.  But anyway, I am still looking forward to my next Shakespeare, which will probably be Romeo and Juliet.

The plot in Macbeth is definitely interesting.  The way events happen that you really don’t expect is sometimes spooky and often shocking.  Despite the fact that I studied it a couple of years ago, I still couldn’t remember more than the basic storyline, so it was good to see what was happening alongside the main events.  I think the trickery of the witches is very clever, especially the way their prophecies seem so ridiculous that Macbeth will always be safe but they come true in a very unexpected and sneaky way.

The characters were what I focussed on when I studied Macbeth, especially Lady Macbeth herself.  I wrote an essay titled ‘Lady Macbeth – “Fiend-like Queen”, how far do you agree?‘.  All my little highlightings and annotations are still in my copy which was nice and reminded me of some of the quotes I used.  Aside from Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Duncan and Macduff, the characters in Macbeth aren’t particularly memorable and I sometimes got confused between all the lords/generals/noblemen etc.  However, Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed so maybe I wouldn’t have got confused if I were watching it.

The setting in old Scotland is miserable and dreary, as intended and all the castles and battles just add to the quite ferocious nature of the story – there is so much murder involved.  Shakespeare’s language was not actually too difficult for me, which I found quite surprising, as many people struggle with it and I know when I have been to see Shakespeare I sometimes lose the meaning whilst trying to understand the words, if you know what I mean.  This was no problem so that’s encouraging and means I will read more Shakespeare in the future.  I have just ordered a copy of Richard III because I am going to see it next year.  I am also going to see Two Gentlemen of Verona which should be great.

Overall I would recommend Macbeth as a good Shakespeare to start out with as it’s not too complex or long but is a great story nevertheless.  I would definitely go and see it in the theatre if it was on near me.  A secure 4/5 but I can’t I see myself reading it for a third time for quite a while.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Classics Club Books I am Looking Forward To:

Every week, The Broke and The Bookish poses a category for book bloggers to post their ‘Top Ten’ in that week’

This week is a free week for us to decide on a category for ourselves.  I saw that Jillian had picked the top 10 books she was looking forward to reading from The Classics Club and I thought this was a great idea, so I have ‘borrowed’ it!

For my full Classics Club list and details about the challenge, click here.

1. Villette – Charlotte Brontë:  I am most looking forward to this because everything I’ve heard about it suggests I will love it – I loved Jane Eyre, really enjoyed Wuthering Heights and people have said it’s ‘full of French’ which is a language that I love!
2. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens:  I have been looking forward to re-reading this for a long time, as I didn’t really get it the first time (I was too young).  On top of that, I bought a stunning edition the other day (a new Penguin English Library edition!) so I can’t wait to get into it.
3. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee:  This is (possibly) my favourite book of all time so I can’t wait to read it again and see if I enjoy it even more (or maybe less).
4. King Lear – William Shakespeare:  I saw this play at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol in February and it was absolutely amazing.  I really loved reading Much Ado About Nothing, so I am anticipating my next dose of Shakespeare.
5.  The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins:  I don’t seem to have read a negative word about Collins recently and it’s so exciting to get into a new author – especially if there is a great mystery to look forward to!
6. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons:  Again, I am going by recommendation – I have heard this book is hilarious.  It is not too long, hopefully not too hard to read and I have a feeling it will be a pleasure to read.
7. Middlemarch – George Eliot:  I am just as scared of reading this mammoth volume as I am excited!  It is so long I might have to stagger reading it through the summer, although I did plan to do that with David Copperfield and loved it so much I just powered through!  I am excited about getting into a new author and considering it is number 1 on Daily Telegraph’s list of ‘100 novels everyone should read’, I have great expectations for it (see what I did there?!).
8. Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens :  As I’ve already mentioned, I loved David Copperfield so can’t wait to get stuck into another massive Dickens!  This one is meant to be quite funny too (I think?) so I should enjoy it.
9. Suite Française – Irène Némirovsky:  This book is all about Nazi occupied France and I think I’ll find it really interesting.  Also, I bought a lovely edition (Vintage 21) in Vienna so it looks amazing on my shelf!
10. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen:   I recently read Emma and really enjoyed it, so I am looking forward to getting stuck into some more Austen – I have bought Pride and Prejudice and plan to read it next Christmastime.  Also, I will finally be able to say I have read this iconic book!