Year of Shakespeare

Due to computer troubles, I never got a complete list of books together for 2017, but I figured I share this one project I worked on. I decided to spend a Year in Shakespeare for 2017, with plays selected each month to fit the season, holiday, or even that mention the month itself. As it turns out, April in mentioned in Shakespeare more than any other month, but it was fun trying to match themes up. Some of them seemed more dead on to me than others. So here’s the list. I’ll give some explanation of along the way of why I chose each play and maybe a reflection or two on it.

January--A Winter’s Tale

I chose this one for fairly obvious reasons. I feel like January is the most wintery month to me, so this seemed like a good place to start. I believe this was only the second time I’ve read this play. It isn’t among my favorite, but who can resist the “pursued by a bear” stage direction?

February--Hamlet

This is probably not the perfect fit for this month. I originally thought to do Romeo & Juliet in February for Valentine’s Day, but I don’t love that play, so I didn’t have much desire to read it. I do, however, love Hamlet, and there’s some romance in it with Ophelia, so I figured I could slide by with that. Plus, the Kenneth Brannagh version of Hamlet is definitely set in the winter (Denmark is cold, right?), so it seemed appropriate enough for the month!

March--Julius Caesar

I originally thought I might do King Lear for this month since it’s Celtic and I love St. Paddy’s Day, but the Ides of March made Julius Caesar a shoe in for March. Also, this is a play I haven’t read since high school, so it was nice getting reacquainted with it. This time, the political elements stuck out to me far more. I could understand Brutus’ decision to put down a tyrant, even when that tyrant was his friend, far better this time. Much of the tragedy lies in that Brutus, out of principle and patriotism, must murder a friend and throw in his lot with Cassius, who he doesn’t even like all that much, for the sake of Rome.

April--Merchant of Venice

This one I’d settled upon early on. I can’t remember if it is one of the plays with an explicit reference to April or not, but to me, it is the perfect Easter Shakespeare play. The idea of sacrifice and redemption is rife through it. Antonio willingly puts himself on the line for his friend and is only redeemed in the end by Portia in disguise. Merchant of Venice is one of my all-time favorite Shakespeare plays, so it was nice that I could work it in early

May--Much Ado About Nothing

Ok, this one stems back to a Kenneth Brannagh version again! I couldn’t really come up with a clear reference to May. Instead, what jumped into my mind is the movie version where everyone is running around in like a springtime Italy or something. I had tossed around the idea of doing As You Like It instead, because I’ve only read that one once. However in the end, I went with Much Ado because I found As You Like It relatively boring.

June--A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This was another play I’d settled on from the beginning. Midsummer falls in June, so obviously, this play had to be read in that month. Additionally, it’s among my favorite of the comedies, thanks to its mystical vs. mundane settings. I also wrote an in-depth analysis of this play (as in like, 30 pages) senior year in high school, so I have some history with it. 

July--Coriolanus

I wasn’t sure what I would do for July, and since no plays immediately sprung to mind for the month, I decided to tackle a new play for the month. I’d heard a little bit about Coriolanus and knew it had something to do with a Roman general, which seemed pretty in line with Independence Day to me. I guess I just have an association in my mind between the classical era and the Revolutionary era. It was fun reading a play that I’d never read before for the first time in the year. I certainly wouldn’t put General Coriolanus in the same category as General Washington, but I did find him an interesting character to read about. Additionally, it was interesting to think about the differences between Roman and American ideals. All things considered, I very happy to be American!

August--Antony and Cleopatra

This was another play I was reading for the first time. I really had no idea what to do for August, so initially, I thought I’d just choose a new play at random. However, then I realized that Cleopatra committed suicide in August. That meant this play was a shoe in! The main take-a-way i got from this play was that pride goeth before the fall.

September--Richard II

Since I didn’t have a particular play in mind for September, I figured I might as well check one off that I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I really like Richard II, but surprisingly, this was the first time I’ve ever read it. I knew I liked it because I love the version that was done in The Hollow Crown series. It’s a good example of how our decisions can sometimes set off a tragic chain of events.

October--Macbeth

Here’s another play that I’d settled on originally, but it almost got knocked out. As far as a spooky Halloween play goes, there’s nothing to compare to Macbeth. You’ve got witches, murder, ghosts, and Scottish people! Okay, just kidding on the Scots. Even so, St. Crispin’s Day also falls in October, and Henry V is one of my all-time favorite Shakespeare plays. It was probably the toughest choice of the year, but Macbeth narrowly pulled it out at the ninth hour. I’m very glad it won out in the end, because it set the mood for Halloween perfectly. 

November--The Tempest

At the end of the year, I started getting a bit lazy, I suppose. Maybe I could have found a better fit for November, but I wanted to read the Tempest, so that’s what I went with. I suppose you could work that into a lesson that we should be grateful for the trials we’re given because often they can help us to achieve a better future for everyone.

December--Twelfth Night

This was actually the play that set off this entire project. I read it last December because I knew it was written for the Christmas season. Reading a play at the appropriate time of year was cool, so it sparked the idea that I should do that for a full year. So while this play was the one that I had read most recently out of the selections for the year, it felt appropriate to end where it all began for me.

I admit, there were times that I was rushing through plays at the end of the month, but I really enjoyed getting the chance to read through some well-loved plays again and to discover new ones. Reading the plays in the proper season also threw them into a new light. Overall, it’s a project that I’m glad that I undertook.