I've read

Much Ado About Nothing
Romeo and Juliet
The Taming of the Shrew
A Midsummer Night's Dream

I haven't seen any film adaptions, or unforunately been to London. I read about a while ago called Shakespeare's Secret. It had a theory that Shakespeare merely took credit for writing the plays, the real writer was Elizabeth I's illegitamite son. It was an interesting theory. I don't know if I believe it, but I do have some doubts that Shakespeare really did write everything he's credited for...

Ooh! Shakespeare is my friend! Whenever someone (like my brothers) tells me I'm crazy for liking him, I start listing off all the words he's invented.

That said, I haven't read much of his stuff. But so far Much Ado About Nothing is my favourite, followed closely by Hamlet. I really hate Romeo & Juliet though. I like the idea of it (if you know what I mean) but it's just sooo mushy I can't stand it.

I've seen 2 different Romeo & Juliets. I didn't really care for either of them, but the Leonardo DiCaprio one was especially excrutiating. I saw a taped stage production of Macbeth, which was all right. I've also seen both Kenneth Branagh's and Mel Gibson's Hamlets, and I have to say I like Mel Gibson's a little better, just because I like the setting better in that one. And I've seen Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (I love how he always gives himself the main role ) which I really liked, except for the first 5 or so minutes (Ah! My eyes! They're burning just thinking about it!) Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson are so funny! *recalls the part with the lawn chair and dies laughing*

In grade 11 we had to make our own versions of Macbeth. My friends and I made a modern high school version and it was horrific! I believe played Macduff (?) although I'm not sure anymore. It was tons of fun to make though. In grade 12 our school play was Much Ado About Nothing. Three of my friends were in it (they played Benedict, Beatrice and an added narrator). Our French class went on a trip about a month before the play and Benedict and Beatrice spent most of it rehearsing their lines. By the end of the trip all of us knew the 'What, my dear lady disdain, are you yet living?' scene off by heart. I still know it pretty well. I'm also fond of reciting the 'Out, out, brief candle!' soliloquy from Macbeth.

I wish I could see the Globe theatre! I'd also like to see Shakespeare's grave, as morbid as that it is.

I'm not really a big Shakespeare fan, but I've read A Midsummer's Night Dream last year for English class, plus a sort of watered down version of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night back in fourth grade. I unfortunately haven't gotten around to reading his sonnets/poems.
Glenstorm, I've read Shakespeare's Secret, too (actually, I listened to the audiobook). Though I don't really remember much about it except for the fact that it had to do with a necklace...

^^I remember the necklace too. It was like some sort of clue. I don't remember much besides that it was Anne Boleyn's or something...

I forgot to mention before that I've read Macbeth too. We have these audio tapes that have some of Shakespeare's works, so that was how I was introduced to a few of them, which led me to read them...

Don't know if I could be called a Shakespeare fan, but I have enjoyed a few of his works. I bought the leather-bound Barnes and Noble classic edition of his works a few months back, and read Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and some of Macbeth. I find it amusing trying to decipher all of the confusing language he uses. Plus, they're really great stories. I enjoyed Much Ado About Nothing the most, I would say. The Tempest was also good.

I've read a number of his more famous works, such as Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, and Macbeth. Admittedly it's been a few years since I've read much from the Bard.

My first exposure to live performance was a high-school field trip to see King Lear at the Guthrie in Minneapolis. The performance was excellent, but now I wish I'd been more familiar with the play before seeing it; I would have gotten more out of it.

I've seen the 1999 film adaptation of Midsummer - the one with Kevin Kline as Nick Bottom and Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania - and found it pretty entertaining.

It's amazing how much influence Shakespeare has had in contributing famous lines to English that are still commonly used today. I thought about including a few here but didn't know where to start. So here's at least a partial list.

And many newer films and stories owe something to the Bard as well. The classic 1950s science fiction film Forbidden Planet draws much of its plot from The Tempest. And the 1990s animated Gargoyles taps Shakespeare heavily in plot elements and character names - Macbeth, Titania, and Oberon all make appearances - but this was intentional as series creator and frequent writer Greg Weisman is a Shakespeare aficionado.

Let's see. . . Here are the plays I've read (I won't list his sonnets, because I've read dozens of them)

Julius Ceasar
Macbeth
King Lear
Love's Labour's Lost
A Midsommer Night's Dream
Titus Andronicus
Hamlet
The Tempest
Richard III

I absolutely detested Julius Cesar and Hamlet, which really surprised me, because I'd heard so many wonderful things about Hamlet. I found all of the characters to be pretty much one dimentional. They didn't seem to have any true motives for their actions, and were actually pretty indecisive. Titus Andronicus, which is usually seen as "early Shakespeare" and is usually met with a whole lot of criticisms is actually a much better tragedy (IMHO). It is MUCH MUCH MUCH more gruesome, but its characters have such excellent motivation for the things that they do. It features about the best revenge I've ever read in ANY book, and it features a female villain who is absolutely evil. Macbeth is also a pretty good play, but not that much happens in the middle of it, which caused it to drag a bit for me.

However, my favourite tragedy, as well as my favourite Shakesepearean play in general, is King Lear. The plot is just so wonderfully written. It features so many life-lessons, at the same time as mixing in humor, and justice. It's a very great plot, and I advise it to anybody who wishes to further their Shakespearean repetoir.

As for the comedies, Love's Labour's Lost is absolutely hilarious. It is one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays (also one of his earliest) and is so unique because it features such a large amount of humor. The plotline just starts out as being so outrageous, that it's hard to imagine anything else except humor coming out of it. I found it much more entertaining, and much more captivating than A Midsommer Night's Dream, which I found to be somewhat boring.

Julius Ceasar made me want to cry it was so terrible, but Richard III is much better. Richard III redeemed the History Play genre for me, because after Julius Ceasar, I really didn't think it could get much worse. But Richard is just the perfect villain; he's just the type of guy that you love to hate.

The Tempest is very interesting. It's the only one of Shakespeare's "Tragicomedies" that I've read. I still can't decide whether I like it or not. There are some days that I really think it's a wonderful, and a cleverly written play, but then there are others when I find it incredibly boring. I could take it or leave it

I don't have much time but I thought I'd share the following Feb 25 news story: "Long Awaited Sequel Examines Shakespeare's Plays in Light of His Catholic Faith." What's the sequel to The Quest for Shakespeare? Joseph Pearce's Through Shakespeare's Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays. He analyzes The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and King Lear. You can read more here. And here is more info on the book from Ignatius Press.

I've read half of Shakespeare's plays, all the sonnets [graduate class in English Renaissance poetry ], and none of the narrative poems. I've also seen ten film adaptations [plus Shakespeare in Love ]. But I saw only two stage plays. One was Much Ado about Nothing [a favorite play]. The other was a satire on Shakespeare's plays that included half a dozen quickie performances of Hamlet -- including one backward. I don't remember the title, though.

I took an upper level Shakespeare class last term at university, in which we briefly discussed his Catholic leanings. I for one was very interested in his critiques of the monarchy of his time through his plays. At a time when Queen Elisabeth I had people who dissed her publicly tortured/killed, Shakespeare managed to hide his critiques very, very sensibly.

Ah, Shakespeare. I'm not yet a fan, but I'm learning to enjoy reading his plays. I'm actually in a Shakespeare class, in which we will be preforming his play Cymbeline. Not exactly a well known play of his, but thanks to all the rehearsals, I now know it inside and out.
I've also read Macbeth and Hamlet. I've seen the film adaptions of Henry V, Cymbeline, and Much Ado About Nothing.
Shakespeare's works have definitely been growing on me, though it took me a while to get used to his language. When I was younger, I sadly used to read Hamlet at night to put me to sleep on the nights when I couldn't fall asleep....not a very good introduction to Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's puzzled me, because I didn't know they were meant to be plays until recently. This I bashfully admit. Anyways, I haven't finished reading any of the plays but I believe we do own Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and I think, As You Like It. My grandpa (who I sadly didn't get a chance to meet) was a fan of Shakespeare, and our version of Romeo and Juliet has notes in it that, if I'm correct, were written by him, so that's probably the only reason I'd read it. Otherwise, A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It seem interesting enough; I just have to push myself to reading them sometime or another...

I'm not really a huge Shakespeare fan, but I'm learning to appreciate him. I'm waitlisted for a Intro. to Shakespeare class for next quarter, so we'll see.

I've read:

Richard III
Henry VIII
Romeo & Juliet
Macbeth
Much Ado About Nothing
Julius Caesar

I'm privilaged to live quite close to the fabulous Oregon Shakespeare Festival where I've seen productions of Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry VIII, all of which were excellent.

I just read Julius Caesar for my Renaissance lit. class and I actually really liked it. I'm surprised that DiGoRy didn't. I was confused and bored in parts, but I thought that Antony was just fascinating. I didn't know his character and I just love how you don't think he's a threat

I discussed Much Ado at length in the book thread over summer as I read it to prepare to see the show. I actually don't really like it because I find Beatrice very annoying. I think she seems like the sort of person who likes to be the center of the party and make everyone else feel inferior.

You all have read a lot of his works . A little time ago I got the idea that I should read Hamlet, just out of curiosity. My mother was going to the library and I asked her to bring it to me. She did, but accidentally it was a version in English, not in Finnish ! You see, I had doubts if I could read a play that old in any other expect my native language. I gave it a try and, suprisingly, it was funny and not that difficult to read . It was quite an enjoyable experience.

So, are there any others of Shakespeare's works that you would recommend for me? And is the language in them so difficult that a non-native speaker of English should read them in her own language?

My favorite Shakespeare work- and one of the few that I actually liked- is Macbeth. When I first saw a scene from it performed on stage, I did not think I would particularly like it. But then I read it in the 11th grade and liked it MUCH better than any other one of his tragedies. I even did my 11th grade term paper on Macbeth's imagery.