Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

How to Read Shakespeare in a Year (Video)

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I’ve talked about how to read the complete works of Shakespeare in a year.

But I’ve recently decided to read everything Shakespeare wrote in chronological order and document my journey in video form, kicking off with this introductory video here:

I’ve decided on reading Shakespeare chronologically because I want to know Shakespeare the man, the craftsman, the thinker, more intimately, charting his creative rise.

How to Read Shakespeare Chronologically in a Year

Obviously the order of Shakespeare’s plays is hotly debated. And a chronological reading isn’t the best choice for most people when it comes to reading Shakespeare.

In the video, I discuss the merits of reading Shakespeare:

We’ll also talk about everything from how to read the plays to the best edition of Shakespeare’s works (the Arden editions).

And I pull apart the chronological argument.

This, for the record, is the chronological order of Shakespeare that I personally subscribe to (feel free to disagree with me):

  • Henry VI, Part One  1589-90
  • Henry VI, Part Two  1590-91
  • Henry VI, Part Three  1590-91
  • Richard III  1592-93
  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona  1592-93
  • Venus and Adonis  1592-93
  • The Comedy of Errors 1593
  • Sonnets 1593-1609
  • The Rape of Lucrece  1593-94
  • Titus Andronicus 1593-94
  • The Taming of the Shrew  1593-94
  • Love’s Labour’s Lost  1594-95
  • King John  1594-95
  • Richard II  1595
  • Romeo and Juliet  1595-96
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream  1595-96
  • The Merchant of Venice 1596-97
  • Henry IV, Part One  1596-97
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor  1597
  • Henry IV, Part Two  1598
  • Much Ado About Nothing 1598-99
  • Henry V 1599
  • Julius Caesar   1599
  • As You Like It 1599
  • Hamlet 1600-1601
  • The Phoenix and the Turtle 1601
  • Twelfth Night 1601-2
  • Troilus and Cressida 1601-2
  • All’s Well That Ends Well 1602-3
  • Measure for Measure 1604
  • Othello 1604
  • King Lear 1605
  • Macbeth 1606
  • Antony and Cleopatra 1606
  • Coriolanus 1607-8
  • Timon of Athens 1607-8
  • Pericles 1607-8
  • Cymbeline 1609-10
  • The Winter’s Tale 1610-11
  • The Tempest 1611
  • A Funeral Elegy 1612
  • Henry VIII 1612-13
  • The Two Noble Kinsmen 1613

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We’ll be putting out videos, podcasts, lectures, deep analyses, and more as we cycle through Shakespeare’s works.