# Shakespeare's plays by William Shakespeare

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Shakespeare's plays by William Shakespeare and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for plays close enough to modern English to enjoy and for building appreciation of language; the most common caveat is the archaic, flowery speech.

## Why people recommend it

- Still readable in modern English (1 comments): "Shakespeare is sufficiently close to contemporary English that audiences will watch and enjoy his plays." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47261069))
- Builds appreciation for language (1 comments): "I was made to read shakespeare so that i would appreciate language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50026697))
- Plays don't feel dated (1 comments): "it's not because of the plays aging" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48378594))

## What people warn about

- Archaic, flowery language is hard (3 comments): "it felt even worse when reading Shakespeare, which is nominally the same language you and I speak, but just barely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49377057)) "absolutely hating being forced to read, and understand/interpret, thing like shakespeare and Jane Austin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228565)) "Shakespeare suffers from the flowery speeches thing too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947312))
- Forced reading in school (2 comments): "We suffered through Shakespeare in both English and Drama classes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48670235)) "absolutely hating being forced to read, and understand/interpret, thing like shakespeare and Jane Austin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228565))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Arcadia by Tom Stoppard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arcadia.md): 7 recommend
- [Hamlet by William Shakespeare](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hamlet.md): 6 recommend
- [Macbeth by William Shakespeare](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbeth.md): 3 recommend
- [Faust by Goethe](https://hackerapproved.com/p/faust.md): 3 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0192502050?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780192502056) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Shakespeare's plays by William Shakespeare", https://hackerapproved.com/p/shakespeare-s-plays/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).