Shakespeare's plays
Shakespeare's plays by William Shakespeareby William Hazlitt
Ranked 3 of 5 plays by recommenders
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.
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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Still readable in modern English
“Shakespeare is sufficiently close to contemporary English that audiences will watch and enjoy his plays.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “Arabic document from 17th-cent. rubbish heap confirms semi-legendary Nubian king” Builds appreciation for language
“I was made to read shakespeare so that i would appreciate language”
Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Pointing AI at archives found a forgotten meteorite, lost rhinos, and more” Plays don't feel dated
“it's not because of the plays aging”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “My Students Can't Read”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Archaic, flowery language is hard
“it felt even worse when reading Shakespeare, which is nominally the same language you and I speak, but just barely”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “I like 'em thick OR: an apology to my English teachers” “absolutely hating being forced to read, and understand/interpret, thing like shakespeare and Jane Austin”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Gundam is just the same as Jane Austen but happens to include giant mech suits” “Shakespeare suffers from the flowery speeches thing too.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Where Educational Technology Fails: A seventh-grader's perspective” Forced reading in school
“We suffered through Shakespeare in both English and Drama classes.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” “absolutely hating being forced to read, and understand/interpret, thing like shakespeare and Jane Austin”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Gundam is just the same as Jane Austen but happens to include giant mech suits”
Other plays people recommend
The four most recommended other plays, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcadiaby Tom Stoppard | 7 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Hamletby William Shakespeare | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Shakespeare's playsby William HazlittThis page | 4 | 4 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
| Macbethby William Shakespeare | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Faustby Goethe | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I was made to read shakespeare so that i would appreciate language”
“it felt even worse when reading Shakespeare, which is nominally the same language you and I speak, but just barely”
“We suffered through Shakespeare in both English and Drama classes.”
“it's not because of the plays aging”
“Shakespeare is sufficiently close to contemporary English that audiences will watch and enjoy his plays.”
“absolutely hating being forced to read, and understand/interpret, thing like shakespeare and Jane Austin”
“the most overrated buffoon ever to put words on paper”
“Shakespeare suffers from the flowery speeches thing too.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.