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Shakespeare's Plays

Beefing up on Big Willy's best.

  • Course Length: 18 weeks
  • Course Type: Elective
  • Category:
    • English
    • Literature
    • High School

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Shmoop's Shakespeare's Plays course has been granted a-g certification, which means it has met the rigorous iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Courses and will now be honored as part of the requirements for admission into the University of California system.

Shakespeare walks into a bar. The bartender says, "You can’t come in here—you're bard!"

Have you ever wondered what people were actually saying when they joked about or quoted Shakespeare? Sure, you nodded along and laughed when everyone else did, but you didn't really get it.

If that was a creepily accurate description of you, this course is for you. Together we’re going to read nine of Shakespeare's most famous plays and think about everything from themes to language to "your mom" jokes. You'll analyze, reflect, and create Shakespeare-based collages like you've never done before—and by the end, you'll be chuckling along with that bartender.

And by the way: you're under 21. Stop laughing at that Shakespeare joke til you're of age, Shmooper.

Unit Breakdown

1 Shakespeare's Plays - Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. In this unit, we will explore the passionate love between Romeo and Juliet, the feud between their families, and the tragic end of the star-crossed lovers.

2 Shakespeare's Plays - Othello

Being a tragedy, Othello doesn't end in hearts and flowers and rainbows and unicorns. It ends in death and destruction and a one-way trip to Guiltville, but it's all about the journey, not the destination. So we will take the time to explore the play's themes of love, jealousy, betrayal, and trust that come up along the way.

3 Shakespeare's Plays - A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love in Shakespeare is never easy. But by the end of this unit, you should have a better idea of how it works in our man's plays.

4 Shakespeare's Plays -

5 Shakespeare's Plays - Julius Caesar

Shakespeare was a fan of writing about men in power and the ways it destroyed them. But Caesar's power is in a class of its own, and in this unit, we'll focus on the havoc that power—you might even call it tyranny—can wreak.

6 Shakespeare's Plays - The Tempest

The Tempest, Shakespeare's final play, is full of voyages, exploration, spirits, and magic. Pack a bag and get your seasickness meds ready, because it's going to be a bumpy ride. 

7 Shakespeare's Plays - Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night has all the ingredients for a great love story—love letters, trickery and lies, confusing gender roles, and of course, parties. In this unit, we jump right in to explore all this fun and more.

8 Shakespeare's Plays -

9 Shakespeare's Plays - Macbeth

We're guessing that you already know Macbeth's basic plot. After all, it is one of the most famous works of English literature. But in this unit, we will go even deeper into the greed, ambition, marriage, war, and even witches that appear in the play.


Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.01: Love is Like a Dream (Act 1, Scenes 1 – 3)

Before young William Shakespeare wrote his play about two poetry-speaking, hormone-driven teenagers who defy their families' long-standing feud and risk everything to be together, love wasn't even considered a suitable subject for a "tragedy." And yet, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, written at the beginning of Shakespeare's career as a playwright, is now widely considered the greatest love story of all time.

A painting of a woman leaning against a tree and crying.
Romeo and Juliet, sitting in a tree. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes killing themselves when they think the other is actually dead. (Source)

The play was wildly popular in its own time, and it's stayed that way ever since. It has inspired tons of other works. In fact, the play has become the template for all literary stories about socially "forbidden" love, including The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, and, more recently (and controversially), Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga.

Despite its fancy pedigree, Romeo and Juliet is also considered one of Shakespeare's most accessible works. Along with Julius Caesar, it's typically one of the first Shakespeare plays studied by Western students. Perhaps that's because it introduces the conventions of Elizabethan theater and gives students a healthy dose of love poetry, which Shakespeare peppers throughout Romeo and Juliet.

Or maybe it's just because we all love a good, old-fashioned love story. Yep, we're thinking that's totally it.

So, how does it all go down? And, why are we still in love with this play so long after it was written? You'll find out in this lesson where we'll discuss themes of love, lust, and infatuation from Romeo and Juliet's points of view.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.01: How It All Goes Down

You've heard the legend. Maybe you've even seen the movie. But how does it all go down in the play, Shakespeare-style? Now's your chance to find out. We'd like you to read the Prologue and Scenes 1, 2, and 3 of Act 1 of Romeo and Juliet to find out for yourself.

Consider as you read:

  • What the play says about fate and destiny, and why the Bard would be telling us all this so soon in the play.
  • Also, what are Romeo and Juliet doing the first times that we see them?

Having trouble understanding what's actually happening when people are biting their thumbs? Check out our summaries of each scene.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.01: Mismatch Made in Verona

"Star-crossed lovers."

So, that's a loaded (and ominously romantic) line. What does it exactly mean, though?

Think of astrological and zodiac signs for this. You've probably read a horoscope, saying something like, "When Mars and Saturn align, people with Taurus as their sign will have a good day." Star-crossed means Romeo and Juliet's stars aren't aligned. The cosmos is working against them. Star-crossed means ill-fated and that their love won't have a good ending.

Well, shoot, Romeo and Juliet's love won't end with them as the cutest couple in the retirement home. Will it at least have a good start, though? What do we see from each of them in their first appearances that might give us an answer?

For one, we can say Romeo's a pretty unique guy.

  • While everyone else is fighting with swords, he's talking all emo-teen because some chick he likes won't return his love and probably his Facebook friend requests, too. 
  • He's pining and whining, "Oh, woe is me," like he's read one too many bad sonnets (which he has, as the play will show).
  • Romeo seems as passionate as all the guys who just bit their thumbs and then brawled (after removing their thumbs from their mouths). However, he cares about love instead of the family feud. 
  • Romeo calls out the mixing of violence and love through passion, which will become a major theme in the play. Romeo points this out, saying, "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love…O brawling love, O loving hate" (1.1 175-176).

So it's safe to say Verona is a pretty passionate place that makes Real Housewives look calm. And Romeo's the king of it all.

Yet, when we meet Juliet, she doesn't seem to fit this setting at all.

The Nurse's rambling and tawdry toddler tale in 1.3 only allows Juliet only a few lines, but we know several things about her:

  • Juliet is a calm girl. Finally, someone in Verona who isn't seeking romance or trying to kill people . She hasn't even considered marriage (funny, as everyone is considering it for her). She keeps cool as the Nurse tells her joke and her mother says she should marry Paris. Had we heard all this, we would've at least rolled our eyes.
  • And clever. She speaks curtly, saying exactly what she should to satisfy her mother, while never actually committing herself.
  • Yet, she has no power. We've seen others walking/fighting in the streets. Juliet's just in her home, though, with guardians watching her. You think she's allowed out much?

But enough about the two from us, what do you think of them? Will they make a great pair, or a mismatch made in crazy Verona?

In 200 – 300 words, compare and contrast Romeo and Juliet.

  • We suggest a 100 – 150-word paragraph on how they are alike and another on how they're different.
  • Use quotes from at least two scenes.

An example:

Juliet likes to rhyme. She tells her mother, "[N]o more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to make it fly." (1.3 99-100) And Romeo rhymes nearly all his lines in his first appearance.

We know you've just met the two, but the play works on powerful first meetings and love at first sight. Besides, there's plenty of material. Consider how they've each interacted with other characters. Use this to start thinking of how their first meeting will go.

Expository Writing Rubric - 25 Points

OutstandingProficientDevelopingNeeds Improvement
Evidence / Support

All support is clearly and logically connected to the topic. Examples, evidence, and details are thorough and relevant with effective explanation.

(10)

All support about the main topic is relevant. Examples, evidence, and details are explained.

(9)

Most support is related to the topic. Examples, evidence, or details are given.

(8)

Insufficient examples, evidence, or details. Support may be irrelevant.

(7)
Content Understanding

All content is accurate and analysis is interesting and sophisticated.

(10)

All content is accurate.

(9)

May contain minor errors.

(8)

Major errors.

(7)
Style

Language is clear and interesting. Enhances presentation of information. No errors.

(5)

Language is clear and appropriate to topic. Minor spelling or grammatical errors.

(4)

Language is occasionally unclear, but meaning is generally understandable. Frequent spelling/grammar errors that do not impede comprehension.

(4)

Language use makes writing very difficult to understand. Frequent spelling or grammar errors that impede comprehension.

(3)