Is there a general consensus amongst critics about Shakespeare's best?

[DerekG]

To be sure, HAMLET and ROMEO AND JULIET are certainly the most popular, but I'm curious as to which play is considered his masterpiece (or perhaps there is an upper echelon). Whom here has a finger on the critical pulse?

Personally, I've always been partial to JULIUS CAESAR, KING LEAR and MACBETH.

[Boomer]

1. I'm really quirky

RICHARD II is my absolute favorite play, can't even say why. But the soliloquies in that one just strike me as among the most lyrical and moving in the plays. I have no idea where this play ranks in the critical ranks, however.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say THE TEMPEST is considered to be one of Shakespeare's finest.

[Godai Kyoko]

2. I havn't got time for the critics

But I do like Richard III, and MacBeth is great fun. When my kids ask what's for supper I go "Eye of new, toe of frog, wool of bat......" Sounds better than hamberger helper anyway. Probably the same ingrediants.

Merry Wives of Windsor is a lot of fun too. Love the part where Falstaff is put in the laundry basket and is dumped in the river.

[ExclamationPoint]

5. I played one of the witches

I think that Macbeth is probably the most interesting for actors, because of the depth of all the characters, even the stranger ones.

[tomg]

3. I don't know if there is a general consensus,

Critically, the big four tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Lear. That is pretty common consensus. The killer comedies are The Tempest, Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It. The major History Plays seem to be Richard, Henry V. Admittedly, as soon as you come up with a list like this, someone else will come along with a different one.
It has always seemed to me that I respond to the plays relative to where I am in terms of my age and my life. For example, if I never read Romeo and Juliet again, it wouldn't bother me, but take a fourteen or fifteen year old and that play is him or her. Hamlet is a great play to teach college students, but I've seen enough of "to be or not to be" with my own 20-26 year old sons in their coming of age angst to last me a lifetime. At the same time, Lear and The Tempest, two plays I always "liked" ( as in I was working on my Ph.d. in lit so I had to "like them") when I was younger, simply break my heart now that I am getting older. The speech of Prospero that opens "Our revels now are ended," literally brings me to tears.
Incidentally, Shakespeare has the funniest stage directions in the world in "A Winter's Tale" (Exit, pursued by a Bear).

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. I am no expert but

I love King Lear

and A Midsummer Nights' Dream

[politicat]

6. My picks....

Comedy: Even days: Much Ado About Nothing. It's tightly constructed, the dialog sings, and it is accessible to many audiences (Love's Labour's Lost and Measure for Measure are wonderful, but without a master's in History of English Theatre, you miss a lot of the references, and there are some we'll never know.) Odd days: Midsummer Night's Dream. For many of the same reasons.

Romance: A Winter's Tale or Merchant of Venice (I don't think MoV is a comedy.)

Tragedy: Hamlet. It's really his showpiece - it's 4 hours long, it's convoluted, and everybody dies. None of the others really were that complete. Good soliloquies, too.

History: Personally, I love Henry V, but I think Richard III is better for the English histories. Antony and Cleopatra is more solidly constructed than Julius for ancient history. I like Henry V because I think Shakespeare captured who Henry would have had to have been to be the king he was. (And the St. Crispin's Day speech is very well done.)

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

7. I'd probably say Hamlet gets the most acclaim

with King Lear, Othello, Henry V & Twelth Night up there.

Then there's Richard III, Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Midsummer Nights Dream & Much Ado about Nothing.

Then most of the rest.

Then the ones that certain people, completely unfairly, look down on: Titus Andronicus & The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Then the ones nobody can remember: King John, Timon of Athens, Troilus and Cressida and probably one or two others I have no idea of.


(My finger is definately OFF the critical pulse! The above is just a stab at the hierachies I've observed.)
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Personally, my favorite is Macbeth; I love Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (& of course, The Merry Wives of Windsor) and think Hamlet & Lear are stunning works (& Ken Brannagh's Hamlet needs a DVD release).