Was he the greatest writer in the English language?

Was he the greatest writer in the English language?

What's his best work?

Yes and of course it's Hamlet. Don't be retarded.

Undeniably. And King Lear, imo.

The author who wrote Othello

Hamlet is the best. King Lear is a close second. Macbeth has some of his best writing but it's too short and lacks the ambition of the other two.

Reputation wise yes, and possibly the greatest of any language.
It's always between Lear and Hamlet. I personally prefer Lear.

The best works are
Hamlet
Otello
Macbeth
King lear

Macbeth is just fun. Though I know we all can't agree here that Henry IV Part 1 is his best

SHAX STARTER PACK:

"The four great tragedies" (Generally thought to be Shakespeare's peak artistically but only one side of his genius):
King Lear
Othello
Macbeth
Hamlet

The Henriad (brilliant historical tetrology, somewhat novelistic. Richard II is basically a tragedy, the others don't fall easily into the category of comedy or tragedy)
Richard II (You can skip this one if you want. Can be understood alone.)
1 Henry IV
2 Henry IV
Henry V (can be understand alone if you want to)

A couple brilliant comedies. There are more (everyone will have their favorites. but these 3 are good to start with:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
As You Like It
Twelfth Night

Misc:
Romeo and Juliet (Early tragedy, absolutely wonderful. Very tight dramatically. Obviously very famous).
Anthony and Cleopatra (A brilliant roman tragedy, maybe the best after the big four)
Troilus and Cressida (Just a weird play. Feels like a parody. Shows what a strange and kinky writer Shakespeare was.)
The Tempest (A tragicomedy/romance. Intoxicating atmosphere. Some of Shakespeare's best writing. Fairly aimless plotting.)


There's more great plays (Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, etc.) but I think you'll see most of Shakespeare's important sides with this list. If I was to shorten the list to bare essentials for a beginner I would pick:

Macbeth
1 Henry IV
Twelfth Night
Romeo And Juliet
The Tempest

Macbeth doesn't have a coherent story like the other two do, but it does have some very cinematic scenes and a memorable protagonist.

Your essentials doesn't include Hamlet?

1. Probably
2. Lear or Hamlet

>greatest writer in the English language
>couldn't even write his own name

King Lear is his best work

>doesn't have a coherent story
wut. It's literally his best tragedy formally speaking.

>No All's Well That End's Well

My secret favorite is never discussed ;__;

>Henry IV Part 1
Ah fuck, thank God. Someone who went to college.

After the first two acts it cuts corners and seems to only present snapshots. I would agree that it is one of his best plays.

I didn't include it not because I don't think it's great or anything (it's my favorite Shakespeare tragedy), I guess I just think it's less easy to get into than Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet and I didn't want to add a million tragedies. But maybe I was thinking too much about plebs

>cuts corners
Not really. I know there's some contestation about there being a missing scene or something but the whole thing seems concisely put together, each scene being a proper progress for Macbeth and his wife, and it's done with a swift compactness that none of the other plays has. I can't see where there was a cut corner, or enough to make it incoherent.

There isn't anything exciting or surprising about the plot after he becomes king. It's just his gradual downfall.

Well yeah. He's supposed to suffer downfall. But I disagree that there's nothing exciting or surprising. I think the introspection given the Macbeth and his wife alone is makes it intriguing enough, and the way Macbeth chooses to fight in the end.Bbut i'm not really arguing for its uniqueness, just that it is definitely coherent plot, more so than any other tragedy.

Like I said, the play has a few interesting scenes (lady Macbeth sleepwalking and the procession of kings) and a memorable protagonist, but not a very interesting plot, at least compared to Lear and Hamlet.

He's not the greatest. That would be Joyce.

His best work is Hamlet.

Like I said I'm not really arguing about plot intrigue. We may have differing definitions of coherent here.

I honestly don't think anyone in the present or future will ever write something as good as King Lear or Macbeth. Obviously there is bias towards Shakespeare when compared to modern literature since his works are such classics, but they really are that good.

>He's not the greatest. That would be Joyce.
Kek.

Veeky Forums never ceases to amuse

Truly. It's amusing to see your lack of argument.

Why thank you. Likewise.

Good day. Idiot.

Same to you. Assclown.

Shakes would be proud see this.

You know what, let me indulge this. Before Joyce, no writer had ever gone to the lengths he did to document the ways in which we think. Joyce painstakingly mapped out our reflections from his own conscious experience and filtered it through the lens of a story rife and overflowing with allusions, figurative language, and experimentation. He was a master of prosody and puns and learned in the entire evolution of the English language. He was a scholar of history, both in the world and of his native Ireland, and he was an encylopaedia book brimming with knowledge of languages, of literature, of philosophy, somehow managing to formulate this into one of the greatest novels of modernist fiction.