#The Tetralogy I knew the history vaguely but Shakespeare's take has been so influential in our reading of the period

[the-busy-ghost]

Will be interesting to be going into some of Shakespeare’s plays with more knowledge of the earlier versions of these tales than the plays themselves

#Troilus and Cressida and King Lear notably #Yes I know it's terrible I haven't read the Shakespeare plays #But eh I'm trying now #I suppose I always thought I would SEE them which is how a play should be consumed #But still #King Lear I have not read but I know Geoffrey of Monmouth's story pretty well #I have read both Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and Henryson's the Testament of Cresseid #So I am coming to Shakespeare for a THIRD take on that story which is cool #Not such an issue with the history plays because of course lots of people know the history first #But with the mythological ones I think it will be interesting to compare and contrast #Especially since for me Shakespeare is not my introduction to these tales #So might be more like the perspective of some of his audiences #Romeo and Juliet I have suffered through so many versions of it has ruined the play a bit for me #Macbeth I love and it only gets better the more I happen across similar tellings in Wyntoun or whoever #Much Ado About Nothing was completely new to me but Great #The Tetralogy I knew the history vaguely but Shakespeare's take has been so influential in our reading of the period #That it's a fascinating collection of plays as well as being good reading #Like his characterisation of Hotspur and Henry V has been so influential on the historical analysis of those figures it's really cool