What plays of Shakespeare are to be recommended for school use, and in what order should they be taken up? These are questions often addressed to me by teachers, and I will attempt to answer them briefly here.

Of the thirty-seven (or thirty-eight if we include the Two Noble Kinsmen) plays in the standard editions of Shakespeare, twenty at least are suitable for use in "mixed" schools. Among the "comedies" are The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer-Night's Dream, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, and The Taming of the Shrew; among the "tragedies," Macbeth, Hamlet, Lear, and Romeo and Juliet; and among the historical plays, Julius CÆsar, Coriolanus, King John, Richard II., Henry IV. Part I., Henry V., Richard III., and Henry VIII.

Certain plays, like Cymbeline, Othello, and Antony and Cleopatra, are not, in my opinion, to be commended for "mixed" schools or classes, but may be used in others at the discretion of the teacher.

If but one play is read, my own choice would be The Merchant of Venice; except for classical schools, where Julius CÆsar is to be preferred. All the leading colleges now require one or more plays of Shakespeare as part of the preparation in English, and Julius CÆsar is almost invariably included for every year.

If two plays can be read, the Merchant and Julius CÆsar may be commended; or either of these with As You Like It, or with Macbeth, if a tragedy is desired. Macbeth is the shortest of the great tragedies (only a trifle more than half the length of Hamlet, for instance), and seems to me unquestionably the best for an ordinary school course.

For a selection of three plays, we may take the Merchant (or Julius CÆsar), As You Like It (or Twelfth Night or Much Ado—the other two of the trio of "Sunny or Sweet-Time Comedies," as Furnivall calls them), and Macbeth. An English historical play (King John, Richard II., Henry IV. Part I., or Henry V.) may be substituted for the comedy, if preferred; and Hamlet for Macbeth, if time permits and the teacher chooses. As I have said, Hamlet is about twice as long as Macbeth, and should have at least treble the time devoted to it.

If a fourth play is wanted, add The Tempest to the list. Macbeth and The Tempest together (4061 lines, as given in the "Globe" edition) are but little longer than Hamlet (3929 lines), and can be read in less time than the latter.

For a fifth play, Hamlet, Lear, or Coriolanus may be taken; or, if a shorter and lighter play is preferred, the Midsummer-Night's Dream. In a course of five plays, I should myself put this first, as a specimen of the dramatist's early work. For a course of five plays arranged with special reference to the illustration of Shakespeare's career as a writer, the following may be commended: A Midsummer-Night's Dream (early comedy); Richard II., Henry IV. Part I., or Henry V. (English historical period); As You Like It, Twelfth Night, or Much Ado (later comedy); Macbeth, Hamlet, or Lear (period of the great tragedies); and The Tempest or The Winter's Tale (the latest plays, or "romances," as Dowden aptly terms them).

For a series of six plays, following this chronological order, instead of one English historical play take two: Richard III., Richard II., or King John (earlier history, 1593–1595), and Henry IV. Part I., or Henry V. (later history, or "history and comedy united," 1597–1599).

Richard III. is a favorite with many teachers in a course of three or four plays; but, for myself, I should never take it up unless in a course of six or more, and only as an example of Shakespeare's earliest work—not later than 1593. As OechelhÄuser says, "Richard III. is the significant boundary-stone which separates the works of Shakespeare's youth from the immortal works of the period of his fuller splendor." As such it has a certain historical interest to the student of his literary career; but this seems to me its only claim to attention. I am not disposed, however, to quarrel with those who think otherwise.

To return to our courses of reading: for a series of seven plays I would insert in the above chronological list either Romeo and Juliet (early tragedy) before "early history," or the Merchant (middle comedy) after "early history"; and for a series of eight plays I would include both these.

Henry VIII. can be added to any of the longer series as a very late play, of which Shakespeare wrote only a part, and which was completed by Fletcher. The Taming of the Shrew may be mentioned incidentally as an earlier play that is interesting as being Shakespeare's only in part.

In closing, let me commend the Sonnets as well adapted to give variety to any extended course in Shakespeare. They are not known to teachers, or to cultivated people generally, as they should be. In my own experience as a teacher, I have found that young people always get interested in these poems, if their attention is once called to them. I once gave one of my classes an informal talk on the Sonnets, merely to fill an hour for which there was no regular work, owing to an unexpected delay in getting copies of the play we were about to begin. Some months afterwards, when I asked the class what play they would select for our next reading if the choice were left to them, several of the girls asked if we could not take up the Sonnets, and the request was endorsed by a large majority. We gave about the same time to them as to a play, and I have never had a more enjoyable or, so far as I could judge, a more profitable series of lessons with a class.

W. J. Rolfe.

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