1598

2 books

sort genre era

Henry IV, Part II William Shakespeare
You get a more reflective, melancholy Shakespeare here, with Hal facing the weight of kingship while Falstaff turns swagger and self-pity into something unexpectedly sad. The play moves more slowly than Part I, but its weary humor and sense of a country trying to recover linger.
Love’s Labour’s Lost William Shakespeare
You get Shakespeare at his most verbally playful here, with four men making grand vows to avoid women and immediately tripping over their own love letters. The wit is dense and sometimes showy, but the women’s clear-eyed teasing gives the comedy real bite, and the late change in mood leaves it pleasantly unsettled.

2 books

sort genre era

Henry IV, Part II William Shakespeare
You get a more reflective, melancholy Shakespeare here, with Hal facing the weight of kingship while Falstaff turns swagger and self-pity into something unexpectedly sad. The play moves more slowly than Part I, but its weary humor and sense of a country trying to recover linger.
Love’s Labour’s Lost William Shakespeare
You get Shakespeare at his most verbally playful here, with four men making grand vows to avoid women and immediately tripping over their own love letters. The wit is dense and sometimes showy, but the women’s clear-eyed teasing gives the comedy real bite, and the late change in mood leaves it pleasantly unsettled.