Which Shakespeare Plays Do Students Read in High School?

I surveyed the students in my upper-division college Shakespeare course to find out which plays they had read in high school.

Most had read Romeo and Juliet (70%) and Hamlet (68%); fewer than half had read Macbeth (39%) or Julius Caesar (36%). Three plays brought up the rear: Othello (31%), A Midsummer Night's Dream (24%), and—surprisingly—The Taming of the Shrew (21%).

The other thirty canonical plays were untouched or had been read by one or two students.

Comments

RLC said…
At Chico Senior High School I read the Shakespeare plays Macbeth and Hamlet. I enjoyed both; however, I found Macbeth to be more interesting.
10/11/11, 10:18 PM
Zoey Wilson said…
in highschool i read julius ceasar, a midsummer nights dream, and taming of the shrew. i found a midsummer nights dream the most enjoyable at that age, but now i find shakespeares war plays to be the best.
11/29/11, 11:46 AM
DW said…
I ready Romeo and Juliet when I attended Windsor High School. I also studied Romeo and Juliet when I was in middle school. However, I feel that middle school wasn't the right age to learn Shakespearean language or understand the true meaning of Shakespeare's stories.
12/4/11, 9:22 PM
Anonymous said…
I did Macbeth, Merchant of Venice and Antony and Cleopatra, my teachers liked to be a little different.
9/18/13, 8:08 AM
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