I sit in utter awe of King Lear. Nothing even comes close to it.

>Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear;
>Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
>And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks:
>Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it.

People often cite Hamlet as Shakespeare's best, but I think Lear is unparalleled. I can think of few other works with anywhere near its depth and breadth.

>>24514819
IMO Othello is a serious contender for Shakespeare's greatest, as well as Antony and Cleopatra. I don't know why Hamlet gets all the attention.

>>24514733 (OP)
What does the greentext say? Bro is disheveled?

Not i' the stocks, fool

I can see why people like Lear and Hamlet best but they've never really done it for me. I prefer the campiness of Richard III

>>24514733 (OP)
I go back and forth between Macbeth and Lear as Shakespeare's best, I lean towards Macbeth simply because it's fucking weird but that opening monologue where Edmund pledges his loyalty to nature not man is incredible.

>>24514886
It means that you can bribe the judges with money

>>24514733 (OP)

I just read a particular Shakespeare play for the first time and I'm going to see a performance with my mother shortly. I have made observations on the text and I have a good grip on what's going on, but not all details. Will watch for what, if anything, they cut from the text (a common practice, but this particular play is comparatively quite short). I will not name the play, but it contains more than one instance of a word that is believed to be naughty but technically actually isn't. They'll definitely cut that particular word.

>>24514886
It's cynical, the rich are not affected by justice or judgment no matter their sin, the poor are wounded even the justifications are incredibly weak.

I love how there's a bit of a cursus honorum for Shakespearean leading men throughout their lives:

When they're young, they play Hamlet.
When they're middle-aged, they play Macbeth.
When they're old, they play Lear.

It's quite cool and there's tons of great actors who have completed the circuit, over the centuries.

>[I]t is a very bad, carelessly composed production, which, if it could have been of interest to a certain public at a certain time, can not evoke among us anything but aversion and weariness. Every reader of our time, who is free from the influence of suggestion, will also receive exactly the same impression from all the other extolled dramas of Shakespeare --- Tolstoy on King Lear

>who is free from the influence of suggestion