[Shaun]

I studied a bit of Macbeth, The Tempest and Henry V in school/sixth form. I didn't enjoy the Tempest at all - it was too long for me, and whilst the characters were some of his most interesting, the plot never really went anywhere and didn't appeal to me. Henry V obviously has the big speeches and the recent adaptations in its favour but again I never really connected with the work. And I did too little of Macbeth to pretend to know about the play.

However - recently I purchased 3 for £5 in a discount store (The Works) - As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream - and I've loved all three. AYLI is much funnier than the other two, Rosalind's a much better character than the majority of Shakespeare's females, and I found a lot more message that related to me than others. The Merchant of Venice angered me with how hypocritical it would appear under today's context: the continual racism towards the 'Jew', Shylock (not to mention the Moroccan gentlemen who comes to woo Portia who I've forgotten), and the injustice through which they not only stole from Shylock, but had the audacity to enter a bond where the agreement was a pound of flesh were it not paid (warning signs: don't go into these kinds of bonds...) and then convict him as a criminal for it (and then seize his business and possessions). A Midsummer Night's Dream was more amusing, with the error committed by Puck, the ever-changing loves and fantasies, and the parallels with the Gods (Titania and Oberon).

So yeah - those would be my three favourites, but I need to get more really.