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What's the best Shakespeare play ever written? Introducing our 'This Be Madness' bracket

This one's for you, Willy Shakes.

By MJ Franklin and Aliza Weinberger on April 18, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend us your ears.

April 23 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death.

To celebrate the Bard and his indelible influence on the world, we're hosting a This Be Madness bracket to determine Shakespeare's greatest play.

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To that end, we've selected 32 of Shakespeare's most iconic works to battle head-to-head for the title of Best Shakespeare Play Ever. The plays are organized into four quadrants based on the four genres of plays Shakespeare commonly wrote: comedies, histories, tragedies and weird magic stuff. (Okay, we may have made up that last category in order to get to four, but you know the type: the plays with ghosts, witches, gods, etc.)

Think of this as March Madness but waaaaaayyyy nerdier.

Which play shall rule them all? Will it be the timeless yet amorously problematic classic Romeo and Juliet? Will a bracket win solve Hamlet's persistent teenage angst and predilection for murder? That's for you to decide.

Each day from April 18 - April 22, we will be posting Twitter polls with rounds of matchups for you to vote on until we find our champion. And be sure to tell us why you think your favorite play should win on Twitter with the hashtag #ThisBeMadness.

Then, on Saturday, April 23, we will reveal the grand winner here on Mashable.

You can vote on our first round below. As Polonius once said: "This be madness, yet there's method in it."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Comedies:

1. Twelfth Night vs. All's Well that Ends Well

Twelfth Night: Crossdressing and love triangles.

Alls Well That Ends Well: Crossdressing and poems nailed to trees.

2. Much Ado About Nothing vs. Measure for Measure

Much Ado About Nothing: Beatrice and Benedick would make a TERRIBLE couple, so their friends conspire to set them up anyway. Romance! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Measure for Measure: Characters swap marriages, virginity and the lives of prisoners like trading cards. And you're supposed to laugh about it.

3. The Merchant of Venice vs. Love's Labour's Lost

The Merchant of Venice: A surprisingly cute rom-com with a side dish of explicit anti-Semitism.

Love's Labour's Lost: An oath to swear off women for three years leads to crossdressing and mistaken identity. Somehow, everything works out in the end.

4. The Taming of the Shrew vs. A Comedy of Errors

The Taming of the Shrew: Who needs feminism? This play. It's basically the opposite of HeForShe.

A Comedy of Errors: Like Sister, Sister but with multiple sets of surprise twins.

Histories:

5. Henry V vs. King John

Henry V: Being the king is cool, because you get to invade France and say the St. Crispin's Day speech (we few, we happy few, we band of brothers!). But everyone knows that when you're gone, things will suck again. Long live the (new) king!

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King John: Being a king is cool, until your mom interferes and you end up dead. Long live the (new) king!

6. Richard III vs. Henry VIII

Richard III: No one likes this king -- he's a murder and in a bad mood. Long live the (new) king!

Henry VIII: Being the king would be cool, if your wife would just give you a son. But you know who's cool? That lady that ISN'T your wife! Let's invent the Church of England!

7. Richard II vs. Henry VI

Richard II: Being the king is cool, until you're really bad at it and you get deposed and murdered. Long live the (new) king!

Henry VI: Being the king is cool, until The War of the Roses happens. Then it gets bloody. Long live the (new) king!

8. Henry IV vs. Pericles, Prince of Tyre

Henry IV: Being the king is cool, except it isn't because you have to fight a ton of wars and your son is best friends with an alcoholic. Long live the (new) king!

Pericles: There's incest and a riddle and a lot of people thinking that other people are dead when they actually aren't.

Tragedies:

9. Romeo and Juliet vs. Timon of Athens

Romeo and Juliet: Pretty much the reason why nobody trusts teenagers. Sadly, the play features far fewer Hawaiian shirts than the Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes movie.

Timon of Athens: A rich man accidentally gives away literally all of his money to his friends because he can't set a budget. But plot twist: he finds more money in a trove and uses it to pay prostitutes to spread venereal disease in Athens. Now you wish you'd read this one, don't you?

10. Othello vs. Troilus and Cressida

Othello: Jealousy kills. Also, racism. Lots and lots of racism.

Troilus and Cressida: The Trojan War, but not the parts you learned in history class.

11. King Lear vs. Titus Andronicus

King Lear: Don't choose a favorite kid, because you'll probably pick wrong and end up dead.

Titus Andronicus: Death begets revenge, which begets more death. And accidental cannibalism. And a more badass woman than Lady MacBeth. But mostly just a lot of death.

12. Coriolanus vs. Anthony and Cleopatra

Coriolanus: The city of Rome didn't break up with me, I broke up with the city of Rome!

Anthony and Cleopatra: The good news: It features a fully fleshed-out female protagonist. The bad news: They all kill themselves.

Weird Magic Stuff:

13. Hamlet vs. Cymbeline

Hamlet: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and it involves ghosts, teenage angst and a very strong Oedipus complex. Just watch Sassy Gay Friend; he had this one spot-on.

Cymbeline: There's a love, jealousy and a failed seduction. Oh, and a scene when a character wakes up next to a headless body.

14. MacBeth vs. The Winter's Tale

MacBeth: Ambition is cool, but sometimes it means your wife convinces you to kill a bunch of people.

The Winter's Tale: The king is an asshole, but you only need to remember this line: "Exit, pursued by a bear."

15. Julius Caesar vs. As You Like It

Julius Caesar: The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves! But mostly it's in all those guys holding knives behind their backs.

As You Like It: "All the world's a stage/ and all the men and women merely players" came from this play. So it's got that going for it.

16. A Midsummer Night's Dream vs. The Tempest

Midsummer Night's Dream: Everyone goes into the woods, everyone falls in love, everyone leaves the woods mysteriously naked.

The Tempest: Sexism, colonialism and MAGIC! What more could you ask for?

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MJ Franklin

MJ Franklin was an Assistant Editor at Mashable and a host of the MashReads Podcast.