What's the best Shakespeare play ever written? Round 2 of 'This Be Madness'

To thine own favorite Shakespeare play be true.
 By  MJ Franklin and Aliza Weinberger  on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

To thine own favorite Shakespeare play be true.

It's time for Round 2 of our This Be Madness Shakespeare bracket! In honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on April 23, we're hosting a competition to find the greatest Shakespeare play ever written.


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Each day from April 18 - April 22, we're posting Twitter polls with rounds of matchups for you to vote on until we find our champion.

Round 1 featured some tough choices (we're so sorry, Cymbeline!), but Round 2 gets even trickier. Still, the ultimate winner is anyone's game.





Check out the updated bracket below (click here if you want to see more details about yesterday's poll results), and be sure to vote for who you think should advance to the next round. And as always, tell us why you think your favorite play should win on Twitter with the hashtag #ThisBeMadness.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable


Comedies:

1. Twelfth Night vs. Much Ado About Nothing 

Twelfth Night: Crossdressing and love triangles.

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


2. The Merchant of Venice vs. Taming of the Shrew

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

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


Histories

3. Henry V vs. Richard III

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!

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


4. Richard II vs. Henry IV

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 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!

Tragedies:

5. Romeo and Juliet vs. Othello

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.

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


6. King Lear vs. Anthony and Cleopatra

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

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


Weird Magic Stuff:

7. Hamlet vs. MacBeth

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.

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


8. Julius Caesar vs. Midsummer Night's Dream

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.

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


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Topics Books

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MJ Franklin

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

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