Paideía & Praxís - Cycle 4 Shakespeare

Cycle 4: Shakespeare

Shakespeare plays are meant to be watched! See some suggested family-friendly productions here, and too see all of our Shakespeare resources in one place, see here.

We recommend first starting with quality re-tellings or picture books (when available), particularly in the younger years, to gain context of the stories. Then watch productions or live plays together, whenever possible (even younger ones will pick up much from context and body language). Memorize selected lines or speeches from each play, and when able, act out or do readings together in a group setting. Listening to audio productions (while reading along) is often helpful as well, and in time, they should be able to confidently dive into reading and watching the full plays.

Cycle 4:

[Tragedy] Hamlet or Anthony & Cleopatra

[Comedy] Twelfth Night or Measure for Measure

[History] Julius Caesar or Henry VI, Part 2

Tragedy

Hamlet

[Read]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Coville)
[Forms 3-4] Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays (Leithart), Ch. “The Serpent Now Wears the Crown: Hamlet” [Buy]
Hamlet (Shakespeare) [Buy]

[Listen]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb): Hamlet audio
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit): Hamlet audio
Hamlet Arkangel Audio

[Watch]:

Hamlet Movie (1996 Kenneth Branagh)
Hamlet 1948 Production with Laurence Olivier

[Act]:

Hamlet 30 min. Script

[Recite]:

Hamlet Recitation lines (Menu Sheet)
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare (Ludwig) Recitation Audio Clips: Hamlet: Passage 20-24

Anthony & Cleopatra

[Read]:

Anthony & Cleopatra (Shakespeare) [Buy]

[Listen]:

Anthony & Cleopatra Arkangel Audio

COMEDY

Twelfth Night

[Read]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (Coville) [Buy]
Twelfth Night (Shakespeare) [Buy]

[Listen]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb): Twelfth Night audio
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit): Twelfth Night audio
Twelfth Night Arkangel Audio

[Watch]:

Twelfth Night Movie (1996 Trevor Nunn)
Twelfth Night 2008 Homeschool Youth Production

[Recite]:

Twelfth Night Lines (Menu Sheet)
How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare (Ludwig) Recitation Audio Clips: Twelfth Night: Passages 5-11 & Bonus Passage

[Act]:

Twelfth Night 30 min. Script

Measure for Measure

[Read]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit) [Buy/ Read online/ Librivox]
Measure for Measure (Shakespeare) [Buy]

[Listen]:

Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb): Measure for Measure audio
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbit): Measure for Measure audio
Measure for Measure Arkangel Audio

HISTORY

Julius Caesar

*Technically a Tragedy, but scheduled here

[Read]:

The Young Reader's Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (McKeown) [Buy/ Read online]
[Forms 3-4] Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays (Leithart), Ch. “Alas, Thou Has Misconstru’d Everything: Julius Caesar” [Buy]
Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) [Buy]
The Tyrant (Hicks) [Buy] *this version has Plutarch’s Julius Caesar the first half and Shakespeare’s play in the second half