What’s a classic book that you think is overrated?

As a big Shakespeare nerd, I love all of Shakespeare’s plays, but even I have to admit some of them have been overhyped and over sold. In fact, I basically started my Shakespeare Club because I wanted my students to read more than this one Shakespeare Play. While I love the poetry and the characters, even I acknowledge the flaws of Romeo and Juliet

1. The hype around it- People see this story as the ideal love story, which it definitely is not. Shakespeare isn’t trying to put these lovers on a pedestal, he’s trying to show how hard it is for love to flourish in such a toxic, violent world. The feud between the Capulets and Montegues ruins everything and makes Romeo and Juliet make rash, foolish choices.

1. The creepy age gap- Juliet is only 13 years old in the play. This was a deliberate choice on Shakespeare’s part to make us all wonder if the romance is actually a good idea

1. The ridiculously short timeline- the play only takes place over six days! As I mentioned in an earlier post, this was another deliberate choice by Shakespeare to  make the action more intense.

1. There are better plays- I would argue that plays like Hamlet do a better job capturing the experience of young people, and Julius Caesar has more cultural and historical value. That said, this play has still resonated with people for 400 years so, overhyped or not, it still has value!

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