Have you always wanted to read more Shakespeare, maybe to read all of the Bard’s works? But how on earth to get through it all? Resolutions that begin haphazardly end the same way. “Time travels in divers paces with divers persons,” Rosalind tells us in As You Like It. So perhaps you need a plan to keep on track. Here you go—my Shakespeare-in-a-year reading plan, newly updated for 2019. Plays on weekdays, sonnets and other poems on weekends. In about a half hour a day or less, you can read all of Shakespeare’s works in a year. Enjoy!
Matthew J. Franck is associate director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.
Our Most Popular Articles of 2025
It’s been a big year for First Things. Our website was completely redesigned, and stories like the…
Our Year in Film & Television—2025
First Things editors and writers share the most memorable films and TV shows they watched this year.…
Religious Freedom Is the Soul of American Security
In the quiet sanctuary of West Point’s Old Cadet Chapel, a striking mural crowns the apse above…