I read this play in preparation for the Commonwealth Shakespeare company’s production of it on Boston Common this summer. Ultimately I found it underwhelming; really the first scene is probably the most interesting and worthwhile and interesting. Even the famous storm scene, which seems so full of energy and activity, felt to me like a sort of deus ex machina, as though Shakespeare decided to throw all the characters together into a big box, shake it for a bit, and then see what happened when he opened it up.

I suppose you could read this story as a depiction of the folly of monarchy: the fate of nations teeters on the sanity (or lack thereof) of a small handful of people; lives are lost and so on when those individuals start to go foggy. Or could read this as a treatise on loyalty and treachery. But really, I just found myself pretty well underwhelmed by the narrative, altogether.

(That said: I think reading a play, especially Shakespeare, before seeing it performed, is a great idea, and I’m glad a friend of mine suggested it.)