Shakespeare in Plain English
All 38 plays · Original & Modern English · Free

Choose your play.
Read it two ways.

Shakespeare's original on the left leaf, a clear and genuinely fun modern translation on the right. Line by line, side by side.

Tragedies — everyone dies Comedies — everyone marries Histories — everyone fights over a crown

Tragedies 10 plays

Ambition, jealousy, revenge, and body counts. The red-spine shelf.

No tragedies match that search.

Comedies & Romances 18 plays

Disguises, shipwrecks, love potions, and at least one wedding per ending. The green-spine shelf.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love potions, fairy drama, and a man who becomes a donkey.

Read the complete play

Much Ado About Nothing

Two people who "hate" each other. You've seen the rom-com; this is the original.

Coming soon

Twelfth Night

Shipwreck, disguises, and a love triangle with extra geometry.

Coming soon

As You Like It

Everyone flees to the forest and falls in love. Home of "All the world's a stage."

Coming soon

The Merchant of Venice

A loan with a body part as collateral. What could possibly go wrong?

Read the complete play

The Tempest

A wizard, an island, and a revenge plot that turns into forgiveness.

Coming soon

The Taming of the Shrew

The battle-of-the-sexes comedy that launched four centuries of debate.

Coming soon

The Comedy of Errors

Two sets of identical twins, one city, maximum confusion.

Coming soon

The Winter's Tale

Jealousy, a lost princess, and the greatest stage direction ever: exit, pursued by a bear.

Coming soon

Measure for Measure

A morality crackdown, led by the least moral man in Vienna.

Coming soon

All's Well That Ends Well

She cures a king to win a husband who frankly doesn't deserve her.

Coming soon

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Falstaff tries to seduce two married women. They compare notes.

Coming soon

Love's Labour's Lost

Four men swear off women forever. Four women arrive immediately.

Coming soon

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Best friends, one girl, and Shakespeare's first (and messiest) comedy.

Coming soon

Troilus & Cressida

The Trojan War, with the heroism surgically removed.

Coming soon

Pericles

Shipwrecks, pirates, and riddles — Shakespeare's adventure serial.

Coming soon

Cymbeline

A wager on a wife's faithfulness spirals into wild adventure.

Coming soon

The Two Noble Kinsmen

Cousins and best friends fall for the same woman. Co-written with John Fletcher.

Coming soon

No comedies match that search.

Histories 10 plays

English kings, disputed crowns, and one very large knight named Falstaff. The gold-spine shelf.

No histories match that search.

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