Shakespeare Rated

 Michael Billington ranks Shakespeare's plays in order of merit. These lists are great fun if only to prompt disagreement. He puts The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the bottom and Henry IV parts one and two at the top. Second to last is Cymbeline and the runner-up to Henry IV is Twelth Night. He places Hamlet at number three with Macbeth rated just above King Lear. Coriolanus is the best of the Roman plays and he likes The Winter's Tale a good deal better than The Tempest.

Not much to quarrel with there. I've never read or seen The Two Gentlemen so I don't have an opinion on it but I'd put Cymbeline- which fascinates me- a little higher. As for the top spot, I'd give it to Hamlet....

The complete list can be found in today's Guardian.