'Most rare!': Teaching Surplus Shakespeare
As early as middle school, students learn to accept if not revere certain plays among Shakespeare’s works as canonical. Some are so ubiquitously recognizable that people know the plot through pop culture or other means without ever having read the work itself. However, there are a number of plays that are rarely recognized at all, let alone produced, read, or studied. Many history plays, for example, bridge a gap between iconic, climactic battles at Agincourt or Bosworth Field. Coriolanus is recognizably Roman, but Julius Caesar is the perennial favorite. Romeo and Juliet is a popular cultural touchstone, but who knows even the outlines of Cymbeline or Pericles?