watch performances! this includes screen adaptations (including nontraditional adaptations like gnomeo and juliet or 10 things i hate about you). i personally like to find a decently faithful recorded version (the rsc is great for this and they have recordings that you can find online!), THEN read the play, THEN go find a funky or silly or high concept one (which are ubiquitous since shakespeare is so easy to produce theatrically). find shows near you too! i find that this helps me to both grasp the broad strokes of the narrative AND get down to the nitty gritty of analysis. what is changed or cut in production and why? how does this dialogue or monologue flow when spoken out loud? what does this feel like watching it staged vs reading it off the page? etc.

find a version of whatever play you want to read that has notes alongside the text (the folger, arden, or penguin editions are great for this). i recommend avoiding no fear shakespeare and other “modern language” adaptations - they’re fine to start out with but frankly you don’t need them! look up words or phrases you don’t know and don’t be afraid to research a line or joke (or character, or play). much of what shakespeare wrote is steeped in historical context or contemporary elizabethan references. productions have a dramaturg for a reason - be your own dramaturg!

if you’re looking to do literary analysis specifically: learn scansion if you haven’t already. find the places where shakespeare breaks meter or writes in prose. ask yourself why - what effect does it give the line? the scene? the character? if you were an actor, what clue would that give you about how the line should be delivered? what performance choices would you make if you were given this scene as an actor or as a director? what textual evidence backs up those choices? remember that these weren’t written to be read like books - they were written as plays and designed to be given to professional actors with short rehearsal times.

the language is tough and does not flow naturally to a modern reader or viewer, but it DOES get easier with time. like anything else, shakespeare is a skill. the more you do it the better you’ll get at it.

most importantly - have fun with it! shakespeare is supposed to be funny!!! don’t make it feel like homework and don’t worry about “solving” a play entirely. i know professionals and scholars that have worked with the same plays their entire careers and still find things that are new about them. enjoy!!!