Tragedy- Macbeth

Macbeth is interesting in the fact that it is one of the few stories of Shakespeare's time in which a woman is the truly dominant character in control of a man. This is most evident in the scene in which LAdy Macbeth convinces Macbeth to murder Duncan. Macbeth is shown as uncertain, and somewhat weak and submissive to the crazy, power hungry whims of his wife. The entire tragic happenings of the play could have been avoided if Macbeth was strong enough in that scene to tell his wife that he would not murder Duncan.
Of all the genres Shakespeare writes, the tragedys are the most easy to predict. That cannot be described any other way but tragic. No matter how much one may pull for a certain character or hope for a happy ending, things never turn out in anything but complete tragedy for everyone. Romeo and Juliet both die. Hamlet dies. Even in the histories, Richard III dies. And of course, Macbeth dies. Shakespeare seems to take tragedy very literally and leaves very little room for title characters to survive his play.
Personally, I did not enjoy Macbeth nearly as much as other Shakespeare that I have read. It doesn't contain any characters that I find relatable or am even able to sympathize with as I am with other plays. I've also heard the story too many times for it to have any real effect when Macbeth meets the witches or sees Banquo's ghost or Macduff slays Macbeth.

Comedy- Midsummer's Night Dream

The entire plot of Midsummer's Night Dream is a convoluted mess that could easily be fixed at numerous times throughout the play. One of those times is the very first scene of the play, in which there are two people in love and a third wheel. Only, instead of allowing the two lovers to be together, the father of the girl insists she marry the third wheel against her will. This scene serves as a foreshadowing to the entire play- nobody takes the easy way out in any of the messes occurring throughout.
Comedies by Shakespeare are very much written to be performed and viewed rather than read. No matter how good the comedies are- and this and others are wonderfully comedic- the full effect cannot be had without viewing all the physical humour as well.
Having seen both Taming of the Shrew and this play performed before, I think I was able to go into reading both with a different perspective that allowed me to enjoy both more. Had I not previously seen the fools scenes in Midsummer or the wedding scene in Taming of the Shrew, I do not think I would have appreciated either nearly as much because of how much visual humour is required to truly bring about the comedy.

History- Richard III

Throughout Shakespeare's Richard III, the title character causes the deaths of many people, including his closest family and friends. These many deaths cultivate in the dream sequence where all the ghosts of those Richard killed come back to haunt him and encourage Richmond. The two men's dreams show the enormity of Richard's wrong doings. The ghosts warnings foreshadow Richard's death and show how much he deserves it after the deaths he caused.
The entire genre of Shakespeare's histories, especially Richard III, is far from actual history. This story in particular may have been scued to make Richard much more horrible than he ever actually was- due in large part to the ruling family at the time of its writing (descendants of Richmond- Richard's eventual killer). Queen Elizabeth's family comes off looking like the heroes of a lifetime through the way Shakespeare portrays Richard and Richmond as well as the other minor characters.

My personal opinion of Richard III and the entire history genre in general is that, despite the untrue aspects it is a very interesting way to learn about key players in history. Even though the actions of Richard, Buckingham, Richmond, and others may not have actually occurred as written, being able to imagine that they were true events since the people were real adds another dimension to the play.