If ever you are asked to read Shakespeare, it is very likely that the person who told you to must be your professor in English literature and that the task is something that is part of your course requirements. This is because if you really want to appreciate the works of William Shakespeare, you should not just read his works; you have to see it being performed. Shakespeare, after all, was not a novelist or a short storywriter. He was a playwright and, because of this, it is quite obvious that what he wrote was often in the form of a script.
This is where audio books have an edge. I much prefer to read, or listen as it actually is, Shakespeare in the form of an audio book rather than in a traditional book format. The logic is actually quite simple. When you read a book, the process begins by understanding the script and imagining the characters as they try to express the lines according to the appropriate emotion. Obviously, this is quite a task because you have to make your imaginations really work very well, something that a stage director would also do. But you are not a stage director; you only want to enjoy Shakespeare without having to think too hard.
The Shakespeare audio book definitely unburdens you of such a task. Instead of reading, you listen. And when you listen to the narration and to the characters of the play, you would surely get to understand more the story and appreciate the valuable messages of which all Shakespearean plays are famous for. Imagining what you are reading takes a lot of effort. When you listen to an audio book, however, you could simply close your eyes and add faces or people to the voices that that you hear. Indeed imagining that way is much simpler and yet more effective.
Shakespeare is basically like poetry as discussed here. You would hardly be able to understand what it means unless you hear it verbalized complemented with the right display or expression of emotions. This is precisely the reason why it pays to use audio books to appreciate the works of the great bard. Fortunately, there have been audio books made for most of best plays written by Shakespeare. You just have to make sure that the audio book that you get could really make you enjoy the story. This would not be difficult to realize if you just learn about the best sources of audio books on the internet. The internet actually has quite many sources; some of these may even allow you to download free of charge. Just make sure that the sources you find are really very credible; ones that can guarantee satisfaction.