Shakespeare page

When I first opened this site I truly hoped a site with such an amusing image (Hamlet contemplating a mouse) would be a good site. But it is really a skeleton of a site and has not been updated in two nearly three years.

Sonnets at UVIC (engl.uvic.ca/Faculty/MBHomepage/ISShakespeare/soncourse/sontoc.html) - no longer valid

This is a wonderful page for Shakespeare’s sonnets. It contains most of the sonnets themselves. The best part is a line by line analysis of the sonnets and other useful information and links to other good sites.

This site is a great resource for learning about the life and times of Shakespeare. The site is loaded with facts, trivia and timelines. For those of us not fortunate to have seen the Globe Theatre there are galleries of pictures included on this site. In addition to biographical information, this site has a section for his sonnets, as well as his plays. Also, there are some historical areas on this site that tell you what was going on during the time Shakespeare survived.

Information all categorized by genre (biography, sonnets, plays, poems, etc), and each genre is sub-categorized (comedy, tragedy, etc.). If you know what you're looking for, or just want to find some interesting facts, this site is very useful.

--Jenny Allen

This site is great because it has all the plays, poems and sonnets on it that you can read online in full. There are also summaries, facts and a biography about Shakespeare.

--Janelle Allen

This site was the best of the three I visited. It has absolutely everything listed on the site; the different works, pictures, facts about Shakespeare, all of the famous quotes, and much more. The summaries of all the works will be helpful as we begin our readings of each play.

--Lisa Dillman

This website is called Absolute Shakespeare, and it is absolutely boring. I guess if you're just looking for the cold hard facts on Shakespeare this is a good site, because it does contain a goodly amount of information on his life, his works, and the Globe Theatre. It is lacking in the visual department, but all-in-all it seems like a reliable source.

--Lindsay Ruhr

This website, much like the first one, has similar ideas and a similar set-up, however; I found this one to be slightly more basic. This website does however include tidbits on the marvelous Globe Theatre. (enjoyed by me personally this past May)

--Kristen Guthrie

This site is very straightforward. Without much fuss at all, goes straight into listing the sections that can be linked to from the home page. Present are links such as "Plays," "Sonnets," "Pictures," " Quotes," et cetera are laid out for web-walkers to accommodate quick searching. Out of curiosity, I took a look at the "Pictures" link. I had never read the poem that went along with the engraving in the First Folio. I found that especially interesting.

--Jacob Reilly

Shakespeare Resource Center

This is a good site because it has synopses of all 38 plays. There are also pages that deal with the language, the Globe, Elizabethan England and a biography of Shakespeare himself.

--Janelle Allen

Wow! This site has Shakespeare facts out the wazoozie. It is the called the Shakespeare resource center, which is the perfect title for it, being that it has a plethora of information not only on his life, but also on all of his works and even Elizabethan England. Two thumbs up.

--Lindsay Ruhr

Again, very similar to the other websites. I enjoy this website because it gives "Will's quote o' the day." This website is more of a complete collection of Shakespeare websites placed into categories that are best suiting for the topic at hand. My favorite part of this website is the comment that there is enough information to understand what's going on but not enough to pass a test without actually reading the play. :)

--Kristen Guthrie

In association with Amazon.com and The History Channel, this site is known as “The Shakespeare Resource Center.” It contains loads of biographical information as well as play synopses that have “just enough information to help understand what’s going on, but not enough information to pass a test without having actually read that play.” This site also has links to other scholarly sites. I definitely recommend this one.

--Sarah Dalton

William Shakespeare at eNotes

I thought this site was going to be good but I was started looking around I realized that you need to have a membership to the site to access anything on the site expect for the beginning of everything. If it was a free membership that would be ok, but it isn’t free.

--Janelle Allen

At first glance, this site seems to have an extensive database covering topics from Shakespeare’s life and times, study guides, translations, and informative background for the plays. However, upon closer inspection, full access of this database can only be obtained through purchase of the content. This site is a blatant waste of time, and appears to be a cleverly constructed sales pitch.

--Katie Hildebrandt

Obviously, the “.com” means you have to buy something to get any information on this site! It would be really awesome to have access to all this material--- essays, criticism, study guides--- but everything has a price it seems. Maybe someone could use this site, but only if every other Shakespeare website that’s free offered only dead ends.

--Tina Hoeffner

This was the first site I visited because I just typed in the address, assuming that there must be such an address, to see where it would take me. It took me to a horrible site that I do not recommend. At first glance, it looks like a decent site with plenty of links to Shakespeare texts, biographical info., etc. However, for access the resources you must pay as much as $49.99. Do not use this site unless you’ve got money to burn.

--Sarah Dalton

Shakespeare Online

This is an excellent site for one's every need when researching or studying Shakespeare. The site is updated regularly. The last update when I was on it was only 2 days old. The information is clearly organized by topics on a side bar. There are links to just about everything possible. Most of the material is written by the site's creator, but for subjects she has yet to write about there are links to other sites with the information. Just some of the things this site includes are: plays and poems in their entirety online, scholarly essays about Shakespeare and his works, elaborate play notes, Shakespeare's biography, and a list of informative books.

--Joie Bucalo

This website is very thorough regarding information on both Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s works. Shakespeare Online gives various analyses of his plays, sonnets, and other works, a quiz to test one’s knowledge of Shakespeare, and other useful tools one can utilize for the optimal Shakespeare experience.

--Lynz McCaulley

There is some good information on this site pertaining to analyses of the works. The information contained here is still not as comprehensive as the first one listed, but it would make a good second choice.

--Lisa Dillman

This website has a vast collection of Shakespeare’s works, both poems and plays, but is very limited in the analysis section of the web page. It is comprehensive in its general information but is lacking in depth information. There is a small section on the Shakespearian scholars, there this section more names them then actually going into depth about them. Overall I think it is a great source for basic information about the works but I would not recommend it for any one needing much in-depth information.

--Jessica Dinius

This website is probably the most complex of ones I have seen. It gives explanations for themes, dates, plots, etc. It also includes all of Shakespeare's plays and poems as well as a biography of Shakes himself. It goes in depth with an area including quizzes, fast facts, and specific information on specified topics to help one gain better knowledge of Shakespeare and his works.

--Kristen Guthrie

This site seems a bit more "frilly" than the other too and takes a more flamboyant approach to the subject. It's a little more complicated in it's layout and the information seems a little more opinionated than factual. Not too crazy about this one.

--Jacob Reilly

Wikipedia: William Shakespeare

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. The site had a fairly elaborate biography of Shakespeare. Also, many of the dates, plays, places, and vocabulary were in link format so one could find more information about each category on Wikipedia. If one was taking a historical view at Shakespeare and his writings this would be a good site to launch a search.

--Joie Bucalo

The Free Library by Farlex: William Shakespeare

This site includes a brief biography of William Shakespeare as the main text. On the sidebar there are links to several of his plays in e-text form. At the bottom of this site are famous Shakespeare quotes and links to suggested Shakespeare sites. I feel this site is designed for a shallow research purpose. For beginning Shakespeare scholars this site may be helpful, but for in-depth research this site isn't particular enough.

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

This website contains a detailed biography of Shakespeare (in timeline format) including speculation about how his life experiences influenced his work. The webmaster has apparently taken some time and consideration to add several links to other resources. For example, there are several links dedicated to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, Renaissance dancing, fencing, Elizabethan pronunciations, and informative costume resources. The resources provided on this well-constructed website may prove to be very helpful for understanding Shakespeare’s work as well as his age.

“Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet” is a website with links to the best scholarly pages the author has found. There are links for nearly every topic and is extremely well organized. There is a “‘other’ sites” section contains a link even for a Star Wars: Macbeth site. Most are silly and seem highly amusing! Over all a well balanced site of fun and scholastic information

This website, although semi-amusing, has pilgrim-esque (if I man make a word) icons on every page. Personally, I find this distressing. Another thing about this site, is half of it is nothing but links. Which although colorful; also leads to navigational complications.

This is a great site that includes in depth information of its own as well as links to other scholarly sites. Its goals, as stated in the introduction of the site, are “to be a complete annotated guide to the scholarly Shakespeare resources available on Internet” and “to present new Shakespeare material unavailable elsewhere.” The site fulfills its goals and also provides interactive opportunities for students by including quizzes. Its authenticity is backed by numerous awards and other recognitions.

This site is fantastic! Not only does it provide a detailed timeline of the life and career of Shakespeare, but it provides (in HTML format) a catalogued presentation of the contents of the First Folio. Also has a nice list of Shakespeare Festivals.

This is primarily a Shakespeare study-guide, with links to some Shakespeare journals and resources covering a wide range of topics (from criticisms to the authorship debate). Though the scope of the information is quite broad, it fails to provide in-depth analysis or original insights.

The Folger Institute, according to their website, was established for the sole purpose of expanding the study and research in the humanities field. According to the “About Us” page, the Folger Shakespeare Library takes pride in being “home to the world’s largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials. . . .” The page layout seems a bit difficult to use at first, but a few clicks will get you accustomed to the functions of each button and link. All in all, the Folger Shakespeare Library is a useful web-based resource.

Initially, this website caught my eye by its title alone. After browsing the site, I found all of the artwork related to the various works of Shakespeare helpful in that it aids in the visualization process that is required to truly understand Shakespeare’s work. After all, what good is the play if you cannot visualize and understand the meat of it? I recommend this website for visual help for both research and basic understanding.

This useful site contains a biography of Shakespeare, an outline of the plays within his writing periods, and the history of his plays. In addition, it provides summaries of almost all of the plays and famous quotes. This site also explains the influence of his plays on the English language. Although this site can be useful for writing some papers, it would not be very useful for an in-depth, critical paper. However, it has links to other critical sites. Beware of pop-ups!

Lynch Multimedia: Shakespeare (http://www.lynchmultimedia.com/shakespeare.html) - no longer available

This site provides adapted versions of the plays (sound also available). It promised to be a helpful guide for those having trouble with the plays, but only six plays were available, and some of those did not even work. The adapted versions are not good for studying Shakespeare critically at all. However, this site would be useful to you in the future if you are planning to teach English to a lower level class, as it is geared towards teachers and parents.

This is a very straight forward site, it has a rather hefty collection of Shakespeare's works, but lacks any sort of explanation of the writings. I, personally, like a site that tries to explain the more confusing pieces of literature that are available to the reading public.

This site is great if you need to refer to any of Shakespeare's plays.
Shakespeare's comedies, histories, and tragedies are all accessible and divided by scene and act. The only down side to this site is the sonnets and poems are not included on this site.

--Nikki Stewart

This is a semi-informative site. It would probably be useful in a research project exploring the controversy of Shakespeare's "plagiarism", other than that its a history lesson. The fact that it is an actual organization means that I think it is at least slightly trust worthy.

--Mike Simpson

This BBC site provides a host of articles that can easily provide trusted facts to add to research papers. Not every student will need specifics on Shakespeare’s early and late years, nor will overviews of Elizabeth I and the state of England be useful to everyone. The articles are all geared towards informing the general public, not just the intellectual elite and are, therefore, easier to read than some texts I’ve run into in the past. Also, each article includes two side bars; one offers links to the standard platter of BBC divisions, and the other provides a multimedia zone, and internal and external links to related Shakespearean topics.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s educational page is full of information for fans attending the current season’s shows in Stratford as well as the ENG 305 student. The play guides cover a few (but not all) of the works on the syllabus, and offer perspectives on the texts that drive deeper than plot summaries. For instance the Richard III guide looks into the physicality of Richard’s character by referencing multiple plays, a guide to the play on film, and the historical background of the play’s genesis and its subject. The other material on the site focuses on the theatrical instead of the textual aspects of RSC productions, but that material may come in handy as well. Also, the “Shakespeare” tab leads to a few succinct articles on Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Stratford, and London.

Sponsored by the University of Virginia Library, this site provides text for both the 1866 Globe edition of Shakespeare’s works and the First Folio edition. The Globe editions are offered in E-book and Palm Pilot formats, as well as normal web viewing. Also, an option for side-by-side viewing of the Globe and Folio texts allows for easy reference to both editions. The link to Shakespearean Prompt Books of the 17^th century turned out to be a convoluted study of the print in different editions of the each play and doesn’t seem to apply to the direction of our course.

This site is completely biographical. While the biography of Shakespeare is quite informative, there is no access to his plays. The pictures are a nice touch and help you understand the area Shakespeare lived in.

This page is SOOO cool. I came across it preparing for my lecture on Shakespearean editions. You can call up any quarto version of a text and compare it with another! The actual pages, too!