Multi-Topic Gateways to a wide variety of information about Shakespeare and his life and times

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet

The fourth edition of an annotated guide to Shakespeare, Elizabethan Drama, and the Renaissance on the Internet.

The Internet Public Library: The Online Literary Criticism Collection: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Provides access to full text essays about Shakespeare.  The essays provide both a general overview of his work and a listing of essays by play.

Shakespeare Online

A truly useful website.  Spend some time here.

Absolute Shakespeare

A very accessible and easy to use starting point for the study of Shakespeare. 

The Shakespeare Resource Center

A very comprehensive site.  Worth a visit.  Very accessible.

All Shakespeare

Some useful information here.  However, some of the information is not free. 

Access to Shakespeare's Complete Works

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (MIT)

Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies.  No Sonnets or Poetry.

The Works of the Bard

A search engine that enables you to search the full text of Shakespeare's works (plays and poetry) for key terms and phrases.

Shakespeare's Complete Works @ Shakespeare Directory

Histories, Comedies, Tragedies, Sonnets, and Poetry.

The IPL Shakespeare Bookshelf

Histories, Comedies, Tragedies, Sonnets, and Poetry.

The Oxford Shakespeare @ Bartelby.com

37 Plays and 154 Sonnets.

The Plays @ Shakespeare Online

37 Plays.

Biographical Information About Shakespeare

A Shakespeare Timeline Summary Chart

The chart detailing the events of Shakespeare's life in outline along with important contemporary events and publications.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Dedicated to preserving Shakespeare's birthplace as a national monument in the United Kingdom.

Shakespeare of Stratford

A thoughtful and well-organized review of Shakespeare's life and those around him.

The Sonnets and Poetry

Shakespeare's Sonnets @ Absolute Shakespeare

The full text of Shakespeare's 154 Sonnets.

Shakespeare's Sonnets @ Shakespeare Directory

The full text of Shakespeare's 154 Sonnets

Shakespeare's Sonnets and Poetry @ Bartelby.com

Its all here.

Shakespeare's work reflected in Art

Shakespeare Illustrated

Explores nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare's plays and their influences on one another.

The Globe and other Theatres of Shakespeare's Day

Shakespeare's Theatres

A comparison of 11 locations where Shakespeare performed his works.  Kelly, this site should start you in the right direction.

Essays on Shakespeare's Theatres

Approximately 20 full-text essays on various topics surrounding the theatres.

   
   

Shakespeare's Globe Research Database

A guide to both the original and the new Globe Theatre's

The Architecture of the Globe Theatre

A brief discussion, with photographs, of the architecture of the Globe Theatre.  The "Theatre" link provides a nice list of various theatres around the world, enabling comparisons among buildings.  The parent website of this link, The Great Buildings Collection, contains over eight hundred descriptions of buildings around the world.

The Globe Theatre: A Virtual Tour

Pictures of the exterior, entrance, and stage of the restored Globe, with text to guide you through your virtual tour.

VR Globe Theatre

A virtual reality tour of the Globe Theatre provided by Clemson University.

The Rose Theatre Home Exhibition

A thoughtful look at a theatre that housed plays by Kyd, Jonson, Shakespeare and Marlowe

General Architecture

   

The Renaissance: Architecture

4 links to sites examining the architecture of Shakespeare's day.

Britain Express

An overview of English Architecture by time period directed at people visiting England as tourists.

Raw and Bawdy Elizabethan Humor, both Old and New

Random Elizabethan Curse Generator

Curse your friends Elizabethan-style.

Shakespearean Insult Server

Curse your friends Shakespeare-style.

The Reduced Shakespeare Company

Humorously abbreviated versions of Shakespeare's works.

RhymeZone Shakespeare

Search all of Shakespeare's works in a wide variety of ways.  An interesting way to explore the plays and poems.

Elizabethan England and The Renaissance

The Renaissance

An overview of the intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe between the 14th and 16th Centuries, a period of time also known as the Renaissance.

   

Medieval/Renaissance Food Homepage

Learn about Shakespeare's Food.

St. Ives Historical Society

Essays about life during in Elizabethan England intended for use by a club

Elizabethan England

A brief overview of life in Elizabethan England.

Elizabethan Costumes, Fashion, and Makeup

Elizabethan Costuming Page

The site to begin a study of Elizabethan Clothing.  Simply Amazing.

Middle Class and Noble Men's Garments

A brief essay examining this subject.  A link on the Elizabethan Costuming Page. 

Elizabethan Makeup 101

An interesting look at the cosmetics used during the Elizabethan era.

Science During the Renaissance

The Art of Renaissance Science

A huge site devoted to every aspect of Renaissance science, particularly Galileo. Lots of beautiful pictures also

Alchemy

A fascinating and in-depth look at the forerunner of modern chemistry.

The Medieval Science Page

A nice list of links providing access to resources examining how people understood nature in the centuries leading up to Shakespeare's day.

Elizabethan Martial Arts and Self-Defense

Elizabethan Fencing and the Art of Defense

An interesting look at swordplay.  Be sure to look at the translated training manuals.

The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA)

THE LEADING RESOURCE FOR HISTORICAL FENCING AND MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE FENCING.  Many links. 

Essays and Full-Text Articles About Shakespeare's Work

Shakespeare's Sources

Where did Shakespeare get the inspiration for his works?  Find out in these short essays.

Shakespeare Essays

19 essays on Shakespeare's works written by noted scholars down through the ages.

Shakespeare: Individual Plays

A series of full-text essays organized by Play.

Illinois Shakespeare Festival Research Articles

Full text articles and scholarly critiques on production approaches to Shakespeare's works.

The Utah Shakespearean Festival: The Plays

Provides access to critical commentary on each play.  Once you arrive at the site, click on the play you want to study.  After arriving at the play, click on "More" and you will see the drop down menu of other essay choices.

Shakespeare and His Critics

11 full-text essays on Shakespeare's work.

Shakespeare: Criticism

An impressive list of links providing access to journals, collections of articles, and individual articles indexed by play.  Most of the essays are apparently full-text.

Materials for the Construction of Shakespeare's Morals: The Stoic Legacy to the Renaissance

"Major Ethical Authorities, Indexed According to Virtues, Vices, and  Characters from the Plays, as well as Topics in Swift, Pope, and Wordsworth."

The Authorship Controversy

A Beginner's Guide to the Shakespeare Authorship Problem

This site provides a good introduction to this controversy.  Thomas this site should get you on the right track.

The Shakespeare Authorship Page

"Dedicated to the Proposition that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare."

The Shakespeare Authorship Debate

A quick overview of the debate and its principal players.

An Authorship Analysis: Francis Bacon As Shake-speare

A extensive commentary by Paul Dupuy about the authorship controversy.  The essay contains much biographical information and photographs.

Shakespeare Oxford Society Homepage

The purpose of the Society is to document and establish Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), as the universally recognized author of the works of William Shakespeare.  The society also publishes Ever Reader, which contains many articles,  conference papers and news imparting a wide range of corroborating information and commentary.

Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning

This site argues and provides evidence that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's works.

The Shakespeare Mystery: Who, in fact, was he? (Frontline/PBS)

A useful overview of the debate.

Study Guides

Shakespeare 101: A Student Guide

A brief guide to studying Shakespeare.  The guide gives useful help in reading and understanding the plays and poetry.

Shakespeare Essay Topics

An extremely useful list suggested essay topics.  The topics are indexed by play, so each list of 10 or so suggested topics  is focused on issues pertaining to a particular play.  If you are having trouble with your research project, then this site may get you back on track.  The suggested topics may even help you understand the major issues in a particular play and how those issues relate to your chosen research topic.  Sooner or later, everyone should take a look at this site.

On-Line Magazines

The Ever Reader

The Ever Reader features a sampling of news, articles and essays drawn from recent issues of the Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter, past materials published by the Society or its predecessors, and new material written exclusively for first publication on the Net.

The Shakespeare Bulletin

Primarily an advertisement for readers to purchase subscriptions to the magazine.  Most of the articles are not full-text.  A small few are accessible.

Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate

Some 70 contributions on Shakespeare have appeared in the first nine volumes of Connotations (1991-2000). This is a complete list; highlighted articles and responses are freely available online.

Shakespeare and Anti-Semitism

Shakespeare and Anti-Semitism: The Question of Shylock

"This page is designed as an introductory resource for anyone who is interested in the nature of Elizabethan anti-Semitism: both in its historical context and, in particular, how it is reflected and embodied in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice."  

 

Source: Mrs. Julie Norris

Return to EHS Home Page