Guides: Shakespeare Studies: General Research Guide: Web Resources

Lewis Francois Roubiliac Working on Statue of William Shakespeare

The print shows Louis Francois Roubiliac working on a statue of William Shakespeare.

Object Type: Print

Materials: Paper

Techniques: Mezzotint

Production Person: After Adrien Carpentiers, Print made by David Martin

Date: 1765

Illustrations to Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra

The print shows Enobarbus and Thyreus from Antony and Cleopatra (Act 3, Scene 9).

Object Type: Print and Book-illustration

Materials: Paper

Techniques: Etching

Production Person: Print made by Kenny Meadows, Published by William S Orr & Co

Date: 1845

Criticism

This section includes websites with criticism of Shakespeare as well as quotations and indirect references of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.

Criticism Early Editors of Shakespeare
Criticism Early Editors of Shakespeare is part of Sh:in:E - Shakespeare in Europe website; the University of Basel in Switzerland maintains this website. This page focuses on criticism and the early editors of William Shakespeare's works.
HyperHamlet
HyperHamlet allows you to "search four centuries of Hamlet quotations in context" (home page for HyperHamlet Database). The quotations included are from various authors, attached to the lines they refer to or sorted by the characters and scenes they mention, and indirect references.

Information and Articles, Essays, Reviews, Study Guides, etc. on Shakespeare's Works

Absolute Shakespeare
Absolute Shakespeare has the full text of Shakespeare's plays and poems as well as summaries about the works, pictures, a list of films, essays, study guides, and much more.
Articles on Shakespeare at Converse the Literature Website
Converse The Literature Website has the following articles on Shakespeare: Directors in Conversation, Post-colonial Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Comedy, Taming the Tamer, Shakespeare's School, Shakespeare in Production, and Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare and Love.
Encyclopedia Britannica's Shakespeare and The Globe: Then and Now
Encyclopedia Britannica's Shakespeare and The Globe: Then and Now contains categories such as The Bard, The Plays, Elizabethan World, Elizabethan Actors on Writers, Elizabethan Theatre, Special Essays, Filmography, Shakespeare Scholars, and Multimedia (audio and video).
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The Special Essays section includes Shakespeare and the Liberties, Music in Shakespeare's Plays, Shakespeare on Theatre, Shakespeare and Opera, and Shakespeare on Film
Hamlet Works
Hamlet Works provides a vast amount of research relating to Hamlet for students and serious scholars. The website includes digital facsimiles of important editions and commissioned essays about the play. Hamlet Works provides links to Shakespeare websites and Hamlet focused websites.
Internet Shakespeare Editions
The Department of English at the University of Victoria maintains Internet Shakespeare Editions which organizes all of the Shakespeare information in categories such as Plays & Poems, Life & Times, Performance, and Resources.
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The Library section includes published works which have been reviewed by scholars, edited plays and poems, and peer-reviewed critical and reference materials.

The Theater section contains a database of performance records which is updated regularly.

The website also has audio files; video files will be coming soon.
PlayShakespeare.com
PlayShakespeare.com has information about Shakespeare's plays, his life, and reviews (theatre book, film, and DVD).
Shake Sphere - A Comprehensive Study Guide for the World of William Shakespeare
Michael J. Cummings maintains Shake Sphere (Formerly Known as The Complete Shakespeare) which includes plot summaries and criticism of his plays, analysis and discussions on his sonnets and poems, glossaries, websites with full text, essays and articles, study guides to the plays and poems, and a list of DVD versions of Shakespeare's plays.
Shakespeare at enotes
Experts in the fields prepare all of the study guides and other information relating to Shakespeare found on enotes. This website focuses on quality information for students, teachers, and researchers.
Shakespeare Online
Amanda Mabillard maintains Shakespeare Online which includes the full text of Shakespeare's works, articles discussing Shakespeare's works, information about his life, book reviews on books relating to Shakespeare, and sources for Shakespeare' works.
Shakespeare Resource Center
J. M. Pressley created and maintains Shakespeare Resource Center which lists websites relating to William Shakespeare and has a searchable glossary. He organizes information in categories such as Shakespeare's Language, Shakespeare's Will, Authorship Debate, The Globe Theatre, and Elizabethan England.
Voice of the Shuttle: William Shakespeare
Voice of the Shuttle has a page dedicated to William Shakespeare; links are arranged in categories such as general resources, the authorship issue, criticism, organizations & programs, and visual resources. The visual resources category contains links to images.

Renaissance and Elizabethan Period

The Renaissance and Elizabethan Period Section contains background information for understanding Shakespeare and his works.

Luminarium 16th Century Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603)
Luminarium 16th Century Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603) provides information about the time period and provides links to authors in the time period which lead outside of the Luminarium website.
Renaissance: The Elizabethan World
Renaissance, The Elizabethan World lists useful websites providing information regarding the history, people, maps, costume, literature, drama, music, and exploration of the Renaissance and Elizabethan Era.

Evaluating Web Resources

Since anyone can put anything on the web, you will need to evaluate what is high quality information and what is not.

The following guides can assist you in evaluating web resources:

Translations

Translations of Shakespeare's Works
Sh:in:E - Shakespeare in Europe has a page showing the various translations and languages of Shakespeare's works from 1604 to 1995. The English Department at the University of Basel in Switzerland maintains this website.

Authorship Debate

The Shakespeare Authorship Page
David Kathman and Terry Ross maintain The Shakespeare Authorship Page which provides information on William Shakespeare as the author of his plays and poems.
Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable
Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable provides the case that William Shakespeare is not the author of his plays and poems but that other individuals are the authors of these plays and poems.