The Hamlet Home Page
A superb site! Lots of information and ideas, plus the full text of
the play and a scene by scene summary. There's even Prince Charles'
modern cliché parody of To be or not to be. There is also a BBS
with numerous pages devoted to different characters and themes. Well
worth a visit by all Shakespeare fans.
A Short Course on Shakespeare's Hamlet
Based on an 'A' Level course taught by the author Ian Delaney, and therefore very academic. Scene by scene notes and text, questions with model answers, plus documents of use for academic study, such a the original material WS used. There's also a BBS.
Hamlet, The Undiscovered Country
A new book about Hamlet published in electronic form. Readable online are the first two chapters, a timeline and details of the author. The whole book can be downloaded in PDF format. Eventually there'll be a charge, but at the moment it's free!
Macbeth Unplugged
Subtitled "An In-depth Analysis of Macbeth", this is not quite as exhaustive as the name leads you to expect. There's the full text, of course, and a plain text version. there are also pages on the characters (very basic), the theme (again, basic), a glossary and summaries. It is lacking, however: for instance, there was no discussion that I could find about the play's imagery, which seems a startling omission!
Macbeth on the Estate
My own review of the BBC2 production of Macbeth set on Birmingham's
Ladywood Estate.
Birnam Wood on the Net
A pretty extensive site, aimed mainly at students and schoolkids who have to study the play, but there's a fair amount for the general theatregoer too, even details of some productions.
Shakespeare and Anti-Semitism: the Question of Shylock
A site devoted to the study of anti-Semitism in Elizabethan England , especially as it relates to Merchant. It deals with the nature of anti-Semitism, the history of the Jews in England, and provides a textual analysis of the play. One particularly interesting page is the Stage History of Shylock, which gives images of various actors playing Shylock through the ages, plus some comment on their portrayals.
Shylock, the Roman: A Radical Reinterpretation of "The Merchant of Venice"
A site devoted to a book which explores the idea that "Merchant" is built around the Roman idea of honour. There's an introduction and two sample chapters.
The Problem of Shylock
One of my own weekly features: a look at anti-Semitism in "The Merchant
of Venice", with a review of the book "Shylock, the Roman" by Robert
Schneider
The
Merchant of Venice (ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre)
A site about the showing of the RNT's production of The Merchant
of Venice, starring Henry Goodman, on the American TV station
PBS. It's a very comprehensive site, featuring interviews (one with
director Trevor Nunn) and essays (one entitled Shylock and History),
a synopsis, videoclips in QickTime and Real Player formats, a Flash
game (Will's Words), a Who's Who? of the play, a forum and a teacher's
guide which provides a considerable number of useful resources.
The
Sources of Dream
A short paper. Reasonable but a little superficial.
Richard III
This is part of the site belonging to the American branch of the Richard III Society. Entitled Richard III On-stage and Off, it deals with Al Pacino's Looking for Richard, Ian McKellen's film, a 1912 film version, as well as offering the full text (with timeline), articles about the play, other dramatic versions of the Richard III story, and the historic Richard. Particularly interesting is an interview with Sir Ian, which gives a fascinating account of his approach to the making of the film. A must-read page for all Shakespeare lovers!
A Plague O' All Our Houses
This would appear to be a high school student's essay on parallels between "young love" in Shakespeare's Verona and today. The facts are there, but there is little sense of history.
