Mr William Shakespeare and the internet

This site aims to pull together the best of the mass of scholarly Shakespearean material available on the internet; a colossal task, but Terry Gray has succeeded in constructing an invaluable site for both academics and enthusiasts. The site includes material that Terry has put together himself, such as a Timeline supported by a family tree and a summary, but it's primarily an annotated directory to the best sites on the web for Shakespeare studies. Attractively presented, the site is easy to use with a navigation bar to the left of the screen highlighting the various categories of information available on the site, ranging from Shakespeare's Life and Times, to information on his Sources. It's well worth reading both the Introduction and the introductory paragraph at the top of each category page which clearly describes the pages contents and gives a quick guide to where to find what. There's a good deal of cross-referencing between pages to help you find what you want. A visit to What's News from the top of the home page indicates the high degree of updating and maintenance at this exhaustive site. All links are accompanied by brief but informed comments on the site's contents.


SPECIAL FEATURES

Life and Times brings together biographical sites including those that deal with the controversial question as to whether Shakespeare was the author of the plays we know him for.

Works provides an index to the many editions of Shakespeare's plays and poetry published on the internet including Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.


Theatre offers links to sites which deal with the aspects of Shakespearean theatre such as swordplay, costume and music as well as links to London's reconstructed Globe theatre website and other sites throughout the world concerned with the authentic reproduction of Shakespeare's theatre.

Renaissance deals with the historical background of the period and includes links to sites on Shakespeare's contemporaries such as Francis Bacon, John Donne and Edmund Spenser.

Sources provides an index of sites for the Bible, the Classics and Medieval literature, all of which influenced Shakespeare's writing together with links to other sources of historical information helpful in studying his work.

Educational houses links to teaching aids and materials on the internet, designed to be used either online or in the classroom.

Best Sites is made up of the sites rated by Terry Gray as the best on the web and is well worth a visit for a quick, reliable summary of what's available. Its directory mirrors the left-hand navigation bar.

"Other Sites" is headed "sites your mother should have warned you about". Worth visiting for some light relief.