Top 3 Online Resources For Shakespeare

Shakespeare is one of most famous known authors in history, but one of the hardest to understand. As time goes on, the Elizabethan language becomes more difficult for students to understand. Below are some of the three best websites to use while reading or writing about Shakespeare. 

1. Sparknotes (sparknotes.com): Sparknotes slogan is “When your books and teachers don't make sense, we do.” For many students, this is the case for Shakespeare. According to UTSA.EDU, high school students will read one play a year At TMJH, the 9th graders read Romeo and Juliet. During this process, Sparknotes is a life saver. For Shakespeare, the website has an entire section dedicated to Shakespeare’s works. The database has over twenty works, including famous plays such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Each play on the website includes major character analysis, in depth summaries of individual acts, important quotations explained, and major themes, motifs, and symbols. Additionally, an extension of the website, No Fear Shakespeare, includes direct text from all acts on the left and the Elizabethan language translated into modern english on the right. As a honors english student, I highly recommend using Sparknotes and No Fear Shakespeare to help comprehend his plays and use as an assistance to write and essay.

2. Shakespeare, Complete Works (shakespeare.mit.edu): One of the worst parts of writing an essay, is having to type of quotes. While reading Shakespeare, one will gather an immense amount of quotes for their essay, and a strong feeling of dread of having to type them all up. Shakespeare, Complete Works has all of Shakespeare’s plays divided by genre in web based form. Once one clicks on the play of their choice, the website will take them to another page with all of the scenes and acts in clickable link forms. The links will take you to a readable form of that play. This website also saves students the hassle of bringing textbooks home. The only issue with this site, is the fact the lines aren’t numbered.

3. Shakespeare’s Words (shakespeareswords.com/Glossary): Shakespeare’s Words is a great glossery of words used in all of his plays. The glossary is organized alphabetically; it has a tab for each letter at the top of the page. It is very easy to use. The website will allow you to click on a word and then on the right it’s definition and part of speech will appear. The site also has a search function. It is very convenient. One can type a word in and then the site will pull up the glossary result, including a definition on the page, and the plays the word it is in, along with a sentence from the play including the word on the page.