William Shakespeare

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This site is the property of M.E. LaZerte High School, Edmonton Public Schools. While you are most welcome to use this site, its organization, all annotations, and most activities are copyrighted, and permission must be sought for their reproduction. E-mail questions to C. Peterson, M.E. LaZerte High School Teacher Librarian, at cynthia dot peterson at epsb dot ca (replace the word "at" with the @ symbol; "dot" with a period). Last updated April 3/07

 

General Links and Images Hamlet

Inventions

Shakespeare - Life, Works
Art James I

Literary Terms

Shakespeare's Contemporaries
Chain of Being

Christmas

Macbeth

Mary, Queen of Scots

The Sonnet and Shakespearean Language
Comedy

Twelfth Night

As You Like It

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Music

Sports

Swordplay

Controversy - Did Shakespeare write the plays?

 

Othello Theatre
Costume

Dance

Plague (Black Death) Tragedy
Elizabeth I Religion

 

War (the Spanish Armada)
Elizabethan England (including daily life)

Explorers

Renaissance Google

 

General Links

(Also check links under Renaissance.) A good place to start your research is the award-winning site from the University of Victoria, Shakespeare: Internet Editions, found at

http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/index.html

ISE: Shakespeare's Life and Times - This page from the above site explore the topics Shakespeare's life, the stage, society, history and politics, the background of ideas, the drama; literature, art, and music, and explores some of the plays.

Sites on Shakespeare and the Renaissance - This page from the above site lists links to other useful sites on Shakespeare, including sites for schoolwork, teachers, criticism, festivals, theatre companies, and the Renaissance.

The Shakespeare Resource Center
Sections include The Man, The Works, Play Synopses, Shakespeare's last will and testament, Authorship Debate, The Globe, Elizabethan England, and a guide to the language of Shakespeare. Includes some images.

Shakespeare and the Globe: Then and Now - This site from the Encyclopedia Britannica has sections on Shakespeare, The Globe, Biographies, the Elizabethan Context, and more.

Shakespeare Images - includes images from public domain, such as Shakespeare, theaters, characters, and actors in role.

Shakespeare Illustrated - "Shakespeare Illustrated, a work in progress, explores nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare's plays and their influences on one another."

Shakespeare Study Guide

Go to the Alberta Learning Online Reference Centre, Grolier Online or World Book Online, and search for an encyclopedia article on your topic.

 

Art

Tudor & Elizabethan Portraits

 

Dance

Renaissance Dance

 

Chain of Being

Significant Ideas of the Seventeenth Century

What Every Elizabethan Knew - Discusses The Divine Right of Kings, The Duties of a Prince, The Duties of the Aristocracy, and The Great Chain of Being.

The Intellectual Background
"The Background of Ideas" discusses many ideas that influenced Shakespeare's work. These include the medieval universe, order,  education, new knowledge, religion, and the supernatural.

Introduction to the Renaissance

King James VI & I on the Divine Right of Kings

 

Christmas

Life in Elizabethan England -- Keeping Christmas

A Tudor Christmas

 

Comedy

Gale - Glossary of Literary Terms - B -C

Glossary of Terms A through E

Shakespeare's Comedies

Aspects of Shakespearean Comedy

The Conventions of Shakespearean Romantic Comedy

 

As You Like It

As you Like It - This page from the University of Victoria discuss themes and comedy in the play.

As You Like It - short summary.

As You Like It Summary at eNotes

 

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night - this page from the University of Victoria provides lots if information about the play and Shakespeare's use of comedy.

Twelfth Night Summary & Essays - Twelfth Night eNotes

Twelfth Night - short summary.

The Ironies of Happy Endings: An Introduction to Twelfth Night

 

Controversy

The Authorship Debate
Brief discussion of three candidates as the "real" author of Shakespeare's work. Includes links to other sites dealing with the debate.

The Shakespeare Mystery: Who, In Fact, Was He? 
"Investigates the controversial theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, a poet and intimate of Queen Elizabeth I, was, in fact, the real bard." Contains debates, articles, perspectives from the Stratfordians and Oxfordians, and links. From the PBS series, Frontline. 

Frontline: Much Ado about Something 
Investigates whether Christopher Marlowe was the real Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Authorship - The Shakespeare Authorship Page Dedicated to the Proposition that Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare

The Shakespeare Question - This site, created by a university reference librarian, briefly summarizes various claims and links to sites supporting those claims.

Eight Witnesses to Shakespeare - "Private book-lists, personal notes, and manuscript notations on the title-pages of early imprints, constitute important but overlooked evidence for the authorship and readership of plays and poems from the English Renaissance, including plays and poems by Shakespeare."

Costume

Elizabethan Costuming Page

Elizabethan Costume: History and Technique

 

 

Elizabeth I

In Search of Shakespeare . Elizabeth I | PBS

Tudor Monarchs - Elizabeth I

The Works of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I and the Elizabethan Period: a Brief Introduction

Life of Women in Tudor England

 

Elizabethan England

Life in Elizabethan England - a huge site detailing many aspects of everyday life.

What We Eat

Elizabeth I and the Elizabethan Period: a Brief Introduction

Elizabethan England

The Reign of Elizabeth

Tudor England 1485-1603

Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England

Food Table

Fooles and Fricassees: Food in Shakespeare's England

Elizabethan Food and Dining

Medieval/Renaissance Food Homepage

COLLECTION: Medieval and Anglo Saxon Recipes

The Intellectual Background
"The Background of Ideas" discusses many ideas that influenced Shakespeare's work. These include the medieval universe, order,  education, new knowledge, religion, and the supernatural.

Explorers

Sir Francis Drake

Sir Walter Raleigh

Henry Hudson

John Smith

 

Hamlet

Hamlet on the Ramparts

Hamlet on the Ramparts is a "public website designed and maintained by the MIT Shakespeare Project in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library and other institutions. We aim to provide free access to an evolving collection of texts, images, and film relevant to Hamlet’s first encounter with the Ghost (Act 1, Scenes 4 and 5)."

Hamlet - Shakespeare Illustrated - paintings that illustrate scenes from the play.

Inventions

16th Century Inventions 1500 - 1599 (also check 1600's) http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl1500s.htm Click on the links to get mor information about the invention.

The Saga of the Submarine - http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsubmarine4.htm#Bourne

Oughtred -- slide ruler http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Oughtred.html  -

Inventions and Technology (Describes inventions of the Renaissance)  http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/University/Inventions/Inventions.html 

 

 

James I

James VI of Scotland, James I of England

 

Literary Terms

Gale - Glossary of Literary Terms

Glossary of Literary Terms - Meyer Literature

Glossary of Literary Terms

A Glossary of Literary Terms

Glossary of Literary Terms

 

 

Macbeth

Macbeth Assignment -- English 20

Enjoying Macbeth by William Shakespeare

SparkNotes: Macbeth

Excerpt from Raphael Holinshed - the source Shakespeare likely used for the historical background of Macbeth

Macbeth: An In-depth Analysis (click on "Visit Site")

The Folger Shakespeare Library Lesson Archive
Use the browser "find in page" function or scroll down to the section on Macbeth.

Mary, Queen of Scots

History of the Monarchy > The Stewarts > Mary, Queen of Scots

Go to the Alberta Learning Online Reference Centre, Grolier Online, and search for an encyclopedia article on your topic.

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream Summary at eNotes

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream -- This page from the University of Victoria discusses the plot and characters of the play. Includes discussion of the basis for the comedy and humour in the play.

 

Midsummer Night's Dream - Discusses the aspects of comedy in the play.

Midsummer Night's Dream Assignment

 

Music

Elizabethan Stringed Instruments

Renaissance - The Elizabethan World - Music and Song

Traveling Musicians

 

Othello

Othello - Topics covered in this link from the University of Victoria include Discord and Disorder, Attitudes to women, Othello and the Stage, The Unities and Shakespearean Tragedy, Magic and Darkness, Religion and Suicide, A modern text of Othello, and Essential facts about the play.

Othello- Race, Place, and Identity - This page from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, gives information about the story Shakespeare used as a source for Othello. The significance to Elizabethans of the terms  tragedy, Othello, Moor, and Venice are explained.

 

Plague

A General Study of the Plague in England, 1539-1640

Pictures from the Plague

Theatrical Companies in Shakespeare's Time - This site discusses the impact of the plague on theatre companies.

 

Religion

 

Life in Elizabethan England - Religion

An overview of Christian religions in the country. Links at the bottom to information about Calvinists, Catholics, and the Church of England.

 

Renaissance

Introduction to Virtual Renaissance - A wonderful site that puts you back in the time of the Renaissance. Ye Olde Transporter - By Character is a good place to start.

Renaissance Links - Include art, architecture, daily life, heraldry, law, literature, medicine, music, and dance, myths and legends, religion, science and math.

Renaissance -- links to arts, philosophy, science, music, daily life etc. - links include

arts (paintings, sculpture, architecture - music - theatre - military arts - heraldry)
sciences: (general - astronomy and mathematics - alchemy - medicine)
philosophy - religion
language
daily life - calendar - costumes, fashion - education
history, politics - money, economics

Life in Elizabethan England - a huge site detailing many aspects of everyday life.

Welcome to the Mary Rose  "Come and explore Henry VIII's great warship and meet some of the crew in this website!

 

 

Shakespeare - Life, Works

Specific Topics

In Search of Shakespeare - Dossier Timeline

Shakespeare's Life and Times

Timeline of Shakespeare's Life

 

Links to Shakespeare Sites

Here are a few good sites; please note that there are many, many sites on Shakespeare. As always, you need to carefully evaluate the information found on web sites, as anyone can publish here.

Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet -  a very well-maintained, and extremely inclusive portal to all things Shakespearean.

English Language and Literature Resources (Shakespeare)

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

The Shakespeare Classroom

The Shakespeare Authorship Page

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

 

 

Shakespeare's Contemporaries

Shakespeare and His Contemporaries

Introduction to Theatre - The Elizabethan Stage - Section on Shakespeare's Contemporaries

Sixteenth Century Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603)

 

The Sonnet

The Sonnet - A Study Guide

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Gale - Glossary of Literary Terms

Glossary of Terms P through S

The Sonnet

Blank Verse and Iambic Pentameter In Shakespeare's Plays

Verse and Prose In Shakespeare's Plays

 

Sports

Elizabethan Sports

 

Swordplay

Renaissance: The Elizabethan World - Swordplay and Military Matters

Elizabethan Fencing and the Art of Defence

 

Theatre

The Globe Theatre - A Study Guide

Introduction to Theatre - The Elizabethan Stage

The Elizabethan Theatre

Elizabethan Theatre - A Lecture - by Thomas Larque

Tragedy

Gale - Glossary of Literary Terms

Glossary of Terms T through Z

Shakespeare's Tragedies

Aspects of Shakespearean Tragedy

Tragedy

 

War

Modern History Sourcebook: Queen Elizabeth I: Against the Spanish Armada, 1588

The Spanish Armada

This site is the property of M.E. LaZerte High School, Edmonton Public Schools. While you are most welcome to use this site, its organization, all annotations, and most activities are copyrighted, and permission must be sought for their reproduction. E-mail questions to C. Peterson, M.E. LaZerte High School Teacher Librarian, at cynthia dot peterson at epsb dot ca (replace the word "at" with the @ symbol; "dot" with a period). Last updated April 3/07