Shakespeare in focus
This page contains a selection of resources available for Shakespeare studies - there are many more.
Crash Course: Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part 1: Crash Course Literature 203 (12min 24sec)
A few books from the collection
Find more resources by using our Library Catalogue.
Inclusive Shakespeares : Identity, Pedagogy, Performance by ISBN: 9783031265228Publication Date: 2023ebook
Shakespeare's Storytelling: An Introduction to Genre, Character, and Technique by ISBN: 9783030629939Publication Date: 2021ebook
Shakespeare's Contemporaries
Shakespeare had several contemporaries, some of whom are theorised to have co-authored or had their works misattributed to Shakespeare. Here are some popular playwrights from that time.
Beaumont & Fletcher
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher collaborated so successfully Fletcher's other works are listed under their collective name. Notable works include A Maid's Tragedy (c.1609) and A King and No King (1611)
Thomas Dekker
Notable works include The Shoemaker's Holiday (1599)
John Ford
Notable works include 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore (1633)
Ben Jonson
Notable works include Volpone, or The Fox
(c. 1606) and The Alchemist (1610)
Thomas Kyd
Notable works include The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587)
Christopher Marlowe
Notable works include Tamburlaine Pt I & II (c. 1578-88) and Doctor Faustus (c. 1592)
Philip Massinger
Notable works include A New Way to Pay Old Debts
(c. 1625) and The Roman Actor (c.1629)
Shakespeare Resources
- Shakespeare QuarterlyPublished by Folger Shakespeare Library in association with The Johns Hopkins University Press.
'Founded in 1950 by the Shakespeare Association of America, Shakespeare Quarterly is a refereed journal committed to publishing articles in the vanguard of Shakespeare studies' - Publisher website. - Shakespeare StudiesPublished by the Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
'An international volume of essays, studies and reviews dealing with the cultural history of early modern England and the place of Shakespeare's production in it' - Publisher website. - ShakespearePublished by the British Shakespeare Association.
'... publishes articles drawn from the best international research on the most recent developments in Shakespearean criticism, historical and textual scholarship, and performance' - Publisher website. - Shakespeare BulletinPublished by The Johns Hopkins University Press.
'... a peer-reviewed quarterly journal which publishes articles at the cutting edge of Shakespearean and early modern performance studies and theatre history' - Publisher website.
- Learning onscreenThis authoritative online database of Shakespeare-related content in film, television, radio and video recordings is international in scope, is regularly updated and currently holds over 10,000 records dating from the 1890s to the present day.
- Shakespeare's WordsThis comprehensive site includes searchable databases; including glossary, thesaurus, complete works, themes, topics, characters and lines.
- Open Source ShakepeareKeyword searchable database of Shakespeare's complete works, including sonnets, poems, and plays
- All Shakespeare all the timeProduced by WNYC (a division of New York Public Radio). 'On the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, we look at the ways his work continues to change and adapt to the culture we live in' - Publisher website.
- Royal Shakespeare Company: Shakespeare's plays, and his life and times'Background and information for all of Shakespeare's plays, including synopses and videos of plays being performed, plus key past RSC productions' - RSC website.
- Shakespeare: read the First FolioThe Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, received a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio in 1623 and produced a digitised copy in 2013. 'Here you can leaf through the original printed pages, and find cameos from well-known Shakespeare lovers, and from researchers and experts who work on this book' - Bodleian website.
- Shakespearean tragedy: lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, MacbethLectures by A.C. Bradley, now published in Project Gutenberg Online Catalog but originally published in 1904. Bradley was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford University in 1901. His Shakespearean analysis and literary criticism was highly influential.
Shakespeare reimagined
Shakespeare has inspired countless stories, adaptations, and reinterpretations across various media and through a diversity of lenses.
Kill Shakespeare, Vol. 1: A Sea of Troubles by Publication Date: 2010This dark take on the Bard pits heroes (Hamlet, Juliet, Othello, Falstaff) against villains (Richard III, Lady Macbeth, Iago) in an epic adventure to find and kill reclusive wizard, William Shakespeare.
The Lion KingPublication Date: 1994Based on Hamlet
Streamed video. Video length: 1 hour 25 min
Featuring Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones.
Directed by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
RanPublication Date: 1985Based on King Lear
Streamed video. Video length: 2 hours 40 min
Featuring Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Akira Terao
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Ten things I hate about youPublication Date: 1999Based on Taming of the Shrew
Streamed video. Video length: 1 hour 34 min
Featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles.
Directed by Gil Junger