Othello summarised on Prezi

This looks as if several students pooled their efforts to produce a summary with some commentary and analysis for students who need to understand the play.

othello wag5 on Prezi

Shakespeare Navigator

This is a great site for summaries, notes and analysis of Shakespeare's plays:

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/romeo/index.html

The Shakespeare Code

Young Shakespeare?

This is an interesting newish blog with contributions from "the great and the good." Take, for instance, this comment on Shakespeare's Othello from the Wharton professor of English of Oxford University.
Click here

A plethora of ideas to help understand the Elizabethan and Jacobean context. Fascinating reading!


William Shakespeare had to write in code.

The theory of the Shakespeare Code

I wonder whether the blog's title was taken from an episode of Doctor Who?

Tips on Shakespeare's language for newbies!

This video has three good points to keep in mind while reading Shakespeare's plays. A fourth, which seems blindingly obvious, is to use the notes in your play's editions to annotate words, phrases and speeches in your play text. They are often found at the back of your editions, run in tandem with the play, and are numbered with the play's lines so you can cross refer between the notes and the play text. Another good idea is to listen to the play being acted as professional actors can help you understand speeches through their intonation and expression.

"Othello" summarised by Spark Notes

Liz Lewis on "Shakespeare's Women"

Coursework students might focus on comments on female characters for the plays they studied.
Shakespeare's Women by Liz Lewis

Primary sources for researching the context of Shakespeare's plays

The Folger Library has always been one of the best institutions for all things Shakespeare. Why not make your AO4 comments on the social and historical context in your essays STAND OUT from others by doing a little research on some texts associated with your plays. There may be a slight problem undestanding some of the lettering in Elizabethan fonts. An example is 'V' which is often represented as a 'U'. By reading entire sentences and paragraphs it is relatively easy to work out the older uses of letters that we no longer use.

Folger's Primary Sources Links

Here's another interesting link. You could check out other interesting "ideas" in their "ideas link".
University of Victoria in Canada's page on the sexes in Shakespeare's time

Hamlet, Act Five, Scene 2 - Branagh's version

For comparison and interpretation with other versions.

Hamlet , Act Three, Scene One, by Kenneth Branagh

Branagh's interpretation of this central speech from "Hamlet".

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare - the basic characters and where they fit in

Abbygail Meredith's very useful summaries of the characters from "Hamlet" and "where they fit in". Click on each character for more detailed information.
http://www.knowledge4africa.co.za/english-shakespeare/hamlet3001.htm

Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford

I'm staying in Stratford Upon Avon for a few days, visiting all things Shakespeare. Shakespeare's birthplace is just next door to where I'm posting this message.

The town is just as picturesque as one would imagine. Although it is closer to London than I had thought.

For a man who concealed so much of his life it seems ironic that a whole tourist industry has grown up about it.

"Much Ado About Nothing" - the character of Leonato Part One and Two

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - the character of Don John

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - Motifs

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - Social and Historical Context

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - "Nothing" as a motif

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - Themes - Loyalty and Friendship

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - Themes

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"Much Ado About Nothing" -Themes

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"Much Ado About Nothing" - Speech and Overhearing

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