Shakespeare's Texts Online
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, provides electronic editions of Shakespeare's plays and poems that you can read online and download free of charge. You can also use this tool to search for words, phrases, or lines in all of the texts at once. Note that these free online editions do not include the explanatory notes that are included in the print copies of the Folger editions.
Recent Books about Shakespeare
Follow this link to books about Shakespeare from 2017 on (including ebooks!) available via the Hunter College Libraries.
Streaming Video
The Hunter College Libraries provide access to theatrical and film productions of Shakespeare's plays through the Acadamic Video Online (AVON) database from Alexander Street. You can log in to Academic Video Online from our video databases page, then search for Shakespeare-related content. Or use the following links.
Shakespeare Quarterly
Shakespeare Quarterly is a scholarly journal devoted entirely to Shakespeare studies.
- Issues from 1950 to 2017 are found in JSTOR
- Issues from 2001 to the latest issue are found in Project Muse
In both databases you can use the advanced search function to perform a search for articles published in this journal. Or, search through all issues of this journal at once with OneSearch.
The JSTOR Understanding Series Tool
The Understanding Series tool from JSTOR links each line of Shakespeare's texts to journal articles and ebooks in the JSTOR database that cite that line. If a particular line or passage is central to your analysis, you can use this tool to find out what others are saying about it.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
Shakespeare is known for his word play and inventive use of language. You can log on to the electronic version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to look up words used in Shakespeare's texts and find out what meaning or meanings they may have had during his time. Note that the meaning(s) of a word today might be very different from the meaning(s) it held in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.
Learn more about the history of the OED here.
You can find the 20-volume 2nd edition of the OED in the Reference Section on the 5th flloor of Cooperman library, with call number PE 1625 .O87 1989
Websites about Shakespeare
Posts about Shakespeare's life, works, and language from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Information about Shakespeare, his plays, and his world from Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London.
Section of the British Library website devoted to Shakespeare and English Renaissance literature. "Explore the works of Shakespeare and Renaissance writers in relation to the social, political and cultural context in which they were written, and investigate the ways in which these works have been interpreted over the last four centuries." Note: This resource is down following a cyber-attack on The British Library.
Information about Shakespeare's life and works from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.
Video archive of productions of Shakespeare's plays from around the world, along with essays and interviews related to Shakespeare studies.
Blog about Shakespeare, with a link to the Shakespeare Unlimited Podcast. "Produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Shakespeare & Beyond blog features a wide range of Shakespeare-related topics: the early modern period in which he lived, the ways his plays have been interpreted and staged over the past four centuries, the enduring power of his characters and language, and more."
Collection of posts about the playwright, his family homes, his family members and social circle, the Globe theater, and more.