Hit or miss Shakespeare?

For a website evaluation activity, I wanted to look at websites dealing with the Bard because I will be teaching Romeo and Juliet this fall. In my quest, I found the site Shakespeare Online.



Shakespeare Online is a website owned and operated by a (assumed) Shakespeare Scholar who wanted to assist the general public in their struggles to read and appreciate Shakespearean Literature. It is very pro-Shakespeare and attempts to make his works accessible by equipping readers with the tools needed to get into that Elizabethan mindset.

This site has some pros and cons, which ultimately earn it an evaluation of "would recommend with reservations."

Pros: The best thing this site has going for it is that every Shakespeare work, including sonnets, are supplied in full text format. Quizzes are available to readers to check understanding. There are many articles that provide contextual information, such as the type of acting in Elizabethan theater or biographical knowledge of the man himself.

Cons: The website is authored and managed by one individual, who seems to have credentials BUT it is hard to actually verify this fact. Because there is no hard documentation of the author's education and work experience, any of her uncited articles should be trusted warily. Also, a few of the links are still under construction. Lastly, the site is sorely lacking in interesting graphics.