Inclusion in this section is premised on quality of information, freedom of access, and freedom from advertising for essay writing services.  With some of the guides the price to pay is rather annoying advertising, though I have omitted sites where the advertising was just too blatant.

Wikipedia  |  British Library Summaries  |  SparkNotes  |  CliffsNotes  |  Ian Johnston  |  Other Guides

Wikipedia Links to individual plays:
All's Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry V Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry VIII Julius Caesar King John King Lear Love's Labour's Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo and Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Titus Andronicus Timon of Athens Troilus and Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen The Winter's Tale Articles on the poems: Shakespeare's Sonnets The Passionate Pilgrim The Phoenix and the Turtle   The Rape of Lucrece Venus and Adonis A Lover's Complaint General articles: Shakespearean comedy Shakespearean histories Shakespearean tragedies     Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays Shakespeare Apocrypha Shakespeare on Screen While some academics find the use of Wikipedia objectionable, I find it every bit as good as commercial study aids available and even for-pay encyclopedia services.  Check with your teacher/professor before using Wikipedia as a source.  For other Wikipedia articles, use this Wikipedia search box:
Summaries and links into electronic facsimile editions of the plays printed in quarto from 1594 to 1642, from the British Library.
Hamlet Henry IV, Part 1 Henry IV, Part 2 Henry V Henry VI, Part 2 Henry VI, Part 3 King Lear Love's Labour's Lost The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night's Dream		Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo and Juliet Titus Andronicus Troilus and Cressida The Taming of the Shrew The Two Noble Kinsmen
SparkNotes.  "...written and produced exclusively by Harvard students and graduates...SparkNotes come from students studying for exams and cramming for papers just like you. "  (The ads are VERY annoying, but the content is good).
All's Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry V Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry VIII Julius Caesar King John King Lear Love's Labour's Lost Macbeth		Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare's Sonnets The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus and Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter's Tale
CliffsNotes:
Read Online	Purchase	Read Online	Purchase
Hamlet		A Midsummer Night's Dream
Henry V		Othello
Julius Caesar		Romeo and Juliet
King Lear		Shakespeare's Sonnets
Macbeth		The Taming of the Shrew
Measure for Measure		The Tempest
The Merchant of Venice		Twelfth Night

A lecture series by Ian Johnston (These essays are for more advanced students):
Variations on a Theme of Love: An Introduction to As You Like It A Brief Note on the Historical Background to Shakespeare's First and Second History Cycles The Foxes, The Lion, and the Fat Knight: Introduction to Henry IV, Part 1 The Ironies of Success in Politics: An Introduction to Shakespeare's Henry V	An Introduction to Hamlet The Issue of Language: Introduction to Richard II and Hamlet Speak What We Feel: An Introduction to King Lear An Intoduction to Macbeth You Can Go Home Again, Can't You? An Introduction to The Tempest

• Loberg, Harmonie.  Hamlet Haven, an online, annotated bibliography to Hamlet.  "Listings span materials published between 1991 and 2003 and include studies that focus on the major characters, popular subjects, and leading theoretical approaches. These works have been listed because they are significant contributions to our understanding of one of Shakespeare's most enigmatic plays."
• 50 mini-essays on Julius Caesar by Dr. Bill Long.
• Enjoying "Macbeth".   "Warning: Macbeth is nasty. This page is nasty. I have a high regard for truth and I talk plain. If you want something nice, please leave now."  Only nasty in the scholarly sense. If this isn't an enticement to rea this interesting page, I don't know what is. It includes lots links to Scottish history, tartans, and other interesting things.
• 31 (so far) mini-essays on Macbeth by Dr. Bill Long.
• Yet another brief guide to Macbeth done through interesting java applets.
• The Interactive Shakespeare Project study guide to Measure for Measure.
• 100 mini-essays on Othello by Dr. Bill Long.
• A Shakespeare Genealogy (of the Kings of England and near relatives mentioned in the plays) with color coding. 
• Shakespeare Online, Themes in Tragedy, is part of the Britain in Print project.  It contains audio recording by student actors of various scenes from Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, King Lear and Othello.  The site is principally useful for its study materials, which are well presented and extensive.

©1995-2012 Terry A. Gray
Last modified 11/14/12
Do not copy or reuse these materials without permission.