Think you know everything there is to know about Shakespeare? Find yourself looking for that perfect Bard quote? Ever have a need to settle a barroom argument about who said what in which Shakespeare play? If so, then Google has just made it easier for you. Google”s infamous Books project has completed scanning in the complete works of Shakespeare. You can now read through every one of Shakespeare”s plays online. But that”s not all. By using other tools from Google – handily listed for you at the bottom of the page – you can search through every one of Shakespeare”s plays for words and phrases (Google Book Search), hook up with other Shakespeare lovers and critics (Google Groups), read up on the latest Shakespeare news (Yes, Google News Search – and just because the guy”s been dead for centuries doesn”t mean there”s nothing new going on about him!) and get a scholar”s perspective using Google Scholar. Oh, and if you want to see videos of Shakespeare dancing in the park, there”s Google Video and Google Image searches as well.
Fair warning: The link to Google Video opens a search for one of the most creative Shakespeare projects I”ve seen in years. I just whiled away an hour grinning at schoolkids doing 60 second multimedia clips of some of the more famous scenes from Shakespeare”s plays. The 60 Second Shakespeare Project aims to have primary and secondary UK schoolkids recreate Shakespeare on videocam. What if Juliet was an appealingly moon-faced, freckled redhead and her nurse wore an army parka? If Pyramus and Thisbe were high school kids and the moon were a flashlight? It”d make the bard pretty darn accessible, in my view. Take a look at 60 second Shakespeare and see if you don”t agree.
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