Shakespeare Research Essay
Books
The Uni High Library has a number of books on life in Shakespeare's time in the 940.2 and 942.05 - 942.055 call number areas. We also have the following reference books, which provide useful background information on Elizabethan England and the European Renaissance:
| Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life: 17th and 18th Centuries | R Q.390 G856 v.4 |
| All Things Shakespearean | R 822.33 Go182 |
| European Renaissance and Reformation | R Q.940.21Eu742 |
| The Panorama of the Renaissance | R Q.940.21P194 |
| Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe | R 940.21 Si37h |
| Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World | R 942.05503 W125h |
To find books in all campus libraries search the UIUC Online Catalog. Be sure to use the Library of Congress subject headings for your topic. The list of subject headings below is a great place to start and will direct you to information on everyday life in Elizabethan England, as well as information about the plagues, medicine, economy, literature and culture, social relations, crime, geography, architecture, politics, religion, drama, education, and prominent figures of the time. Do a Quick Search, copy and paste these headings into the search field and choose Subject Headings.
London (England)--Social life and customs--16th century
London (England)--History--16th century
Great Britain--History--Elizabeth, 1558-1603--Sources
England--Social conditions--16th century
Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1533-1603
English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Contemporaries
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Knowledge and learning
Education--England--History
Elizabethan architecture--England
If you are searching for information on a very specific topic, try preceding your topic term with the word Elizabethan in an Any Word Anywhere search, e.g., Elizabethan music, Elizabethan education, etc. Other terms to remember: Tudor Society and Renaissance. When you find a useful book, click on other subject headings listed in the book record to find similar books.
Websites
The Librarians' Index to the Internet
This site links to librarian-recommended websites. There are several on life in Elizabethan England.
The Life and Times of Queen Elizabeth I, 1533-1603
This detailed site contains information about the major events of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and the status of women, the church, and the structure of the government.
Shakespeare's School
Learn about school life in Elizabethan England.
Shakespeare Life and Times
This annotated guide to scholarly Shakespeare resources on Internet will lead you to sites on Elizabethan England.
In Search of Shakespeare
Search this PBS site for background information on Shakespeare's time. Click on the For Educators link to learn about what has been done with Shakespeare on film. Use the interactive map in the Locations section to explore places in England that Shakespeare knew.
Electronic Journals
Project Muse searches recent full-text articles in over 150 journals. Click on the Search button to start your search. Also try JSTOR, which searches back-filed full-text articles.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online provides annotated entries for research and criticism on Shakespeare produced between 1971 and early 2002. Note that it is not a full-text resource. Once you find a promising citation, you'll have to do a search in the online catalog for book and journal titles. You can also try a search for online versions of journal titles in the Online Research Resources page.
Early Modern Culture: An Online Seminar
Unfortunately, this online jounal is not searchable, but you can browse though the different issues and find articles that are relevant to this project.
Finally, consider the general periodical databases that are linked to from the Library's home page. Your best bets are Ebsco's Academic Search Premier, Infotrac's Academic OneFile and Infotrac's Expanded Academic ASAP.