Ambleside Online Shakespeare Rotation

Ambleside Online Term Schedule: Term 1: September - November Term 2: January - March Term 3: April - June

Click Here for This Term's Selections

Ambleside Online schedules these terms as a group to facilitate our Artist, Composer, Plutarch, Shakespeare, Folksongs and Hymns studies through sharing resources and experiences on the list.

Shakespeare Sparks Notes
Shakespeare Resource Center History Glossary, grammar and language information.
Absolute Shakespeare - the essential resource for William Shakespeare's plays, sonnets, poems, quotes, biography and the legendary Globe Theatre.
eNotes has Shakespeare Guides
The Video Shakespeare - play free videos of Shakespeare plays on Real Player!
List of family-friendly Shakespeare movies on Lindafay's blog
Enotes offers free modern translations of 8 plays (we haven't checked these out yet.)
Sparks Notes publishes "No Fear Shakespeare" books about each play. They're parallel versions, with Shakespeare's original old English on one side, and modern English on the other. You can read them online, order them from their website, or pick one up at Barnes and Noble. Note that, in translating to modern English, sometimes vague references that are merely alluded to in the original are translated explicitly.
Archived AmblesideOnline email list posts about studying Shakespeare.
Brightest Heaven of Invention by Peter J. Leithart (a Christian study of six Shakespeare plays, aimed at high schoolers) includes Henry V, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing.

2007-2008
* Twelfth Night (repeat 2013)
** Measure for Measure (repeat 2012) [This play is about Isabella remaining true to her honor and virtue even when compromising could save the life of her beloved brother. Lamb's and Nesbit's versions sanitize the circumstances, and even Shakespeare himself manages to be a bit vague, but you won't want to read your children online summaries that graphically spell out what's going on. Some parents may wish to use AO's slightly expurgated version, or just read the Lamb's or Nesbit's version.]
*** As You Like It (repeat 2014)

2008-2009
* Love's Labor Lost
** Macbeth (repeat 2014)
*** The Taming of the Shrew (repeat 2015)

2009-2010
* Midsummer Nights Dream (repeat 2015)
** Hamlet Prince of Denmark (repeat 2014)
*** The Tempest

2010 -2011
* Julius Caesar
** Two Gentlemen of Verona
*** Romeo and Juliet

2011-2012
* Henry V (repeat 2016)
** Much Ado About Nothing (repeat 2016)
*** Merchant of Venice (repeat 2017)

2012-2013
* Cymbelline
** King Lear
*** Measure for Measure (repeat 2008) [This play is about Isabella remaining true to her honor and virtue even when compromising could save the life of her beloved brother. Lamb's and Nesbit's versions sanitize the circumstances, and even Shakespeare himself manages to be a bit vague, but you won't want to read your children online summaries that graphically spell out what's going on. Some parents may wish to use AO's slightly expurgated version, or just read the Lamb's or Nesbit's version.]

2013-2014
* Twelfth Night (repeat 2007)
** Macbeth (repeat 2008)
*** As You Like It (repeat 2008)

2014-2015
* Hamlet Prince of Denmark (repeat 2010)
** Midsummer Nights Dream (repeat 2009)
*** Richard II

2015-2016
* The Taming of the Shrew (repeat 2010)
** Othello the Moor of Venice (Note: parents should read ahead for references to an affair. If you use SparkNotes No Fear Shakespeare, be aware that they translate some vague references to unfaithfulness more explicitly than Shakespeare's text does. You will not want to hand your child this guide to read unsupervised!)
*** Much Ado About Nothing (repeat 2012)

2016-2017
* The Winter's Tale (not available in a NoFear parallel version yet)
** Henry V (repeat 2011)
*** Merchant of Venice (repeat 2012)

2017-2018
* Richard III
** Comedy of Errors (download a text copy of the play divided into 12 weeks)
*** King Henry VIII