Shakespeare

This guide will help you research William Shakespeare and his work.

Find Books (and also Media, and Articles)

Find books by Shakespeare, about Shakespeare and about themes in Shakespeare's plays:

Wondering what to type in the search link above?
Search by play title, keywords related to your subject, or author (Shakespeare). Combine keywords with AND:

  • shakespeare AND biography
  • hamlet AND psychology
  • hamlet AND criticism
  • "Richard III" AND shakespeare AND "divine right" OR king* OR power

By the way, a book may be a scholarly source. To determine if a book is scholarly, check the level of analysis the book offers. How sustained and academic is the analysis? Does the book draw on the work of other critics and include a substantial works cited list? Is it from an academic publisher?

Search

Sample search of "Richard II" AND Shakespeare AND "divine rights" OR king* OR power (Click on image to enlarge.)

Richard II search

Filter

A long list of filters that can be applied to this search, from peer-reviewed, to online/print only, to source type, to subject, to publication date, and more

One Search Filters

Browse the Shelves

  • Shakespeare has his own call number! 822.33
  • Go to that area of the library book shelves and see all the hardcopy books about Shakespeare and themes in the plays

Click the number linked below to see a list from our catalog of books by and about Shakespeare.

Search Ebook Collections

Using the Interlibrary Loan Service

InterLibrary Loan: No library has it all! But the InterLibrary Loan (or ILL) is a service offered by Holman Library for borrowing books and articles from other libraries. InterLibrary Loan requests are free to current GRC students, faculty and staff.

For your research, it is important to search many places.

  • First, start with the books and articles available through the Holman Library.

  • Then, If you find books and articles that the Library does NOT have access to, just request them through Interlibrary Loan.

  • Using Interlibrary Loan increases the amount of resources available to you and helps you become a more thorough researcher.

Note:

  • Books and other items that require mailing may take 1-2 weeks.

  • Articles and other digital items may arrive within 2-5 days. Use your email as your contact info and the article will be sent directly to you.

If you need help filling out this form, call the library reference desk at (253) 931-6480.

Other places you can search...

Use the links below to look for books, articles and more beyond our collection...then request them through Interlibrary Loan:

Why use a book?

Why Use Books?

image of the globe theatre

Books contain biographical and historical analysis of Shakespeare and his times, plays and poetry by Shakespeare, literary criticism about specific works by Shakespeare, and discussion of larger themes across Shakespeare's works. 

  • Use books and book chapters to look for information with scholarly depth or historical / biographical perspective.

 

Image source: "Before the performance, Shakespeare's Globe" by Poliphilo is in the Public Domain, CC0

Suggested titles on Shakespeare

Featured Books 

We have literally hundreds of books on Shakespeare. Here's a select list of just a few that might be relevant to your analysis of his works. You can find these and other GRC items by searching the Holman Library Catalog.