|
|
Post by shaxper on Apr 26, 2002 11:14:31 GMT -5
When I was at The RSC two summers ago, I happened to spot a CD-ROM they were selling of Shaky's Complete Works. Apprently, it included some intense research tools, allowing you to search for all instances of a word or even a theme within a play. I would have picked it up, but it didn't mention which edition of the plays it was using, and I wasn't sure how reliable a "theme search" would be. Has anyone seen or used this program? Is it any good? It sounds like an amazing idea, but I'd want a selection of editions to choose from. Maybe the original Folios and Quartos, as well as the authoritative Arden edition. I'd also want to be sure that I could search for unique and original themes. Not just weather, betrayal, and fate.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bardolph on Apr 29, 2002 21:33:49 GMT -5
Stop by the home page for The Folger Shakespeare Library, here: www.folger.edu/Home_02b.htmlFollow the link to their gift shop. They have on line and telephone sales. There is a specific section for WS software which includes CD-Rom study editions. I think that both the Oxford and Arden editions are there. There are actually quite a few less expensive disks available, some for $10-15. These don't have the features but they certainly have the word search ability. But if that's what you're looking for, just download the complete works in either text or html and categorize them on your harddrive. You can use the word search feature in your word processing software to get what you're looking for quickly and for free. You can even burn it to CD-Rom for next to nothing. |
|
|
|
Post by shaxper on Apr 30, 2002 13:07:27 GMT -5
Thanks much!
The one I'd seen included a highly specific search engine that allowed you to search for any number of things, including (supposedly) themes. I do have a substandard collection of the plays and sonnets on CD-ROM with a word search, but I'm looking for something more substantial; mostly for the purpose of satisfying my curiosity on a regular basis. It would be interesting, for example, to see how often references to time come up in the histories.
|
|
