We’ve all been there, or we will be, depending on your age and whether you are still in school of some fashion. The one course or part of a study that makes many students fear to go to class. I’m talking about Shakespeare.

I know I was one of those students. The ones who hated study the works of William Shakespeare. I had many reasons not to. I didn’t understand what he was writing. I thought it was all a bit boring or maudlin. I couldn’t fathom why we would need to know this. I love literature, but Shakespeare has always been my pitfall.

So, here I present to you 4 amazing websites that are guaranteed to help you ace your Shakespeare studies, or at least pretend like you know what is going on in class.

1) No Fear Shakespeare via SparkNotes

The aim of this site is to make Shakespeare easier to grasp, which is awesome. I like much of the content available and the site offers a clean look for those who get distracted easily. My favorite part must be the Character Analysis available for many of the main characters in each of Shakespeare’s works. This site gets my vote for best character study. http://nfs.sparknotes.com

2) Absolute Shakespeare

This site is really packed full of Shakespeare content. It has everything you could want to know about Shakespeare and his work. My favorite part of this site must be the Timeline. It details everything important from Shakespeare’s life and times. This site is awesome if your Shakespeare studies don’t include the literature aspect, but choose to focus on the biographical studies of the man himself. This site gets my vote for best author information. http://absoluteshakespeare.com/index.htm

3) Shakespeare Online

This is my absolute favorite Shakespeare study site. It’s not as flashy as SparkNotes, but it gets the job done. My favorite part is the awesome study guides available for a bunch of Shakespeare’s works. You could potentially print them out, stick them in a binder, and have a complete study guide to take to class with you. Overall, this site has my vote for most useful content. http://www.shakespeare-online.com

4) Shakespeare Central via CliffsNotes

Like the SparkNotes site, CliffsNotes are the older cousin, with just as much information. CliffsNotes has been around for a while and is well known for giving out guides to help in your studies. Regarding Shakespeare, the site has a decent amount of information. The best part is the organization. It gives information on Shakespeare’s works by their title. My favorite piece of the site is the Essay Questions it gives you once you click on each individual work. If you can answer those questions, you know you could potentially write a paper about it as well. Overall, this site gets my vote for best essay writing tools. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/shakespearecentral

So, there you have it. Everything you could possibly need to learn more about Shakespeare and his work thoroughly.

Now, go study!