Romeo & Juliet on the Internet?
In order to be able to surf the Internet for web pages
on Shakespeare or Romeo & Juliet you first of all need a computer
with a connection to the Internet. Once you are online
you can start your browser which will then show a starting
page. Now you can either write an address in the URL-field
and have yourself connected with this address or you can choose
one of the hyperlinks on your starting page which will
connect you with the file on the topic indicated in the link.
A possible address could be http://www.yahoo.com, a search
engine, where you can search the Internet for keywords.
They are usually full of banner ads because of the huge
number of hits they get. Searching for the keyword “Verona
World“ Yahoo lists 3 web sites all in all. One of
them is the famous Internet page of the Helmholtz-Gymnasium, Bielefeld:
THE JOURNEY BEGINS.
Shakespeare winks at me and when I scroll down the
page I can choose between 6 headlines, all of the are hyperlinks.
I click on the Special Investigation headline and suddenly the
frame splits. "Special Investigation: The Golden
Age", it says in the title frame and the menu bar
gives me a choice between several categories. There also is a
web page on culture and art and a link leads me to the history
and meaning of the Globe theatre.
I click on the Verona World logo and it brings me back
to the front page. I decide on "Everything you always wanted
to know but never dared to ask about William S." and get
lots of information on Shakespeare's medieval life, his
family, his works and his career. There even is an engraving
on the front page of these pages taken from the first Quarto.
To find out more about Shakespeare's language I click on the "Ancient
Writing" page.
I didn't know how different the Elizabethan Grammar was
from ours. The prologue in ancient writing is especially
mysterious being written in a different font.
Back on the main page again I wonder what "Super Romeo
Land" might be and immediately I am caught in an adventure
based on the play.
I still need some information on the play itself and there it
is, in the "Homework Special" Section: a full
summary of all scenes, detailed characterisations and also a funny
transformation of the Balcony Scene.
Last not least I wonder whether all this is just about some dated
play or whether there are still some links to our days...
and yes, there are. The picture gallery is really cool
and the summary of some critics' voices show how difficult it
is to make a film on Romeo & Juliet in a modern setting as
Luhrmann tried in 1996. The detailed description of some
scenes makes me want to see the movie immediately and I also come
to the conclusion that, yes, it still is up to date.