The Bard in cyberspace

Danette Goulet

Kellie Brownell got her first taste of William Shakespeare a little more

than a year ago when she read “Macbeth” for an eighth-grade English

class.

Now the 15-year-old Newport Harbor High freshman is a Shakespeare

fanatic. She has read 15 comedies, nine tragedies, four histories, every

sonnet, at least 20 essays on Shakespeare and has seen 15 of the plays

performed.

Her love of the Bard of Avon even prompted her to take up fencing and

travel to Oregon and England for Shakespeare festivals.

When she couldn’t find every imaginable bit of information on the man,

the plays and the time period on one Web site, Kellie decided to build

her own -- o7 www.ShakespeareAnswers.comf7 .

“There’s a lot of pages on the Web, but none contained everything,”

Kellie said. “So I just wanted a Web page that had everything. ... I just

love Shakespeare.”

Although her site is still under construction, it is already chock full

of information and has received hundreds of hits without even being

listed on Internet search engines.

There is a wealth of information on the playwright and the English

Renaissance period. There are also links to Shakespeare-related sites on

current events, festivals, analysis, reviews and movies.

And, of course, Kellie has posted poems she has written about

Shakespeare, in addition to many photographs.

“I’m amazed at what she’s creating,” said her mother, Alice Brownell.

“Every day, it’s ‘Come and see, come and see what I’ve added.’ Her

interest, desire and the time it has taken her ...”

Kellie said she is busy with schoolwork during the week, but her weekends

are spent with her laptop, working on her Web site.

“She developed a passion for Shakespeare that is just beyond our wildest

expectations,” her mother said. “It really is a passion.”

Kellie’s long-term goal is to become a professor of Shakespearean

literature. As for the short term, she wants to finish her Web site and,

through it, teach people about herfavorite subject.

When her older sister Jamie visited Stanford University, Kellie went

along and talked to a professor who specialized in Shakespeare.

“They told her she belongs there with them,” Alice Brownell said. “They

can’t believe she’s only 15.”