One of the most important media for the interpretation of the plays of Shakespeare has been the cinema. Directors and actors from widely differing cultural, political and national backgrounds have sought to represent Shakespeare on screen. This course will examine the written texts of a number of Shakespeare plays in relation to how they have been interpreted in the cinema. Plays to be studied will be Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest. We shall then go on to examine how these texts have been represented by directors such as Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, and Baz Luhrmann.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will be able to:

1. Explain in written and verbal forms the similarities and differences between the early modern theatre and film as mediums for the interpretation of Sharkespeare's plays

2. Analyse a scene from Shakespeare identifying possibilities and problems for performance on stage and screen

3. Identify and describe a range of film genre and film techniques applied to the interpretation of Shakespeare's plays

4. Collaborate to create a documentary-style presentation which analyses filmic interpretations of a Shakespeare scene

5. Construct an essay which demonstrates thorough research and original argument on the subject of Sheakespeare and film

1000 word scene analysis (20%); group-work documentary project (30%); 2000 word essay (40%); and tutorial participation mark (10%).

Any two English courses or Intro to Film Studies FILM1001A/B

ENGL1055 Shakespeare and Film, an Introduction to the screen adaptation of literary texts.

The course will complement work in ENGL2012.

Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest

Recommended Editions: Stephen Greenblatt (ed.), The Norton Shakespeare, 2nd edition or

Romeo and Juliet, The New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2nd edition G., Blakemore Evans (ed.)

Hamlet, The New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2nd edition, Philip Edwards (ed.)

Macbeth, The New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2nd edition,A.R. Braunmuller (ed.)

The Tempest, Arden 3rd edition, Alden T. Vaughan and Virginia Mason Vaughan (eds.)