ENGL 178 Shakespeare and Film

In late 16th and early 17th-century England, Shakespeare was part of a complex theatrical world that produced drama of supreme intensity, and his works continue to exert their force in our contemporary global world, both in theater and in film. Shakespeare's plays have, in fact, been adapted to film more than those of any other author in any language. This class will read some of Shakespeare's most complex and interesting plays and examine film adaptations from around the world. We will pay special attention to the evolution of Shakespeare's tragic vision, and its possible redemption in his late romance plays, in order to trace his experimental development of dramatic form, poetic style, characterization, and ideology. We will also work to understand how films enliven the complex, unruly energies that characterize Shakespeare's work, extending these experiments through adaptation, mimicry, appropriation, and displacement.