The history of Shakespeare and (on) film is long, illustrious—and prolific: there have been at least 400 film and television adaptations and appropriations of Shakespeare over the past 120 years, from all over the world. But how and why do different film versions adapt Shakespeare? What are the implications of transposing a play by Shakespeare to a different country, era, or even language? What might these films reveal, illuminate, underscore, or re-imagine about Shakespeare, and why? In this course, we will explore several different Shakespearean adaptations together with the plays they adapt or appropriate. We will think carefully about the politics of adaptation and appropriation; about the global contexts and place of Shakespeare; and about the role of race, gender, sexuality, disability, empire and colonialism in our reception of Shakespeare on, and in, film.
Pre-1900 course.