ENG 822 – Shakespeare in the Movies
Defining Difference(s) in Shakespearean Cinema
Temple University – Fall 2013
“He was not of an age, but for all time!” –Ben Jonson
“That’s what I like about Shakespeare; it’s the pictures.” –Al Pacino
Instructor: Dr. Geoffrey W. Gust
Office: Anderson Hall 1146 (enter through 1142)
Office Hours: MW 10:45-11:45, 2-2:30; F 11:15-11:45, 2-2:30; and by appointment
E-mail address: geoffrey.gust@temple.edu
Office telephone: (215) 204-7823
Website: http://TUPortal.temple.edu , then click on “Blackboard”
Course Numbers/Times/Location: Section #001 (CRN 7284)
MWF 12-12:50 pm in Weiss Hall B035
Official Course Description: Love and political ambition and violence and evil and laughter and wit and
racial antagonism and the battle between the sexes and the joy and misery of being human - Shakespeare's plays are
about all of that. Discover how they work in film and video. Learn to read films and understand what actors, directors,
composers, set designers, cinematographers, etc. do to bring the bard's plays to life. We will view Merchant of Venice,
Richard III, Othello, Much Ado about Nothing, and Romeo and Juliet and study how these plays got from the page to
the screen. We will look at actors of the present day - Pacino, McKellen, Hopkins, Hoskins, Fishburne, Branagh,
Thompson, DiCaprio, Danes, etc. and also at giants of the past, like Laurence Olivier, to see how actors create their
roles. This course includes group work in reviewing film techniques, innovative writing instruction, and an
introduction to research. You will have access to whole plays and to selected clips streamed to your computer. NOTE:
This course fulfills the Arts (GA) requirement for students under GenEd and Arts (AR) for students under Core.
Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed English 0922.
About the Course: In the comedy As you Like it (ca. 1599), William Shakespeare wrote that “All the world’s a
stage,” a commentary on the many stages of life. ln The Lion King (1994) – an animated children’s movie famously
based upon Shakespeare’s Hamlet – this very concept was framed in a different light via the notion of “the circle of
life,” the title of the sweeping song that opens the Disney film. The fact that the Renaissance author Shakespeare is
culturally potent enough to influence the creation of a recent award-winning animated movie speaks volumes about
“The Bard’s” continuing cultural status in the twenty-first century – a significance that is no better seen than on film.
As scholar Deborah Cartmell writes, “Shakespeare seems [especially] adaptable to cinema; many would agree with
Laurence Olivier, who has repeatedly implied that Shakespeare would have written films, if only he had the chance.”
There is no doubt that Shakespeare’s plays translate particularly well to the medium of film, and for over a century the
cinema has produced a wide variety of Shakespearean adaptations. Some of these films have “updated” his comedies,
others have re-imagined his histories, and a large number of movies have cleverly “re-booted” his powerful tragedies.
Shakespeare’s works translate so well to film because his plays were meant to be performed – intended to be seen and
experienced, not read in a private setting – and were dramatized in front of a vast public audience that included
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members of both the high and low classes in Renaissance England. Hence, the plays spoke powerfully to a diverse
audience about a range of important cultural subjects – and they continue to do the same roughly 400 years later. In
this course, then, we will examine the myriad ways the plays have spoken to movie audiences since 1899, when the
first Shakespeare movie was created in the form of the short silent film King John. Although we will be viewing more
recent adaptations in class, our task will be to consider how a variety of Shakespearean movies have, like King John,
taken the written words of the famous author and transformed his plays into (often elaborate) cinematic experiences.
In class, we will generally start each thematic unit with the original playscripts themselves, and then explore how
those playscripts are rendered on screen. To examine important scenes and crucial cinematic visions, we will view a
large number of film clips as well as certain films in their entirety – all with an eye toward analyzing the ways in which
notable film directors have created, time and again, new and different “Shakespeares” for the modern age. In
negotiating these plays and their recent cinematic translations, we will work together to introduce you to central
tenets of film studies, to deepen your understanding of Shakespeare and his age, and to improve your skills in critical
analysis – all the while striving to facilitate an engaging and, I hope, enjoyable class experience.
Course Goals & Objectives:
Students in English 822 will:
* Improve their understanding of Shakespeare’s life, times, language, and literary achievement; in turn, they
will develop a basic understanding of the history of Shakespeare in the movies
* Establish a fundamental comprehension of cinema studies and basic film techniques
* Learn about the central generic tropes of Renaissance comedy, history, romance, and tragedy, and examine
examples of these generic forms with nuance
* Compare and contrast a number of films based on selected, notable Shakespearean plays, and display an
understanding of their status as modern adaptations of premodern drama
* Improve skills in critical analysis and demonstrate an ability to write coherent analytical responses to
Shakespearean cinema
Required Texts and Materials:
- Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing About Film, 8th ed. (Pearson, 2012).
- Acceptable scholarly editions of the five central plays studied in class: Richard III, Much Ado About
Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet. Any reputable printed edition is fine, and
there are good online editions as well (such as those found at http://www.shakespeareswords.com/ , a
website that I recommend because it not only has full texts of the plays but also a very useful online glossary
and language companion created by an excellent language scholar).
- A good, college-level dictionary (and/or consistent access to the Oxford English Dictionary online)
- E-mail/Blackboard/Internet access
- Some photocopying may be required, and a Netflix account (or its equivalent) is highly recommended in
order to ensure convenient access to the films and to complete written homework assignments
Vital University Disclosures/Statements:
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should: a) contact Disability
Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to discuss and coordinate reasonable accommodations,
and b) contact me privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible.
Furthermore, please note that. . . Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic
freedom. The University has a policy on Student and Faculty and Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy
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#03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link:
http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02 .
Course Rules, Requirements, and Assignments:
Attendance, Tardiness, and Late Work: In general, there are few “rules and regulations” for our class. The one overarching rule I have – the “Golden Rule” of the course, if you will – is that each of you will act like responsible adults,
and thus common courtesy (in all shapes and sizes) is the primary rule that I have. Be respectful of our collective
learning experience, and each other. That means no use of cellphones or other similar devices in class – PUT THEM
AWAY and turn them off when you enter, please! It means no pounding on computer keyboards, audiotaping of class
discussion, or disruptively eating food. Most importantly, the “Golden Rule” means that you will be both generally
open-minded and courteous to each other in class discussions and interactions – respectful of the ideas and
interpretations of individuals inevitably different than yourself.
With all that said, there are also some specific rules pertaining to attendance, tardiness, and late work. Please note
that our MWF meetings begin at 12 noon sharp. PLEASE BE ON TIME. Obviously, there is traffic and so forth to
contend with, but please plan accordingly because tardiness is not only rude and distracting, but more crucially it
disrupts our activities and thus effects our learning for the day. For each class meeting, attendance will be taken via a
sign-in sheet. Students who are not yet in class when attendance is taken will be marked as absent. It is worth
emphasizing here that even though this is a large “lecture” course, I take your presence in class very seriously.
Because so much of your learning will take place in and around class, you must attend on a regular basis to receive
credit for the course. More specifically, for our course you are permitted a total of six absences – two weeks worth of
class meetings. There are no exceptions to this policy and no distinctions will be made between “excused” or
“unexcused” absenses – an absence is simply an absence. My straightforward expectation is that you will attend and
be active participants in class unless you have acceptable reasons for missing a scheduled meeting (e.g. sickness, a
death in the family, etc.). If you miss a class, you are responsible for catching up with the work for that day. If you
miss more than six classes, you may FAIL the course. Finally, allow me to say a few words about late work. Your
syllabus provides you with a very detailed schedule, so you will have ample time/warning for your various written
assignments. Therefore, there is no reason for you to turn in late papers (and incidentally, any homework/essays will
always be due at the beginning of class). When you get behind on your work, it tends to have a snowball effect and
negatively affect subsequent assignments. As such, the class policy on late work is a simple one: a full letter grade
will be subtracted for each DAY an essay (or required homework composition) is late, unless you have viable reasons
that have personally been discussed with your instructor.
Plagiarism/Academic Honesty:
Academic integrity is at the very core of a university education, and therefore is taken very seriously by Temple
faculty. This is especially true of plagiarism, which should never occur in a college course. According to the ‘Temple
University Statement on Academic Honesty for Students in Undergraduate Courses,’ “Plagiarism is the
unacknowledged use of another person's labor: another person's ideas, words, or assistance. In general, all sources
must be identified as clearly, accurately, and thoroughly as possible. Academic cheating is, in general terms, the
thwarting or breaking of the general rules of academic work and/or the specific rules of individual courses. It includes
falsifying data; submitting, without the instructor's approval, work in one course that was done for another; helping
others to plagiarize or cheat from one's own or someone else's work; or actually doing the work of another person.”
Unfortunately, there has been a rise in the number of plagiarism incidents in recent years, and you must not fall prey
to the temptation of using an internet “paper factory” or something along those lines. I will be carefully looking for
such papers and you will be turning in your essays via ‘SafeAssign’, so you will very likely get caught if you try to cheat
in any such manner (or if you try to pass off a paper written for this class or other, related Temple courses from
previous semesters). You will have plenty of forewarning for all of your assignments, so time should not be an issue;
and having already been introduced to them in your First Year Writing courses, you should be comfortable with
college-level research and proper source citation. Of course, I do not want to discourage you from using other
people’s ideas or scholarship. My aim is exactly the opposite. But you must always make clear your sources, and that
is especially true in any given critical response to literature. The following rules (on pg. 4) will help you to avoid
plagiarism in your essays this semester, but if you are in any way uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, please
consult with me:
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1. The language in your paper must be either your own or a direct quote from the original author.
2. Changing a few words or phrases from another writer’s work is not enough to make the writing “your
own.” The writing is either your own or the other person’s; there are no in-betweens.
3. In text citation and an accurate bibliography acknowledge that the fact or opinion expressed comes from
another writer. If the language comes from another writer, quotation marks are necessary, in addition to a
correct citation.
In light of all of the above, the course policy on academic dishonesty is clear-cut: if you are caught plagiarizing all or
any part of an assignment, you will receive a failing grade for that piece of work, you will likely fail the course, and
you will perhaps face further ramifications within the university.
Homework: This is a Gen-Ed Arts course. Accordingly, everything we do will revolve around critical thinking – and
particularly the critical thought involved in analyzing complex Shakespearean texts (and film versions thereof) and
articulating your ideas orally and in writing. In terms of homework, the bulk of your time will be taken up with your
reading assignments and film viewings for each week. I have tried to keep the amount of reading as minimal as
possible, but you should be forewarned: you ARE reading a number of Shakespearean plays, which inherently take
some time due to their language and complexity; you will also be assigned assorted other texts related to Cinema
Studies and/or the Renaissance period. Hence, the old cliché about college time-management will likely hold true:
you can probably expect to spend 3 hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. Because reading is central to
our course, your daily reading/preparation will ultimately be a key component of your ‘homework’ grade. To
encourage you to read carefully and read well, you will be assigned a variety of short homework writings throughout
the semester, most notably the focused series of ‘Screening Responses’ you will be asked to compose, which will task
you with a variety of forms of analytical thinking relative to Shakespeare on film. These assignments will be clarified
in class, and should help you to develop the skills necessary to comprehend the material at hand and also to
successfully complete the larger, formal writing assignments. In addition, you may be asked at a particular time to
“report” to me your thoughts/ideas/questions on a given play or film, which I will in turn use to guide us in a given
day’s class meeting. In light of all of this, please work ahead as much as you can, and be sure to leave yourself plenty
of time to read – and to read carefully – so that you’re not waiting until the last minute to try and prepare everything
for our class meetings. If you procrastinate and/or are not prepared, the full impact of the lectures and discussions
will be lost. And getting behind will almost surely affect you when it comes to quizzes and exams. The lesson: work
ahead, and work steadily, and you should be fine.
Participation: Without a doubt, discussion and the unraveling of meaning are at the very core of literary study.
Therefore, active participation is absolutely key to your success in this class and will significantly impact your overall
grade – playing a crucial role in your Homework/Participation grade (which will make up 15% of your overall class
total). In this case, participation means being an active, engaged member of the class – listening in earnest to
lectures, watching the films with care, completing the assignments to the best of your ability, and generally engaging
the material at hand with close thought and due diligence. Although we are a large “lecture” class, we WILL be having
discussions of the material during our daily meetings, so the most basic type of participation in the class will be any
contributions you make to our large, class discussions, as well as any group work we might do. We’re all in this
together, so I hope you are not daunted by the size of our class, and are willing to share your thoughts and ideas,
which will help to make our course both energetic and insightful. In addition to the various types of discussion and
discourse that will fill much of your time, you are also expected to participate in whatever way is deemed necessary for
a given week. So, for example, if you are required to post questions or comments online or participate in class
discussions, that will tangibly count toward the Homework/Participation portion of your grade. With all of this in
mind, I strongly suggest that – even if you are shy – you take participation seriously. It lies at the very heart of
English studies, and it will be at the very center of your grade and our machinations in class. Don’t see participation
as a burden; rather, see it as an opportunity to voice your opinions, as something active and fun that lots of students
in other classes don’t often get to fully experience!
Quizzes: Quizzes count in this class, and you should expect frequent in-class quizzes covering the material assigned
for a given meeting. Any such quizzes will comprise (in total) 15% of your overall course grade, and you should note
that if you are not present for an in-class quiz you will NOT have the opportunity to make it up. Given that there will
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not be any formal exams in the course, these quizzes will be very important and you must prepare yourselves
accordingly for each day’s class content.
Papers: For starters, there are certain practical matters that you should bear in mind for your writings in this class.
All of your formal writing assignments must be word-processed. They should be written in a standard font/size (such
as 12-point Times New Roman), double-spaced throughout, and they should conform to MLA standards of
documentation – so you must cite the sources you utilize by following MLA guidelines within the text, and providing a
proper Bibliography at the end of the essay. Your papers should also be handed in stapled together (no plastic covers
or paperclips, please!), while you will also be required to turn in an electronic copy via ‘SafeAssign’ (to check for
incidents of plagiarism). You may choose to create a full-fledged cover-page for your essays, but at minimum your
name, the course, and the title of your paper should be wholly clear from the outset. To be more specific about the
essays themselves, there are three formal writing assignments for this class. These will ultimately make up the
majority of your final grade, and you should therefore take them very seriously. In time, you will be given an
assignment sheet that provides a detailed outline of the kinds of things I am looking for in these papers and explains
the points on which your writing will be graded. But in brief, the papers will probably look a little something like this:
your first essay will likely be a short (3+) page paper on representing and adapting history, and the second short
paper (4+ pages) will probably ask you to undertake a careful cinematic comparison/analysis. Finally, your third
paper will require more research, be a bit longer – something like 5-6 pages – and will likely ask allow you undertake
a more in-depth filmic analysis and write a focused account of specific themes in Shakespearean cinema. For all of
these assignments, the topic possibilities should be quite endless and you should easily be able to find something
interesting to write about.
Grading:
Please note that you must complete all of the major assignments in order to receive credit for the course. The grading
of your papers will be based upon English Department standards, and for our class your grades will be broken down
according to the “traditional” grading scales (A, B, C, D, F), unless your work has made a +/- grade clearly more
appropriate. Overall, the percentage of your grade for each of the major assignments/content is as follows:
Paper #1
20%
Paper #2
20%
Paper #3
30%
Quizzes
15%
Homework/Participation
15%
(includes reading and active engagement in class,
‘Screening Response’ writings, and other homework
assignments )
Tentative Class Schedule:
Please note that course content is subject to change, depending on the needs/progress of the class. Any changes that
are made – or further assignments given – will be announced in class and/or communicated through e-mail or posted
on Blackboard. It will be your responsibility to follow the revised schedule. Stated readings and assignments are due
at the start of class. For brevity, I have occasionally used abbreviations below.
Act 1: Introducing Cinema Studies and Shakespeare’s Life & Times
8/26:
Introductions and Course Syllabus
8/28:
Shakespeare’s England
Read and peruse content from the following web pages (which are continued on the next page of
the syllabus) : accounts of Shakespeare’s England/London
(http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/locations/location153.html ;
http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/locations/location154.html ), a brief biography of Elizabeth I
(http://www.elizabethi.org/us/biography.html ) and a compendium of life in her day
(http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Elizabethan_life.htm ), and finally, a summary of
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materials about the Bard and his age from the Norton Shakespeare (at
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~sflores/345world.html )
8/30:
Shakespeare the Man & Renaissance Theatre
Read account of “The Traces of Shakespeare’s Life” by Stephen Greenblatt and “The Theatre of
Shakespeare’s London” by Tiffany Stern (both published in The New Cambridge Companion to
Shakespeare and available online via TU Libraries)
9/2:
NO CLASS (Labor Day holiday)
9/4:
Introduction to Film Studies and the History of Shakespearean Cinema
Read Samuel Crowl’s “Establishing Shot: History” (PDF on Blackboard), and pages 1-8 of
Corrigan’s Short Guide (you might also skim the rest of chapter one as an overview of the kinds of
things we’ll be doing in future class assignments)
9/6:
Introduction to Film Studies, Day 2
Screening: Opening scenes from Shakespeare in Love
Read Chapter 2 of Corrigan’s Short Guide
9/9:
Introduction to Film Studies, Day 3
Screening: Shakespeare in Love
Read the first ½ of Chapter 3 of Corrigan’s Short Guide (pg. 36-57)
Homework: Screening Response 1A due
9/11:
Introduction to Film Studies, Day 4
Screening: Shakespeare in Love
Read the remainder of Chapter 3 of Corrigan’s Short Guide (pg. 58-82)
9/13:
Final Day of Cinema Studies Introductions
Screening: Scenes from Anonymous and/or A Waste of Shame
Read/Skim Chapter 4 of Corrigan’s Short Guide
Homework: Screening Response 1B due
Act 2: Historic Frames and Narrative Games
9/16:
Overview of Historical Drama and Richard III
Read Act I of Shakespeare’s Richard III ; also read Tom Hoenselaars’ introduction to
“Shakespeare’s English History Plays” (located in The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare
and available online via TU Libraries), and peruse the general introduction to Richard III found in
your own edition of the play
9/18:
Screening: Laurence Olivier’s Richard III
Read Acts II-III of Richard III and peruse Maurice Hindle’s account of the film (PDF on
Blackboard)
9/20:
Screening: Laurence Olivier’s Richard III
Read Acts IV-V of Richard III
9/23:
Screening: Laurence Olivier’s Richard III
Homework: Screening Response 2A due
9/25:
Screening: Ian McKellen’s Richard III
Read Hindle’s account of McKellen’s version of the hump-backed king (PDF on Blackboard)
9/27:
Screening: Ian McKellen’s Richard III
9/30:
Screening: Ian McKellen’s Richard III
Homework: Screening Response 2B due
10/2:
Screening: Al Pacino’s Looking for Richard
Read Douglas Brode’s brief overview of Pacino’s film (PDF on Blackboard)
10/4:
Screening: Pacino’s Looking for Richard
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10/7:
Screening: Pacino’s Looking for Richard
Final Preparations for Paper #1
10/9:
Essay #1 DUE
Act 3: The Meaning of Comedy (and Romance) on Stage and Screen
10/11:
Overview of Shakespearean comedy and The Merchant of Venice
Read Act I of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice ; also read the linked scholarly overview of
Shakespearean comedic conventions (found at
http://ww2.montreat.edu/dking/Shakespeare/SHAKESPEAREANCOMEDY.htm ), and peruse the
general introduction to The Merchant found in your own edition of the play
10/14:
Screening: Opening scenes of Michael Radford’s Merchant of Venice
Read Acts II-III of The Merchant of Venice and peruse Toby Widdicombe/Michael Greer’s account
of the Pacino-driven film version (PDF on Blackboard)
10/16:
Screening: Michael Radford’s Merchant of Venice
Read Acts IV-V of The Merchant of Venice
10/18:
Screening: Michael Radford’s Merchant
Homework: Screening Response 3A due
10/21:
Screening: Scenes from Olivier’s Merchant and/or Trevor Nunn’s modernization
10/23:
Overview of Much Ado About Nothing
Read Act I of Much Ado About Nothing, and also peruse the general introduction to the play
printed in your own edition
10/25:
Screening: Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing
Read Acts II-III of Much Ado and peruse Hindle’s account of Branagh’s highly praised film (PDF)
Homework: Screening Response 3B due
10/28:
Screening: Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing
Read Acts IV-V of Much Ado
10/30:
Screening: Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing
11/1:
Screening: Scenes from Joss Whedon’s recent Much Ado About Nothing
11/4:
Essay #2 DUE
Screening: More clips from Whedon’s Much Ado
Act 4: Envisioning Tragic Ends and New Beginning
11/6:
Introduce Tragedy and Shakespeare’s Othello
Screening: Tragic scenes from notable film versions of Hamlet
Read the brief scholarly overview of Shakespearean tragedy (found at
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/tragedy.html ), and peruse the general introduction to
Othello found in your own edition of the play
11/8:
Screening: Opening scenes of Oliver Parker’s Othello
Read Acts I-II of Shakespeare’s Othello, and peruse Douglas Brode’s account of Parker’s film (PDF
on Blackboard)
11/11:
Screening: Oliver Parker’s Othello
Read Acts III-IV of Othello
11/13:
Screening: Parker’s Othello and/or Olivier’s earlier rendering (or the recent movie O)
Read Act V of Othello
11/15:
Screening: Scenes from Orson Welles’ Othello
Homework: Screening Response 4A due
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11/18:
Read/Review Acts I-II of Romeo and Juliet, and peruse Douglas Brode’s account of Zeffirelli’s
masterpiece (PDF on Blackboard) as well as the general introduction to the famous tragic romance
located in your own edition of the play
Screening: Scenes from Zeffirrelli’s Romeo and Juliet
11/20:
Screening: Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet
Read/Review Acts III-IV of Romeo and Juliet
11/22:
Screening: Opening scenes of Baz Luhrmann’s R + J
Read/Review Act V of Romeo and Juliet, and peruse Douglas Brode’s account of Luhrmann’s
frantic film (PDF on Blackboard)
Homework: Screening Response 4B due
11/25:
Screening: Baz Luhrmann’s R + J
11/27:
Screening: Scenes from the recent Private Romeo
11/29:
NO CLASS (Thanksgiving break)
12/2:
Screening: Private Romeo
12/4:
Final Paper DUE
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