Shakespeare and Film: The Sound and the Fury

Shakespeare 363 Instructor: Todd Andrew Borlik

When: Tuesday 6:30=9:30 Email: tborlik@bloomu.edu
Where: Bakeless 104 Office: Bakeless 111B
Fall 2010 Office Hours: TuTh 10-12, W, 3-4

From film noir to teen comedy, from samurai epics to science

fiction, from Hollywood to Bollywood, Shakespeare and film
seems a match in Elysium. In this course we will read and study
landmark adaptations of seven of Shakespeare’s most
celebrated plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V,
Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and The
Tempest. In addition to assessing the synergy and the rivalry
between Shakespeare’s verbal pyrotechnics and the visual
spectacle of cinema, we will discuss the cultural energy
unleashed by transplanting the Bard from the Wooden O to the
silver screen.
Required Texts
• William Shakespeare, Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays, ISBN-
13: 978-0393-93313-0
• Samuel Crowl, Shakespeare and Film: A Norton Guide, ISBN-13: 978-
0393-92765-8

Course Reserves:
• Boose, Lynda and Richard Burt, eds. Shakespeare the Movie, II
• Buchman, Lorne. Still in Movement: Shakespeare on Screen
• Burnett, Mark T. and Ramona Wray. Shakespeare, Film, Fin de
Siecle.
• Crowl, Shakespeare at the Cineplex: The Branagh Era
• Davies, Anthony and Stanley Welles, eds. Shakespeare and the
Moving Image
• Jackson, Russell, ed. Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film
• Jorgens, Jack. Shakespeare on Film
• Rothwell, Kenneth. A History of Shakespeare on Screen
• Shaughnessy, Robert, ed. Shakespeare on Film: A Casebook
Assignments
1. Film Presentation

• Begin with a brief preamble setting up the scene you will show.
• Screen the clip from your assigned film (the clip must not exceed 5
minutes).
• Conclude with 2-3 minute assessment of the scene’s significance and
explain why or why not it represents a successful cinematic
adaptation of Shakespeare.

2. Viewer’s Report

For the Viewer’s Report, you must prepare a one-page, single-spaced

paper in which you assess all of the following:

• One Actor’s Performance

• A Specific Cinematic Device/Technique from the List of
Key Terms in Crowl’s Book
• The Impact of the Performance, Cinematic Techniques,
and/or the Adaptation of Screenplay on the
Interpretation of Shakespeare’s text

3. Passage Analysis

The Passage Analysis will consist of a one-page, single-spaced essay

in which you perform a close reading of a 15-25 line chunk of
Shakespeare’s text. Pinpoint interesting poetic and rhetorical
devices, identify word-play, explicate imagery, metaphors, etc.,
paying attention to obscure or archaic aspects of early modern
English. Try to establish a correspondence between the sound and
the sense of Shakespeare’s verse, i.e. how the style enhances the
substance. Do not consult any outside sources apart from the Oxford
English Dictionary (accessible online through the Andruss web-
page).

4. Research Paper

At the end of the term, you must submit a 5-6 pp. (double-spaced)
essay that explores some significant aspect of Shakespearean film
adaptation in a thoughtful and cogent fashion. The paper must
advance an argumentative claim about the film(s) and the
particular topic you have elected to scrutinize. You must include a
minimum of 3 outside sources (including Crowl). Papers should
follow MLA format and include a Works Cited page.
Presentations
The class will be divided into 6 groups of 3 students each. 6 weeks each
semester we will devote time to film presentations. Once per semester your
group must present clips from your three assigned films to the entire class.

Presentation 1 – 9/14

Reinhardt’s Dream: ___________________

Hall’s Dream: _______________
Hoffman’s Dream: _______________

Presentation 2 – 9/28

Olivier’s Henry V: __________________

Branagh’s Henry V: __________________
Radford’s Merchant of Venice: _______________

Presentation 3 – 10/12

Zefferelli’s Hamlet ________________

Branagh’s Hamlet: ________________
Almereyda’s Hamlet: __________________

Presentation 4 –11/2

Welles’ Othello: ______________________

Parker’s Othello: _____________________
Nelson’s O: __________________________
**Bhardwaj’s Omkara: _________________

Presentation 5 – 11/16

Brook‘s King Lear: _____________________

Kozinstev’s Korol Lir: ________________
Kurosawa’s Ran: ______________________
**Morehouse’s A Thousand Acres: ____________________

Presentation 6 – 12/7

McLeod’s Forbidden Planet: _____________

Jarman’s Tempest: _________________
Greenway’s Prospero’s Books: ________________
Small-Group Discussions

On the other 5 weeks during which you do not present, you must prepare
instead for small-group discussions amongst yourselves. 2 members of the
group will perform a passage analysis. The third member will be
responsible for preparing a reader’s report on a film adaptation of the play
we are studying that week. By the end of the term, you must have written
3 Passage Analysis papers and 2 Viewer’s Reports. Please note that for the
numbers to balance out, the ratio will need to be reversed one week. That
is, 2 students will present Viewer’s Reports and 1 student a Passage
Analysis.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 9/14

Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________

Henry V & Merchant of Venice 9/28

Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________

Hamlet 10/12
Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________

Midterm

Othello 11/2
Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis: __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________

King Lear 11/16

Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________

The Tempest 12/7

Passage Analysis: _________________
Passage Analysis __________________
Viewer’s Report: ___________________
Grading
5 Short Papers 20%
Midterm 20%
1 Research Paper 20%
Participation 20%
Final Exam 20%

Participation
Participation will be evaluated on the following basis
• Attendance (60%)
• Film Presentation (20%)
• Contributions to class and small-group discussion (20%)

Exams
The exams will consist of 10 multiple-choice questions, 5 passage
identifications, and 2 long essays. The exams will test you on both reading
comprehension and critical analysis.

Course Policies
• Absences: Since participation represents 20% of your final grade,
frequent absences will adversely impact your score (family and
medical emergencies excepted – please notify me as soon as
possible). If you miss more than 2 days of class due to health
reasons, please provide a note from your physician.

• Late Work: For each class date an assignment is overdue, 5

percentage points will be deducted from your score. Hard copies are
preferred, but in the event you cannot attend class on the day an
assignment is due, you may submit it electronically.

• E-mail: Periodically, I may send out emails and assignments to the

class through blackboard. Try to check your email daily, and I will
do my best to reply to your messages within 24 hours. But please
avoid sending out 11th-hour questions the night before an
assignment is due.

• Course Reserves: Please be sure to return the films and books to the
circulation desk promptly so that other students may have access to
them. Remember, if you wait until the last minute to watch your
film, it may not be available.
• Rentals: If you prefer to watch the videos at home, you might
consider acquiring a NetFlix account. Please be aware that some of
these films will not be available at major video store rental chains.

• Etiquette: Please extinguish your cell phone before the start of class.
While debate is encouraged, please remember to be respectful of
other people’s opinions. Consistently disruptive or inappropriate
behavior may result in removal from the class.

• Accommodations: Please inform me if you require accommodations

of any sort. I am very willing to work with the Office of
Accommodative Services to meet your needs.

• Writing Center: If a particular assignment is giving you trouble, don’t

hesitate to drop by my office. Also feel free to take advantage of the
wonderful Writing Center we have on campus. Call (570) 389-5232
to schedule an appointment.

• Plagiarism: Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting

someone else’s ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this
class, you are encouraged to refer to other people’s thoughts and
writing—as long as you cite them. As a matter of policy, any student
found to have plagiarized will receive a zero for the assignment and
be reported to the Director of Student Standards.
Course Calendar
Week 1 In-Class Home-work
TU 8/31 Read Over Syllabus Read Midsummer Night’s
Assign Groups/Films Dream
Shakespeare’s Life
Play-going in Elizabethan
England
1936 Short: Mr. Will
Shakespeare
Henry V – Prologue
Cinema and the Muse of Fire

TU 9/7 Silent Shakespeare Clips Read Crowl, 1-20

Shakespeare’s Rhetorical Prepare for Group Discussion
Arsenal

Week 3
TU 9/14 Definitions of Comedy Henry V
Small-Group Discussion
Presentation 1
Week 4
TU 9/21 The History Play Merchant of Venice
The Opening Prologues

Week 5
TU 9/28 Presentation 2 Hamlet (1)
Battle of Agincourt
Shakespeare’s Venice
Shylock and Anti-Semitism
Week 6
TU 10/5 Finish Up Merchant Hamlet (2-4)
Who’s There? Crowl, 20-40
Olivier and Freud
Week 7
TU 10/12 Presentation 3 Hamlet (5)
Shakespeare and the English Crowl, 179-84
Reformation

Week 8
TU 10/19 Mid-term Othello

SU 10/24 Merchant of Venice on Broadway!!!

Week 9
TU The Moor of Venice? Holderness, “Radical
10//26 Potentiality and Institutional
Closure”

Week 10
TU 11/2 Presentation 4 King Lear
Week 11

TU 11/9 Nature & The Elizabethan Crowl, 40-53

World Picture Memorize Your Passage
Definitions of Tragedy

Week 12
TU 11/16 Presentation 5
Memorization Quiz
Week 13
TU 11/23 Thanksgiving The Tempest
No Class

Week 14
TU 11/30 The Late Romances

Week 15
TU 12/7 Presentation 6 Final Paper due Friday 12/10
Shakespeare’s Farewell to the
Stage
Review for Exam
Finals
Final Exam