English 250                                                                             Richard Finkelstein

Fall 2007                                                                                 Welles 220

T 3:35-6:05                                                                             finkelst@geneseo.edu

Welles 119                                                                              X5245

                                                                                                Office Hrs: T/R 12:45-2:00 

                                                                                                and by appointment

 

Shakespeare and Film

 

Goals: This course has a double objective:  to gain a solid understanding of plays from 3 Shakespearean genres; and to gain an understanding of the changing approaches to filming Shakespeare during the last several decades, particularly from the 1950Õs to the turn of the millennium.  In other words, we will learn how to read ShakespeareÕs plays and also learn something else—how to read the renderings of his plays on film.

                                                                                               

Texts:

 

Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Macbeth (I ordered paperbacks at Sundance but you can use whatever editions you wish, although itÕs very helpful to have ones with act, scene, line numbers and notes).

 

You should complete your reading of each play by the date of its first appearance on the schedule.

 

Schedule:

 

8/28     Introduction; silent Shakespeare; Welles, Othello

 

9/4       Othello

 

9/11     Taming of the Shrew  

 

9/18     Zefirelli, Taming of the Shrew

 

9/25     Pickford, Shrew  (scenes); begin Macbeth

 

10/2     Polanski, Macbeth   Paper 1 Due

 

10/9     Fall Break     

 

10/16   Polanski, Macbeth; Henry V

 

10/23   Henry V; Branagh, Henry V

 

10.30   Branagh, Henry V

 

11/6     Olivier, Henry V and Hamlet (scenes); Much Ado About Nothing

 

11/13   Branagh, Much Ado About Nothing

 

11/20   Branagh, Much Ado; Titus   Paper 2 Due

 

11/27   Titus; Taymor, Titus

 

12/4     Taymor, Titus

 

 

12/13 @ 3:30-6:30 Final Exam

 

Evaluation:

 

class participation (includes any quizzes tba)              15%                            

1 5 page paper (due 10/2)                                            25%

1 7-page paper (due 11/20)                                         35%

final exam (Thursday, 12/13 @ 3:30)                         25%                

 

 

Notes: Attendance is important because there is a grade for class participation and, of course, because the course meets only once a week, and there may be unannounced quizzes. I am happy to discuss your ideas and planning for papers with you. However, because I have not found evaluating full drafts of papers helpful to students, I canÕt actually fully written papers before theyÕre due.  However, by all means come with works in progress. All written work must be completed to pass the course. Late papers require InstructorÕs consent.

 

Partial List of SHAKESPEARE FILMS OWNED BY THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

 

Romeo and Juliet—Zeffirelli

Romeo and Juliet—Luhrmann

Hamlet—Almereyda

Hamlet—Zeffirelli

Hamlet—Olivier

Hamlet--Branagh

Othello—Parker

Othello—Welles

Macbeth---Welles

Macbeth—Polanski

Midsummer NightÕs Dream--Hoffman

Richard III—Olivier

Richard III—Locraine

Henry V—Olivier

Henry V—Branagh

Lear—Olivier

Shrew—Zeffirelli

Shrew—w/Pickford

selections of early silent Shakespeare, includes King John, Tempest, Dream, Lear,

12th Night, Merchant of Venice, Richard III

 

Note: The films we will be watching include images of violence, nudity, and brief but relatively explicit sexual acts. If you wish to take this course you must indicate you are aware of these facts by signing below and returning this page to me.

 

I am aware that some of the films shown in English 250 (Fall 2005) contain nudity, violence, and explicit images of violence and sexual acts.

 

 

Signature___________________________________________

 

 

Name (printed) _______________________________________

 

 

Date________________