Go to Courses and units

Shakespeare: Page, Stage and Screen unit (HEN310)

eStudent Enquire

Unit year 2025

View previous years unit information

Quick Help

Introduction

This unit provides opportunity to study a selection of Shakespearean plays and their stage and screen performance afterlives. Starting from a close consideration of Shakespeare's dramatic language, the unit will consider the multiple possibilites the plays offer for realization in performance. Students will explore a range of issues associated with the development of Shakespeare's scripts for performance, such as the differences between stage and screen adaptation, the relationship between Shakespeare's language and the visual language of film, and the ways in which Shakespeare adaptations reflect changing cultural perspectives and preoccupations.

Summary

Unit name Shakespeare: Page, Stage and Screen
Unit code HEN310
Credit points 12.5
College/School Arts and Society
Humanities and Social Sciences
Discipline English
Coordinator Associate Professor Naomi Milthorpe
Available as an elective? Yes
Delivered By University of Tasmania
Level Advanced

Sustainable Development Goals

The Unit Coordinator has identified that this unit aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on the alignment of the unit with these goals.

Learning Outcomes

  • Analyse Shakespearean texts and their screen adaptations through use of the critical apparatus supplied in recent editions, and close attention to elements of form, structure and style in the selected plays and their screen adaptations
  • Demonstrate knowledge of significant aspects of the plays (including language, characterization and ideas), ways in which the plays have been adapted for film, and key theories relevant to the study of Shakespeare and Shakespeare on film
  • Construct an argument supported by evidence from your chosen texts and reference to secondary sources
  • Communicate and critically reflect upon learning through scholarly written and oral form, as appropriate

Fee Information

Field of Education Commencing Student Contribution 1,3 Grandfathered Student Contribution 1,3 Approved Pathway Course Student Contribution 2,3 Domestic Full Fee 4
not applicable

1 Please refer to more information on student contribution amounts.
2 Please refer to more information on eligibility and Approved Pathway courses.
3 Please refer to more information on eligibility for HECS-HELP.
4 Please refer to more information on eligibility for FEE-HELP.

If you have any questions in relation to the fees, please contact UniConnect or more information is available on StudyAssist.

Please note: international students should refer to What is an indicative Fee? to get an indicative course cost.

Requisites

Prerequisites

25 credit points at Introductory level or higher

Teaching

Teaching Pattern

On Campus:
Weekly lectures and audio/visual resources (1 hour); weekly tutorials (1.5 hours)

Off Campus:
Weekly lectures and audio/visual resources (1 hour); weekly online participation

AssessmentTutorial/ Online Audiovisual Presentation (20%)|Seminar/ Online Participation (30%)|Research essay or Unessay (50%)
TimetableView the lecture timetable | View the full unit timetable

Textbooks

Required

You will need copies of the following plays, preferably in the following editions:  

• William Shakespeare, Richard III. Ed John Jowett (Oxford UP)

• William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Ed Sheldon P. Zitner (Oxford UP)

• William Shakespeare, Othello.  Ed. Michael Neill (Oxford UP)

• William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Ed. Nicholas Brooke (Oxford UP)

The above editions represent fully-researched, stable versions of our set texts, and have excellent scholarly apparatus (introductions, notes, & further reading) that help with studying Shakespeare. But Shakespeare is available in multiple editions so if you have access to other editions, please make use of them!

You can if you wish make use of the free online editions at Internet Shakespeare Editions: https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/

You will need to watch the films and filmed stage performances listed in the unit schedule. Many are available as DVDs through the UTAS Library or through the Library’s Digital Theatre+, Kanopy and ClickView subscriptions (where this is the case I will provide a link through MyLO). Alternatively, many are accessible through streaming services or online film rental services such as YouTube or iTunes.  In one case (The Tragedy of Macbeth, 2019), the film is only available on AppleTV. You can get a free 7 day trial for this service which will enable you to watch the film for class and take thorough notes, should you wish to write on it.
Recommended

For those new to studying film texts, I recommend consulting David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art. There are a number of editions of this key film theory text in the Library. Recommended secondary readings are available as e-readings or on Short Loan through the HEN310 Shakespeare: Page, Stage and Screen Reading List.  These readings will help to anchor your understanding of Shakespeare, his plays and their adaptations to their historical, political and cultural contexts and to contemporary developments in literary criticism. 

The University reserves the right to amend or remove courses and unit availabilities, as appropriate.