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Shakespeare: Page, Stage and Screen unit (HEN310)

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.

Availability

Specific information on 2027 unit availability will be available in August

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

2027 fee information will be available in August.

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, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor (Arden/Bloomsbury)

Recommended

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.