TR 8:00-9:20 a.m.
Course description: An examination of Shakespeare’s working life, the antecedents for his work, and the myriad adaptations and interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays, particularly to film. In-depth readings of Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and Romeo and Juliet. Viewings of “traditional” film adaptations, as well as musical, operatic, animated, and parodic versions. Discussions of the art of adaptation and the relevance of Shakespeare for modern audiences.
Course objectives: We will attempt to use critical thinking skills to get closer to the answers to several questions which may in fact be unanswerable. Among our questions will be these: Why do we so frequently use Shakespeare as our default reference point? (As an example, why do star-crossed love stories always remind us of Romeo and Juliet?) What makes Shakespeare’s plays such attractive fodder for adaptation, in every language and every medium? At what point does an adaptation stray so far from the original source material that we no longer identify it as an adaptation? (For example, is there still enough of Hamlet in Disney’s The Lion King to say the latter is definitely an adaptation of Shakespeare?)
Required texts: We will read three of Shakespeare’s plays for this class:
Hamlet
The Taming of the Shrew
Romeo and Juliet
You may use any edition. Some editions will have critical texts, footnotes, and glossaries which may prove useful to you. But if you are accustomed to using a laptop or e-reader and want to save a little money, you will find electronic editions of all three plays free on the Internet.
Additionally, there may be other reading assignments of scholarly articles or background material, which will either be distributed in handouts or made available through Internet links.
Recommended texts: Several of the course lectures will summarize the ideas of various Shakespeare scholars. You will always be provided with the names of authors and texts cited in the lectures. For testing purposes, your class notes should suffice. However, you may want to use the full texts as references in your term paper. If MSU library doesn’t have a particular volume you are looking for, you may borrow the work from your instructor.
Required viewing: Some films will be watched in class. You will be required to watch eight other films on your own time. All required films are available on DVD or VHS at MSU library course reserves (first floor circulation desk); each film is available on a three-hour reserve. (You may also choose to rent or buy the DVDs or downloads from any other available source.) Films required for out-of-class viewing are as follows:
Hamlet (1990, dir. Franco Zeffirelli, with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close)
The Lion King (1994, Walt Disney production)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990, dir. Tom Stoppard)
The Taming of the Shrew (1967, dir. Franco Zeffirelli, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton)
Kiss Me, Kate (1953 film version of the Broadway musical)
10 Things I Hate about You (1999, dir. Gil Junger, with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger)
Romeo and Juliet (1968, dir. Franco Zeffirelli)
West Side Story (1961 film version of the Broadway musical)
Tests: The blue book exams will ask you to synthesize information from course lectures with texts and films.
Term paper: The term paper should be an original essay in MLA format of a quality and length appropriate for a conference presentation (7-10 pages plus works cited list). (If as an individual goal you wish to write a paper of greater length, up to 20 pages, with the intent of submitting a manuscript for publication, please consult the instructor. For the course grade, you should submit the shorter paper, but your instructor will happily offer suggestions for expanding the paper and will proofread longer works completed by the end of the semester.) Topic must be approved in advance. Please consult with the instructor regularly through the writing process. If you’re not sure about the quality of potential source material, please ask. If you have questions about formatting or argumentation, please ask. Ultimately, you are responsible for the final result, but please do not hesitate to consult your instructor along the way. Topic must be approved no later than March 20. Final draft of the term paper must be submitted no later than May 3. Late papers will not be accepted.
Grading: Your course grade will consist of four elements:
Blue-book exam # 1 30% of course grade
Blue-book exam # 2 30% of course grade
Term paper 30% of course grade
Class attendance and participation 10% of course grade
Your letter grade for the course will be based on the following scale: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=0-59.
Late papers will not be accepted.
Attendance: This course is a seminar, and as such it requires an active and lively discussion to have the greatest benefit for all participants. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. Absences for approved MSU activities will be excused as long as all deadlines for required work are met. Absences for illness or family emergencies will be excused at the instructor’s discretion, again providing that all deadlines for required work are met. A third unexcused absence will result in the student being dropped from the course. Excessive tardiness may be treated as an absence. Please show courtesy and respect for your instructor and your fellow students by arriving on time for every class meeting.
The grade for attendance and participation will be weighted more toward quality rather than quantity. A talkative person with no salient point will not be judged as favorably as a less talkative person with clearer questions and ideas. A person with perfect attendance but little participation will not be judged as favorably as a person who has missed a class or two but who regularly asks questions and offers well-reasoned comments.