Required Texts:
- Individual volumes of the Signet Shakespeare
Films on Reserve:
The following films have been put on reserve in the Kerr Hall Digital
Editing Lab, Room 2160A (open Mon. - Thurs. 10:00 am. - 10:00 pm.;
Fri. 10:00 am. - 8:00pm.; Sat. 12:00 pm. - 6:00 pm.) with extended
hours during midterms and finals). To verify the films are on reserve
and not out go to the Kerr
Hall Learning Lab Website and click on "Professor"
(then "Fumerton" and then the specific film on reserve)Thanks
to Professor Mark Rose for his suggestions, and for the caveat,
"None of them is Shakespeare's play, but they are all
interesting film adaptations and can help to suggest the possibilities
of the plays."
- Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, The
Taming of the Shrew (1967). Interesting, if strange, parallels
with their dramatic real-life marriage. Captures well the rough-and-tumble
exuberance of the Native Festive comedic tradition.
- BBC production of The Taming of the Shrew (1981), directed
by Jonathan Miller. John Cleese is a deadly serious Petruchio
and the play moves toward a taming that is about Puritanical self-control.
- William Woodman, Richard II (1992)
- BBC/Time-Life
Shakespeare, Richard II (1981). The best of a pretty mediocre
lot of films of the play. Still waiting for an imaginative director
to turn it into a hit.
- Michael Hoffman, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999). Bicycles
and phonographs replace the exoticism of the East in this 19th
c modernization of the play. Kevin Kline steals the show as Bottom.
- Max Reinhardt,
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). Classic, though peformed
in a sentimental Victorian vein, with hundreds of pretty fairies,
lots of music, etc..
- Peter Hall,
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981). Royal Shakespeare Company,
including Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, and Judy Dench. Smart and
unsentimental revisionist version of the play.
- Actor Shakespeare Theater segments
of The Merchant of Venice (1986), featuring Patrick Stewart
(reading versions of speeches of Shylock) and Lisa Harrow (reading
versions of speeches by Portia). Excellent for gaining different
perspectives on the roles.
- Laurence Olivier, The Merchant of Venice
(1973). Filmed version of a stage production with setting in Edwardian
England.
- Michael Radford, The Merchant of Venice
(2004). Star-filled cast (Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as
Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio). Shylock as a "heavy."
- Michael Almereyda, Hamlet (2000). Takeover of a medieval
Danish throne is rendered as corporate takeover in modern New
York. Ethan Hawke plays a muted Hamlet. Interesting use of technology.
- Laurence Olivier, Hamlet (1948). Classic.
Expressionistic film style with Freudian interpretation.
- Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet (1996). Brilliant recent Hamlet
which plays entire Hamlet text uncut. Clearly the most important
film Hamlet since Olivier's.
- Franco Zeffirelli, Hamlet (191), with Mel Gibson as
hunky, pent-up Hamlet and Glenn Close as his mother, Gertrude.
Heavy on Freudian interpretation.
Online Resources:
- Shakespeare
in Quarto. 93 facsimiles of the 21 plays by Shakespeare that
were printed in quarto; mounted online in the British Library's
Treasure's in Full site. The site allows you to compare pages
of different editions side by side.
- Furness
Shakespeare Library. Facsimiles of a growing number of texts
from the time of Shakespeare or relevant to the study of Shakespeare,
as well as facsimiles of critical texts. (U. Penn.)
- Folger
Shakepeare Library. Information on the collections, current
exhibits, theatre productions, and the institute and library itself.
You can now access Hamnet,
the Folger Library Catalog, online.
- Shakespeare
in Quarto. 93 copies of the 21 plays by Shakespeare prited
in quarto, British Library.
- Voice
of the Shuttle Shakespeare Resource Page. Full of helpful
links to pages on Shakespeare's plays, productions, criticism,
and the age-old "authorship question."
- Background
on the English Renaissance
- Index
of Other English Renaissance Sites
First Paper (3-4
pp.; due Friday, November 7, at 2 pm. in your TA's mailbox)
Instructions:
- Choose one of the topics offered below
and one of the first three plays on the syllabus. (You may only
choose a different topic with the consultation and approval of
your TA.)
- Make an original and interesting argument
(a thesis) about the topic in your chosen play.
- Back up your thesis with solid evidence.
Quote the play frequently and pay attention to the details of
the language you quote (telling words, repetitions, meter, rhyme,
imagery, tone, punctuation, etc.)
- You need not answer every question
posed in the topic suggestions. They are there to provoke thought.
- Read the more detailed guidelines
below to ensure that you write a good paper:
Possible Topics:
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