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ENG-30070 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

ENG-30070 - Shakespeare on Film: Adaptation and Appropriation
Coordinator: Becky Yearling Room: CBB2.061 Tel: +44 1782 7 34282
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

How have Shakespeare's works been adapted by the film industry, and why do screenwriters and directors make the creative decisions they make? In 'Shakespeare on Film' you will explore a range of Shakespeare plays adapted for film, and develop your understanding both of the original works and of the possibilities they offer for reinterpretation and adaptation. You can practise film adaptation yourself, as you explore possibilities for cutting and modernising Shakespeare’s text for the screen

Aims
To introduce students to concepts relating to adaptation, appropriation and intertextuality via an in-depth examination of Shakespeare on film. To relate the plays and films to their various social and cultural contexts, and examine them in relation to a variety of critical and theoretical texts. To teach students how to create their own adaptations of Shakespeare into a film script.

Intended Learning Outcomes

assess critically the works of Shakespeare and the processes through which his plays have been adapted and appropriated in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: 1,2
present effective close analysis of film and literature: 1
demonstrate the research skills appropriate to advanced undergraduate study in the Humanities, and the ability to sustain an argument in written work: 1,2
plan, research, and produce work within the limitations of time and resources available: 1,2
assimilate, synthesise and assess major critical approaches to literature and film, in particular discussions of authorship, genre, commerce, culture, gender, sexuality, class, race and nation: 2
demonstrate an understanding of the technical processes and artistic choices involved in adapting Shakespeare to film: 1,2

Study hours

Active learning: 24 hours of seminars
Independent study: 126 hours, which breaks down as:
20 hours film viewing
56 hours seminar preparation and set reading
50 hours assessment preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Assignment weighted 30%
A 1000-word comparative analysis
Students will be asked to pick a short sequence (max 5 minutes) from a film studied on the module, and to write a close comparative analysis of the film and the Shakespearean material it adapts. They will be expected to use appropriate terminology from film and literary studies. They will receive guidance from the tutor about how to choose a suitable extract. The analysis will be of 1000 words.

2: Options weighted 70%
Choice of either an essay or an adapted film script
Students will have the option to either 1) write a 2000-word essay analysing at least two modern films based on Shakespeare's work, based on a choice of c. 8 questions (with the option also to make up their own question) OR 2) write a 1300-word film script adapting an extract from a Shakespearean play + a 700-word critical component that analyses and explains the decisions made in the adaptation process. Students will be provided with examples of previous student work for both these assignments and will have the opportunity to discuss these examples in class.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025