Film directors have transformed Shakespeare into one of today's hottest cultural properties, rekindling a profitable relationship with the world's greatest playwright that dates back to the first days of late-nineteenth-century cinema. The screen has now overtaken both the written text and the stage as the medium in which most people discover and appreciate Shakespeare. In this course we shall study some examples of this flourishing exchange between Shakespeare and film in terms of artistic expression and social practice. Required readings will include single-volume editions of the plays; a film studies handbook; and screenings of the films (at least two versions of each play).