Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Shakespeare's Afterlives
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 24790
Module Lead	Kate Rumbold
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module focuses not on Shakespeare's plays and poems themselves, but on the ways in which these texts have been reinvented and re-valued from Shakespeare’s own lifetime to the present day. We will encounter a range of texts that ‘re-make’ Shakespeare, focusing particularly on twentieth- and twenty-first-century materials. Texts may include, for example, teen movie Ten Things I Hate About You, which transfers Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew to an American high school; West Side Story, which reimagines Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of gang wars in New York City; and A Thousand Acres, which moves King Lear to the farmlands of the American mid-west. Via novelisations, popular culture quotations, Shakespeare heritage sites, translations, and, more recently, digital transformations, students on this module will consider how these materials have given new meaning to the notion of Shakespeare as 'universal' poet. We will examine closely the language and genres of these re-made texts; test out theories of reception, adaptation and intertextuality; and consider the ways in which ‘Shakespeare’ has been reshaped to suit contemporary cultural preoccupations, interest groups or even nations, elevating his status in the process. At the same time, we will challenge the notion of a consistent, universal 'Shakespeare' by acknowledging the multiple and contingent circumstances by which certain texts and authors gain iconic cultural status over time. More broadly, the materials and ideas considered in this module give us the opportunity to reflect on the processes that have shaped – and continue to shape – the value of English Literature.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Demonstrate knowledge of the variety of ways in which Shakespeare’s texts have been adapted transformed, and deployed in the twentieth- and twenty-first- centuries. Analyse closely the language and generic choices of these re-made texts, and show awareness of the larger literary, cultural and social contexts that have informed them. Undertake independent study pertaining to the module material, and demonstrate critical engagement with scholarship on relevant issues. Evaluate the significance of Shakespeare’s afterlives in the context of the changing valuation of English Literature more broadly.
Assessment	24790-01 : 4,000 Word Essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment 4,000 word essay (100%) Method of Reassessment 4,000 word essay.
Other
Reading List