Holding mirrors up to Hamlet: what Franco Zeffirelli s and Michael Almereyda s filmic adaptations of the play tell us about it

Abstract

Hamlet (1601), by William Shakespeare, has been, since its publication in the First Folio (1623), surrounded by a huge and varied number of readings, ranging from critical and theoretical texts up to several different theatrical and cinematographic adaptations. Since the end of the 19th century, cinema has adapted Shakespearean plays, proposing alternative points of view and interpretations when transposing them to the screen. Among a list of several filmic adaptations of Hamlet, Franco Zeffirelli s mainstream Hamlet (1990) and Michael Almereyda s independent Hamlet 2000 (2000) make up the corpus under analysis in this dissertation. Establishing a dialogue with ideas developed by important critics and theorians such as André Bazin, Robert Stam and Linda Hutcheon about the notion of adaptation, I suggest a dismissal of the hierarchy between the Shakespearean play and the films; therefore, a dismissal of the notion of literature/theater's superiority to cinema. The main aim of this dissertation consists in proposing that the chosen films be taken as potential critical material providing access to the Shakespearean play in the discussion of its major issues