This module is 100% assessed.

Students at Level 5 (i.e. Year 2) may choose assessment by either 2 x 4000-word essays or 1 x 4000-word essay and 1 x creative project with supporting essay of 1800 words.

Students at Level 6 (i.e. Years 3 and 4) may choose assessment by either 2 x 4500-word essays or 1 x 4500-word essay and 1 x creative project with supporting essay of 2000 words.

Assessment 1

Deadline for submission: Term 1, Week 11

Choose one of the following questions:

1. Compare Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays with one or more of their sources. What are the effects of Shakespeare’s changes?
2. Can we reconstruct performance from archival sources and/or historical accounts, and what can we learn from the attempt to do so? Discuss two or more examples, with particular reference to The Bouncing Knight and/or Falstaff's Wedding.
3. What is the value of abridging or condensing Shakespeare’s plays for performance? Explore this question in relation to two or more adaptations studied this term.
4. “Out, ye rouge! Play out the play. I have much to say in the behalf of that Falstaff” (Henry IV Part 1, 2.4.471-2). Analyse how and why any two practitioners position Falstaff at the centre of the play’s world.
5. “Ha, cousin, is it not?” (Henry IV Part 1, 1.1.75). Discuss the intertextual relationship between Chimes at Midnight and My Own Private Idaho.
6. Discuss how any two or more adapters of the Henry IV plays incorporate material taken from other Shakespeare texts into their interpretation of the play.
7. Explore the ways in which changing ideas about sexuality and gender have affected the ways in which the Henry IV plays has been remade.
8. How have the Henry IV plays been adapted to changing audience tastes and expectations? Discuss with reference to two or more adaptations.
9. How important is social and historical context in the study of Shakespeare’s cultural afterlife? Discuss with reference to the Henry IV plays and at least one adaptation.
10. Discuss the ways in which a detailed knowledge of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1 can enrich a reading of Abigail Thorn's The Prince.
11. “I’ll so offend, to make offence a skill; / Redeeming time when men think least I will” (Henry IV Part 1, 1.2.206-7). Discuss the treatment of female characters and/or performers in any two adaptations of the Henry IV plays.
12. “The skipping king, he ambled up and down
    With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,
    Soon kindled and soon burnt; carded his state,
    Mingled his royalty with capering fools,
    Had his great name profaned with their scorns
    And gave his countenance, against his name,
    To laugh at gibing boys and stand the push
    Of every beardless vain comparative,
    Grew a companion to the common streets,
    Enfeoffed himself to popularity” (Henry IV Part 1, 3.2.60-9). Discuss the significance of celebrity in the contemporary performance and production of the Henry IV plays.
13. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. / Uh, Shakespeare in the park?” (The Avengers) Explore the connection between Shakespeare's work and superheroes in relation to Thor and any other superhero film.
14. “Do not mistake my appetite for apathy” (Thor). Analyse the treatment of Shakespearean language in two or more adaptations of the Henry IV plays.
15. Examine the impact of real-life warfare and/or political conflict on the ways in which the Henry IV plays have been re-made.
16. “The play is always more than Hal’s story, just as it is always more than Falstaff’s – or more than Hotspur’s, or more than the King’s – but it always no less than all of their stories” (David Scott Kastan). How has the focal point of Henry IV Part 1 changed throughout history?
17. Is Henry IV Part 1 a coming-of-age story? Explore this question in relation to two or more adaptations of the play.
18. How well does Henry IV Part 2 work as a sequel to its more frequently performed predecessor and what might a reading of the two plays in connection tell us about contemporary sequel culture?
19. Analyse the process of transferring the Henry IV plays from stage to screen.
20. Create an adaptation of Henry IV Part 1 in any medium, along with a supporting essay (1800 words for Level 5 students, 2000 words for Level 6 students). You may draw on any practical work undertaken in seminars. Proposals should be submitted to the module tutor by the Monday of Term 1, Week 9. (Advice on creative projects can be found here.)
21. Devise your own question in consultation with your tutor. Proposals should be submitted to the module tutor by the Monday of Term 1, Week 9.

Assessment 2

Deadline for submission: Term 3, Week 3

Devise an essay question or a creative project in consultation with your tutor. Deadline for proposals: Term 2, Week 6. Creative projects must be accompanied with a supporting essay (1800 words for Level 5 students, 2000 words for Level 6 students). Advice on creative projects can be found here.