Screen Adaptations: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: The Relationship Between Text and Film

This close study of the relationship between text and film versions of Romeo & Juliet will offer plenty of material to literature and film studies students to support their courses and essay writing on how the film versions provide different readings of the original text.

Focusing on West Side Story and Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, the book discusses the literary text in its historical context, key themes and dominant readings of the text, how the text is adapted for the screen, and how adaptations have changed our reading of the original text. There are numerous excerpts from the literary text, screenplays, and shooting scripts, with suggestions for comparison. The book also features quotations from authors, screenwriters, directors, critics, and others linked with the chosen film and text.