Introduction to Onscreen Allusions to Shakespeare

Abstract

Shakespeare’s plays and motifs have been appropriated in fragmentary forms on screen since motion pictures were invented in 1893. Allusions to Shakespeare haunt our contemporary culture in a myriad of ways, whether through brief references or sustained intertextual engagements. Analysing Shakespeare’s spectral presence in modern culture, this chapter argues that tattered allusions to Shakespeare circumvent the question of “fidelity,” because they constitute appropriations of, rather than adaptations of, Shakespeare. This chapter also offers an outline of this book which contains chapters on Shakespearean appropriations in lesser-known films and unexpected contexts in India, Brazil, Russia, France, Australia, South Africa, East-Central Europe and Italy.