This course is an introduction to the adaptation of significant works of literature into the film medium. Following a historical chronology, we will study representative texts of Elizabethan drama, the Gothic and Victorian novels, the novella, contemporary drama, and the short story, and the films into which these works have been adapted. In addition to issues of historical and cultural context, the course will address both thematic and formal elements of the various literary genres and how these translate into the film medium: narrative voice and perspective, dialogue, symbol, imagery, motif, and narrative structure will all be discussed.