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ShowCases: 3 Sisters, Mikado, 12th Night, Hamlet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dangerous Liaisons, Don Juan
prof. Anatoly Antohin Theatre UAF AK 99775 USA
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3 Sisters, Mikado, 12th Night, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dangerous Liaisons, Don Juan
* March 2006: Go.dot -- 100 years since Sam Beckett's birth * THR413 Playscript Analysis (Fall)
NEW: 2005: total directing & total acting
Memorize it! No kidding!
Summary
Fall 2004 THR215 DramLit
Notes
2004 & After
Queen: unanswered questions...
The Ghost -- what is he not saying? Does he know that Hamlet is not his son, but his brothers? He calls him "son"? He raised him as his son!
"Love Story" (Hamlet - Ophelia): was she pregnant? Does Hamlet know? She went mad over this fact?
Why would Shakespeare leave me asking those questions?
The play is extremely open for inperpretations -- that is the secret of great playwrighting! [ I teach Hamlet again in THR215, Fall 2005 ]
"Fearing that his intentions could be revealed, Hamlet invents a madness to distract and hide his true intentions from King Claudius' many spies. This includes Ophelia, the women he loves whom he bitterly rejects when he learns she has betrayed him." * Ophelia should know beeter, if she loves Hamlet. Does she?
Problems:
"Hamlet's duty as a son, in his social context and circumstances, is one which encourages him to seek revenge for his murdered father. For Hamlet to be perceived as a noble and worthy son, he would have to kill his father's murderer, and his actions would be supported by society as long as the murderer was believed to be guilty"... Alas! To kill the KING? No, no, according to mr. Shake. The crime against the nation! "Society's view of murdering a king as the most sacrilegious crime of all is illustrated by Claudius when he reflects on his own actions in killing his brother, King Hamlet." Above killing his own brother?
Hamlet dies at the end, fulfilling his duty as a son and his duty to society, by purging the corrupt from the monarchy and avenging his father's death... The death of Hamlet is the only right end? When did he understand it? After the Ghost? He knows that at end he will be dead... "Go to the nunnery!"
"If it is justifiable to look for logic and consistency in Hamlet, as Eliot did, one can find a far greater inconsistency in the play than the inadequate preparation of the audience for Hamlet’s attitude toward his mother in the Closet Scene. That inconsistency is Hamlet’s almost total lack of concern for his loss of the Kingdom of Denmark." HAMLET INCONSISTENT JOHN SAFER:
"... Hamlet’s attitude toward the throne seems to contradict what history, experience, and even Shakespeare have taught us. Only once does Hamlet ever speak of the loss of his kingdom, and even then only in passing. Other than that, he never refers to the loss of this prize of ultimate power and prestige, a loss which has just taken place, and a prize for which so many people have been willing to commit any act, including, in the case of Hamlet’s uncle, the murder of a brother. This would seem to fly in the face of what we know about human nature. And, to make the case stronger, the character who never talks about his feelings regarding this vital matter is someone who shares his innermost thoughts with the audience to a greater extent than almost any character in the history of the theater. This silence on Hamlet’s part would appear to be an inconsistency far greater than the inappropriate dialogue in one scene to which T. S. Eliot devoted his entire essay, and on which he based his conclusion that Hamlet was a failure."
"An analysis of Hamlet’s lack of concern about his loss of the Danish crown begins with a question. Why isn’t Hamlet the King of Denmark as the drama opens? (bold -- AA) Early in the play, we are told that the King, Hamlet’s father, has just died. The play makes it clear that Hamlet is the King’s only son. In the Graveyard Scene, we learn that Hamlet is 30 years old, so we know he is not too young to wear the crown. There is no indication that any extra-legal political coup has taken place. Then why didn’t Hamlet become the King upon his father’s death?
There is an answer to that question, and a straightforward one. In Shakespeare’s time, Denmark chose its kings by election, not automatic succession. The election was a very circumscribed one, wherein the only voters were the members of a council of nobles. Under that system, the late King’s son did not automatically inherit the throne. Shakespeare may have felt it was not necessary to explain this procedure, since he was writing plays principally addressed to an audience composed of England’s nobility and gentry, who were well acquainted with the procedures by which kings attained their thrones, particularly in nearby European countries.
Shakespeare based the character of Hamlet on Amleth, a Danish prince who lived in the 10th century, at a time when the king’s oldest son did become king automatically when his father died. However, in the 1300s, Denmark adopted its elective system. The question then arises, when does the action of Hamlet take place? Shakespeare gives us the answer, as always, obliquely. We learn that Hamlet is roughly a contemporary of Shakespeare from the fact that Hamlet is a student at the University of Wittenberg, which was not founded until the 16th century (a fact probably well known to the elite of Shakespeare’s audience, but, of course, not to most current theatergoers). In addition, Shakespeare gives us one concrete piece of evidence. This is embodied in one, and only one, line of dialogue, but nonetheless a line Hamlet speaks. In the last act, Hamlet tells us that his uncle, Claudius, has “Popp’d in between the election and my hopes.”
And so, rather casually, and late in the play, Shakespeare tells us that Hamlet’s uncle did not usurp the throne, but was legally elected King of Denmark. From Hamlet’s remarks about his father’s death, the audience knows that the election took place very shortly before the commencement of the drama. Further, the entire ambience of the play implies that Hamlet was not a candidate, or even a factor, in the election. The election in question was nothing like those with which we are familiar today. There was no open democratic procedure in which any citizen could compete for the job of chief of state. It was generally understood that if there were a qualified son of the old king available, that prince would dominate the race to elect the new ruler. It follows that Hamlet, in accordance with his words cited above, had expected that the throne of Denmark would someday be his, but had seen his hopes dashed when Claudius had manipulated events to bring about the state of affairs that exists when the curtain first rises.
Hamlet’s lack of concern for his lost kingdom is again evidenced when he confronts his mother in the Closet Scene. There, his vicious attack is based on the Queen’s hasty marriage after his father’s death. It would be more consistent with what we know about people in general, and princes in particular, if Hamlet should, instead, rage at his mother for having allowed his uncle to stage the election which deprived him of his kingdom. While he was unleashing his fury at his mother, Hamlet should have given some thought, and possibly some tongue, to the likelihood that she was having an affair with Claudius before her husband’s death.
There is a high probability of a liaison between Claudius and Gertrude that antedated the death of Hamlet’s father. Without the existence of such a relationship, the audience would be asked to believe that Gertrude fell in love instantly after her husband’s death, or at best, was suddenly able to give in to her suppressed desire for Claudius within days after he murdered her husband, and then immediately agree to marry him. Also, we presume, because it could hardly have happened otherwise, that within an equally short time after her husband’s death, Gertrude gave her assent to the holding of the election that put Claudius on the throne. The Queen occupied a position of great power in the court, and must have had a major voice in deciding when and how the election should be held to elect her late husband’s successor. The election was held almost before the murdered King’s body was cold, so the Queen’s cooperation must have been essential. Since this support that we deduce Gertrude had to give Claudius also deprived her only son of his rightful place on the throne of Denmark, a long-standing relationship between Gertrude and Claudius becomes all too probable.
In spite of this strong case of circumstantial evidence against his mother, Hamlet, in the Closet Scene, lashes out at the Queen without ever alluding to what very probably was her infidelity to his father, not to mention her betrayal of Hamlet himself. These omissions indicate, once more, that Hamlet’s behavior does not, at least with regard to his loss of the Danish crown, reflect what Shakespeare certainly knew about the human psyche." [ ]
"A LACK OF LOGIC" (Tolstoy -- a lack of true psychology, but Vigotsky on Lear -- "Logic of Drama"!):
Your answers!
Your questions?
Does Hamlet believe in God?
No answer from my class...
...
T. S. Eliot, in 1932, wrote an essay on Hamlet -- Eliot argued that Hamlet is an artistic failure, due to a basic weakness in the play. (Tolstoy did it too). [ Eliot made the point that in the “Closet Scene,” when Hamlet confronts Queen Gertrude, his mother, in her bedchamber, his words demonstrate an animosity and a vindictiveness for which the audience is totally unprepared. ]
SCREEN:
"There have been dozens of screen versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet over the years, but writer-director Michael Almereyda’s edgy, briskly paced, visually stunning adaptation is one of the most entertaining and accessible ever. As is customary in adaptations of Shakespeare, Almereyda preserves the Bard’s original dialogue. But the time of the classic drama is moved forward to the year 2000 and the place is changed to New York City." [ DVD Length: 123 minutes ]
What sets Almereyda’s Hamlet apart from other screen adaptations of the classic play is its visual style. The movie masterfully uses unexpected images, jumpcuts, different film stocks, and a varied color palette to complement Shakespeare’s dialogue. A good example of this is where crowds of zombie-like people are shown thronging a Manhattan street as Hamlet says in voice-over, "The time is out of joint. O, cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right!"
In its approach to the story of Hamlet as a family tragedy, Almereyda’s version is rather similar to the great 1948 adaptation by Laurence Olivier. But Almereyda’s version is much faster paced and more varied visually than Olivier’s, although the new adaptation doesn’t match the lyricism of the 1948 version. Still, Almereyda has created one of the best screen versions of the Bard’s immortal play so far, and I recommend it highly. * Amen.
Lion King Vs Hamlet
The movie, The Lion King, and the book, Hamlet, both have a similar story line. In both stories, the king is killed and revenge is sought by the king’s son. The murderers in the stories are the king’s brothers who want the power of the throne. After the death of the Kings, both of the villains successfully took over the kingdoms. While these villains ruled, the kingdoms slowly deteriorated. Neither of the sons liked the villains, but they did not know at first that they had anything to do with their father’s death. It took an outside force to convince them that they must vow revenge for their father’s death. Both sons had the wit to approach revenge strategically. They wanted the villains to know that they knew about how their fathers were murdered. The leading roles in each of the stories had a corresponding role in the other. The corresponding characters shared a number of similarities, but it was the ways in which they were different that determined their fate and that of the kingdom. In Hamlet, the prince is Hamlet. He is in deep grieving of his father’s death. He is angry because he believes that everyone has already forgotten how great of a king his father was. Hamlet does not know for sure who is responsible for his father’s death, but he suspects Claudius who is his uncle and the new king. Hamlet decides that if he can convince everyone that he is insane, then maybe he will be able to get someone to tell him more about his father’s murder. In The Lion King, Simba is the prince. Simba’s father, Mufasa, is killed after he falls from a cliff into a herd of hyenas. Simba falls into a deep depression after his uncle Scar twists things around and convinces Simba that he is the one responsible for the Mufasa’s death. Simba can not deal with what has happened and he runs away from the kingdom. In Hamlet, The new king Claudius is able to gain respect from the kingdom. He even steals the love of Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. The old king’s councilor, Polonius, becomes Claudius’s councilor and his best friend. He helps Claudius keep an eye on Hamlet and tries to keep him from finding out anything about his father’s death. Polonius believes that if he helps Claudius that he can make life better for himself and for his daughter and son. But in the end, his actions get him slayed, drive his daughter to insanity, and eventually set the stage for his son to die in a sword fight with Hamlet. In The Lion King, as soon as Scar takes over as king, everything in the kingdom begins to die and grow ugly. The three Hyenas become Scar’s helpers. He uses them to do his work and to keep an eye on Simba. The Hyenas think that by helping Scar, they will earn some power, but Scar eventually double-crosses them. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s mother crosses her son by marrying Claudius. She loved Hamlet, but she wanted to keep her title as queen. Throughout the play she shows that she is loyal to Claudius because she tells him everything that Hamlet tells her. Hamlet can’t understand how a woman could just forget the love of one man, his father, and jump right into another bed with a new man. He begins to hate all women because of this. In The Lion King, Sarabi, Simba’s mom has great pride and faith in her son. When her husband dies, she knows that Simba is not to blame. She also believes that Simba has the strength to take the throne back and reclaim the kingdom. Hamlet’s only friend who he can trust in the play is Horatio. When Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, he is able to confide in Horatio about what he had seen and what the ghost had told him. The ghost told Hamlet that Claudius was the murderer of his father. This is easy for Hamlet to believe because he doesn’t like Claudius. Hamlet gets an idea to perform a play in front of the whole kingdom that would depict the way in which he believed Claudius killed his father. He shares his idea with Horatio and gets him to watch Claudius to see how he reacts. When Claudius sees the play, he can barely breathe. His actions convince Hamlet and Horatio that he is the murderer. Hamlet now has the proof he vows to kill Claudius the next time he catches him in an act of sin, so that he is guaranteed to go to hell. In The Lion King, Simba has many friends. They all believe in him. His best friend in Nala, who he ends up falling in love with. She is able to finally convince him that Scar was the one who killed his father. By now, Simba was grown and he was prepared to fight Scar and take back the throne. The ending in Hamlet was a tragedy. Hamlet is involved in a sword match with Laertes who is Polonius’s son. King Claudius and Hamlet’s mother are there to watch the fight. Claudius and Laertes had already planned for this fight to be the death of Hamlet. Laertes sword was poisoned and as a back up a drink in which Hamlet was to drink from was also poisoned. Instead of Hamlet drinking the wine, his mother takes a drink in honor of her son. She starts to feel the poison and she warns Hamlet of it before she dies. It is too late though, the poisonous sword had cut Hamlet. In anger, Hamlet steals the poisoned sword and runs it into Laertes. He then charges Claudius and runs it into him. He also takes the wine and forces Claudius to drink from it. Both Claudius and Laertes die before Hamlet. Hamlet regains his throne for a few seconds, until the poison sets in and takes his life. The Lion King has a happy ending. Simba returns to his kingdom and he finds Scar. He tells Scar that he knows about his father’s death. Scar lies to Simba by telling him that the Hyenas were the ones who killed Mufasa. This upsets the Hyenas. They leave Scar to fight Simba by himself. Simba wins the fight and throws Scar off a cliff, into the herd of the Hyenas. The hyenas show no remorse for Scar and they trample over him, killing him. Once Simba takes back the throne, the whole kingdom becomes beautiful again and everyone is happy. The two stories had similar plots and characters. But in the end, the small differences in how the characters acted separated the tragedy of Hamlet from the happy ending of Disney’s The Lion King. [essays.cc]
Derek Jacobi: a Special Kind of Hamlet in the BBC’s Shakespeare Plays [ Claudius in 1996 ]
‘Tis a pity Hamlet never got to be king.’
HamletY2K[w] : The film is notable for its modern setting and inclusion of modern technology such as video cameras, Polaroid cameras, and surveillance bugs. For example, the ghost of Hamlet's murdered father first appears on closed-circuit TV. Also much of the original dialogue is cut from the script in order to suit the modern day surroundings. Much of the remaining dialogue focuses on Hamlet's relationship with his mother and Claudius. [ Directed by ]
R/G 2008 HAMLET (flickr slideshow) R+G are Dead
