Hamlet: Ophelia

        Ophelia, the poor girl who lost her mind at the loss of Hamlet and her father. Her untimely demise shook Elsinore Castle, as well as all of Denmark. How, you may ask, did she die so abruptly and tragically? She was wandering around in a meadow near a stream. In her aloof state, she gave no thought to the possible consequences of walking on a branch that was held above that stream. She should have, however, as it could not hold her weight. It snapped from under her and she fell into the stream. With as much clothing as she had on, it is easy to see why she drowned.
        There has been debate over the possibility of suicide. I would like to quickly put that to rest. All the evidence that we have show that this was an honest accident. The branch gave, and she was dragged, and held, under the surface of the water by her heavy clothing. She most likely paid no mind to this fact however.
        It is possible that after she fell into the water, she just gave up because she knew it was hopeless. However, those who knew Ophelia, knew that this was not something she would do. Some have raised questions about Gertrude knowing about what happened, and how she knew. They pointed out that it was possible that she could have seen Ophelia drowning and decided not to help her. This is a possibility, but a small one, as she was distraught when breaking the news to Laertes.
        However, whether Ophelia drowned herself or not, she should be thought of as a kind, caring, gentle woman. She will be remembered as such, and the cause of her madness will be though of only as Hamlet. He left her with no love, when he went mad on her and then killed her father. She will be missed, and Hamlet will be hated.
        She should be given a proper burial, when instead she is given a mass grave. She was the daughter of the advisor to the king! She deserves more rights upon her death than to be buried amongst hundreds of other bones. She always did her duties and what was asked of her, and she is not given a respectful burial because she became mad and it was a mere possibility that she had killed herself. This is unacceptable, and king Claudius should at least make an attempt to do something about it.

Hamlet: Hamlet's Dilemma

        Hamlet is faced with an extraordinary conflict in this scene. He must decide whether to kill Claudius now (when he has a clear opportunity), or later. He decides to wait, and I personally think that that is a good idea. He decided to wait so that Claudius' soul would not go to Heaven, but rather plummet towards Hell. This is the right decision, because Claudius had killed Hamlet's father, his own brother, in order to attain power over the kingdom and Gertrude. Hamlet is right in his thinking that Claudius by no means deserves to go to Heaven.
        Either way, however, Hamlet is now in harms way. The entire kingdom assumes that he has gone mad. If word got out that he had murdered the king, or even thought about it, he would face grave consequences. Given the overwhelming effect of religion at that time, the people of the kingdom would not have taken this killing lightly. Despite this, Hamlet would go through with it simply for the reason of obligation to his father. This is the necessary thing to do, as his death should not go unavenged.
        By seeing this scene, I learn a lot more about Hamlet and Claudius. I learn that Hamlet, is not a person who does something before he thinks it over. He has a rational side, and that can be the difference between life and death for both him and Claudius. I also learned that Claudius is not afraid to pray, even after what he did to his brother. He does find shame in what he did, but he doesn't see how insincere it must be if he keeps all of the things that he has stolen from his brother. He killed his brother only to have the things he had. He wanted power, and he wanted the right to dominate his own sister in the bedroom at his convenience.

Hamlet: "To be or not to be"

        "To be or not to be/ that is the question." This quote has become one of the most famous in the history of theatre. This has been interpreted in many different ways. We saw four different portrayals of the same scene, and no two were alike. In Olivier's version, Hamlet is located on a bridge with his feet dangling off. This shows us how suicidal he is feeling and how everything that's happening is too much for him. Zeffirelli has Hamlet doing his soliloquy in a tomb, most likely for his family. He speaks as if almost to the corpses, and this shows us how truly crazy he is becoming. In Branagh's version, Hamlet is speaking in a room by himself to a mirror, as if talking to himself. This is to provide us with an insight into the internal conflict that Hamlet is struggling through. Lastly, Almereyda has his Hamlet walking in the action aisle of a Blockbuster. This portrays him as more modern, yet it reveals his state of mind.
        Each one of these examples has background music. Olivier's music and Zeffirelli's music are very comparable. They both play for the entire scene, but more as a sort of undertone. This sets a mood that Hamlet is slowly going crazy. Branagh starts his music softly, and gradually makes it louder, so it eventually looms over you like an ominous cloud. Almereyda does include music, but it is very different from the others. His music is more modern and it incorporates other sounds that you would hear in a movie store. But nonetheless, it still comes across to the viewers as sort of frightening.
        Olivier keeps his scene fairly simple, but he does use one prop. He uses a small knife in order to enhance the impact that the overall theme had on the viewers. Zeffirelli shows Hamlet with no props in a dimly lit tomb. The torch-lit room emphasizes what is happening in Hamlet's mind. Branagh uses a knife, as well as enough mirrors to fill an entire room. This makes us have to ability to understand what he's thinking and why. Almereyda uses a prop to show that Hamlet is looking at the action movies in the store, and another prop was a movie that was playing on the T.V. in the store.
        When Olivier's Hamlet delivered his lines, he seemed almost emotionless at first, and then he became aggravated as he exited the scene. Zeffirelli as usual had Hamlet portray a variety of emotions. He entered the tomb with great sorrow, and as he delivered his lines, it slowly turned to anger, and then to confusion. This effects us deeply because as he added more emotion, we were able to relate with the character more. Branagh portrays Hamlet mainly with anger throughout. However, he still shows us the characters thoughts through his actions. Almereyda has Hamlet speak mainly in a monotone. This didn't allow much room for emotion. The actor showed no emotion for the entire soliloquy, and this made him come off as slightly emo.
        This play is very complex, and can be interpreted in many different ways. That's why there are so many different versions of it. This shows us how flexible the characters and settings can be. I personally enjoyed the Branagh take on this scene the most because of his attention to detail of what Hamlet was dealing with. I liked how he accurately showed the slow descent into madness of the main character, and also how he briefly showed the fear on King Claudius's face while Hamlet was delivering his thoughts.