By now you should have read "On First Sitting Down to Read (or See) Hamlet." The article touches on several different aspects of the play. I would like, as a closing activity to Hamlet, to discuss your responses to a variety of topics. Therefore, No more than FIVE students should respond to any one prompt.
1. The article makes reference to reader/audience sympathy and suggests that Prince Hamlet is not the most sympathetic character in the play. Address this notion by supporting that claim or refuting it. If you choose to refute, suggest who you see as the most sympathetic character. Regardless of your position, be sure to support it with specific references to the article and the play.
2. The article makes reference to Feminist critic, Elaine Showalter, and Shakespeare's portrayal of Ophelia. Discuss Ophelia's role in the play. Consider the double standards of the time, Ophelia as a "double-agent" and her apparent or real madness. Support your position with specific references to the article and the play.
3. The article begins by stating, "Over and over again, we're told that Hamlet is the greatest play by the greatest playwright." The writers then (famously, at least in my mind,) draw the connection between Hamlet and Holden Caulfield. Hamletologists study the many record-breaking statistics about the play. Discuss one of the many records broken by Hamlet, as discussed in the article. Provide outside information (research) to expand on this understanding. Be sure to support your discussion with specific references to the article, the play and your outside source of information.
4. Under the section, "Hamlet Controversies," the writers contend that Shakespeare's brilliance lies in his ability to create ambiguity in what is, ultimately, a psychological drama. Romantics, Victorians, Freudians and Existentialists have all theorized about Hamlet's actions and inaction(s). Consider an ambiguity in the play and speculate as to Shakespeare's intent, using evidence from the text, the article and/or an outside source. (You may consider Hamlet, Gertrude, Ophelia or other minor characters in your analysis.
Assignment parameters:
1. No more than 5 students can respond to any one prompt.
2. Responses should be a minimum of 300-400 words.
3. You must have a minimum of 3 references to the play, the article and/or supplemental information.
4. You do not need to make reference to a classmate's post.
5. Follow the conventions of standard written English.
6. Blog responses must be posted by 7:00 am on January 10th. Late blogs will lose 10 points a day.
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ReplyDeleteQuestion 3)
ReplyDeleteI chose the statistic, “There have been hippie Hamlets, and nude ones, too: the role has been played by dwarfs, fat men, tiny men, women (one with a wooden leg), and twins (to show his divided nature). It’s been performed by the five-year-old prodigy hailed as ‘Master Betty, the Infant Phenomenon of the Regency Period,’ and by the octogenarian Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson.”
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was an English actor and theatre manager who was considered one of the best Hamlets of his time. Many critics say he was “the greatest interpreter of Hamlet in the nineteenth century”. Ironically, he hated his profession, perhaps this helped him identify with Hamlet? He was also an octogenarian, meaning he lived till his eighties, and lived from 1853 to 1937.
Master Betty, the Infant Phenomenon of the Regency Period, or formally known as William Henry West Betty, was considered the most popular child actor of the nineteenth century. He played Hamlet in 1803 in the Theatre Royal in Dublin at the age of eleven. His fans were so excited over his performances that civil authorities extended the curfew an hour so the fans could watch his performances. (Wikipedia)
The first woman to play Hamlet was Sarah Siddons. She was a welsh actress and the best known tragedienne of the eighteenth century.
The most famous Hamlet was Junius Brutus Booth, who performed Hamlet in the romantic and early Victorian eras. He was named after Marcus Junius Brutus, one of the lead assassins of Julius Cesar. He was the father of John Wilkes Booth and two other actors, one which was considered the foremost tragedian of the mid to late nineteenth century. He was originally a British actor but then remained in the United States after a few performances. It is said that in one performance of Hamlet, he left the scene he was playing with Ophelia, climbed a ladder, perched up in the backdrops and started crowing like a rooster until the manager retrieved him. He was an alcoholic and was frequently seen in brothels and was extremely unreliable to show up for performances to the point that a guard was assigned to stay outside his hotel room (but he still escaped).
Sources: Wikipedia
Question 1)
ReplyDeleteThe articles argue that the most isolated and sympathetic character in the play is Ophelia; I whole heartily agree with this. Hamlet, in contrast with Ophelia, can be said to have been prepared for what is to come. He knows that after death is achieved a person will be separated from the current society to have a life on his own. The problem with Ophelia is that she was the innocent victim of Hamlet’s actions, “One of destiny’s casualties, she’ swept along political events just as she is borne by the river at her death”. Throughout the progression of the scenes Hamlet is hesitant and does not seem to act because he stops and thinks about the consequences of his action; Ophelia is not given this luxury. Whatever happens just presents its effect on her face.
Every step of the way Hamlet was not alone, Ophelia was. “Hamlet complains about being alone, he at least has Horatio,” this is the key difference between both characters. From act 1, Horatio serves as the bridges between madness in reality. From there on he connects Hamlet from his own mind to the world. Horatio saw the ghost with Hamlet; with this we can say Hamlet is not alone in insanity.
Also, in their madness Hamlet is not alone, Ophelia is. When we explore the cause of their insanity we see that Hamlet goes crazy cause of the ghost, Ophelia goes crazy because of Hamlet, a person who abandoned her, and the questions that comes up after all the events. The ghost is there with Hamlet. If we analyze the situation, Hamlet can say he heard voices in himself to do it. His actions were not done alone, or at least he believes this. Ophelia goes crazy because of the extreme sadness and the endless questions she has. “Ophelia goes mad because she discovers what others may be,” Trying to answer her questions isolates her more because she sees the world with different eyes. The old Ophelia who is oblivious to the world and thinks that everyone around her is on her side died with her father. The current Ophelia is the one who questions the world and isolates herself as she finds every answer. It’s basically Ophelia against the world.
Question 3
ReplyDeleteThe fact that I found to be the most interesting was “According to British critic John Trewin, ‘There has been a debate on every minute’ in the play.” This shows the vast array of possible interpretations of this play. John Trewin (1908-1990) was “a British journalist, writer and dramatic critic” (goodreads.com). One of the awards given by the Critics’ Circle is called, “The John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearian Performance.” This man was heavily respected within the dramatic community and has written several books on Hamlet alone. Trewin undoubtedly had his own debates on this play with other interpreters of his time. This fact was so interesting to me because you don’t always realize all the different interpretations that can be made of a single sentence. What could be seen as a plot twist to one person could be interpreted as just another minor scene to another. There are some aspects that are undoubtedly important, but there will always be debates on why they are important and what they mean to the story. For example, in Hamlet, it is not made perfectly clear if Gertrude is truly innocent of any crime and has been manipulated or if she was a co-conspirator in the plot to kill King Hamlet. This matter has been widely debated since the play was first released and will probably never get a definitive answer. Another aspect of this play that has been debated at length is weather or not Hamlet becomes truly mad as the play progresses. He says he is just acting; however he is possessed by the thoughts of revenge and death and even when he is alone, borders closely on completely loosing his mind. Besides the different themes of this play, the different interpretations people have made are what have kept this particular play so popular over the many years.
Question 1)
ReplyDeleteThe article makes reference to reader/audience sympathy and suggests that Prince Hamlet is not the most sympathetic character in the play. I think that Claudius is not the most sympathetic character in the play. The reason for everything that happened in the play is due to Claudius’s actions. He was the one to kill King Hamlet and now that Prince Hamlet knows everything is started to come to light. The death of King Hamlet was the reason for Hamlet mourning and pretending to be crazy, in turn causing everyone to think that he was the bad guy when really Claudius sat back and watched his own plan working perfectly in front of him until he realized that Hamlet was on to the death of his father. In the article it is stated that, “Hamlet learns not only that his uncle has killed his father but that “one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”” Hamlet then decided that he was going to put on a mask or in his words “put an antic disposition on”. In the play Act 1 Claudius and Gertrude both talk to Hamlet about his mourning for the death of his father. Gertrude seems indifferent she does not really seem to care much for the death of King Hamlet. Claudius is even more indifferent about the situation he tells Hamlet that people die all the time and to mourn for so long is not something that he should do. Claudius seems almost annoyed by the fact that Hamlet won’t let it go and move on from the death of his father.
In Act 1 , Scene 2 Claudius denies Hamlet permission to go to Wittenberg because he wasn’t to keep an eye on him. Claudius was already suspicious of Hamlet from the beginning because he was so obsessed with the death of his father. Claudius shows no sympathy to Hamlet and the situation knowing that he came back to a dead father and his mother re-married to his uncle. In Act 3, Scene 1 of the play Claudius admits to both himself and the audience that he poisoned old King Hamlet in the ear so that he may have his wife and the crown. Claudius is suspicious of Hamlet even more now because Hamlet put on a play about the murder of a king whom also was poisoned in the ear but instead of a brother by a nephew. Hamlet is indirectly telling Claudius that he knows and that he is coming for him soon enough. Claudius has no sympathy for everything that he has done to Hamlet and to make it worst he was not able to admit it and repent letting of the crown and Hamlet’s mother even though she does not seem to know anything ab0ut the murder King Hamlet. In the play Ophelia was thought to have gone mad after the death of her father and when she went to the king and the queen they both did not seem to care about her or the reason for her actions. Claudius did not show any sympathy towards anyone in the play and he never showed any emotions besides being paranoid and trying to repent which he could not do.
- Jasmine Berrios :D
The article makes the claim that Prince Hamlet is not the most sympathetic character in the play. I agree with that suggestion. When it comes to all of the misfortune that occurs in everyone’s lives during the play, Hamlet does not suffer as much as his lover Ophelia. Hamlet loses his father and his mother remarried almost instantly after,”Ere yet the salt of the most unrighteous tears/Had left the flushing in her galled eyes.”(Line 154-155) Another of the prince’s hardships is his inability to tell whether he is sane or not, as is shown by the ghost and peoples’ reactions to it over the course of the play. In the beginning, everyone present can see it. Moreover, the ghost’s presence causes him to act in a manner unlike his normal one. “Hamlet: It wafts me still. / Go on. I’ll follow thee. / Marcellus: You shall not go, my lord. / Hamlet: Hold off your hands. / Horatio: Be ruled. You shall not go.”(Lines 78 - 81) Another example is Hamlet’s hunt for vengeance, which, given his reaction to the thought of killing in the first place, is out of character and against his morals. As stated previously, although the prince of Denmark has his troubles, the one who suffers more and is therefore more sympathetic is Ophelia.
ReplyDeleteOphelia suffers through many losses over the course of the play. She loses her lover to madness as the events of the play are perceived from her point of view and loses her father as well, to her apparently mad lover’s blade. These two losses alone drive her to her own insanity through which she is either murdered or accidentally commits suicide. Even before this, she is poorly treated by her family. As the article says, Laertes priggishly tells her to hold to her virginity and Polonius, while treating her as a political tool, uses “indelicate language and cruel insinuations” (Article Page 10) to discuss the issue of her intimacy with Hamlet. Ophelia for the rest of the play until her demise, is, “swept along bypolitical events just as she is borne by the river…” (Article Page 9) In the end, she never completely understands what has happened and what will happen through the veil of courtly politics and intrigue.
Question 4)
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the familiar tales of filial vengeance and the existential dilemma of whether to live or die, Hamlet has a strong focus on the psychology of killing. From the moment that Hamlet decides that he must avenge his father’s death, he seems adamant. Yet time after time, he misses the opportunity to kill Claudius. This ambiguity of intent was deliberately included by Shakespeare, and continues to spark literary debate. Did he actually seek to kill Claudius, or did he have different intentions? What was stopping him? The article mentions that Hamlet “is able to do anything but take vengeance upon the man who did away with his father and has taken his father’s place with his mother—the man who has shown him in realization the repressed desires of his own childhood.” Before even trying to kill the King, Hamlet decides he must verify that the ghost was telling him the truth, that his father truly was slain by Claudius. This is a perfectly rational precaution. But it gets ridiculous as the plot progresses, as Hamlet comes up with excuse after excuse for holding back. He becomes disconnected with reality, his feigned insanity becoming a reality. The article notes that “Hamlet’s feigned madness allowed him to avoid taking responsibility for his actions.” Yet this uncertainty and loss of clear direction is exactly what makes us, hundreds of years later, keep reading this play. Shakespeare ultimately revolves the story around this inability to do what must be done. If Hamlet had been resolved enough to kill Claudius and be done with it without hesitation, we would be left with hardly a story at all. There must be that sense of ambiguity in order for the play to have any plot, any tension that keeps the audience thinking about and revisiting Hamlet. When the play culminates in the bloodshed of Act V, we are left wondering why, and how all that violence could have been avoided. The ambiguity of why Hamlet postponed his sacred revenge all the way until the end makes it all the more interesting.
-Josh Pelton
4.)
ReplyDeleteShakespeare’s intention for making the play ambiguous is that it allows for the story to be interpreted in several ways. As we have discussed in class, Gertrude is a character that can be interpreted as an innocent victim of Claudius’s power, or as someone who desires the power for herself with no regard to her lost husband. The relationship that Hamlet has with his mother has been interpreted as oedipal, and this view has grown increasingly common since Freud introduced it. “Hamlet’s good night kiss to Mother has grown progressively longer” can be seen as evidence that Hamlet was in love with his mother, as awkward as it may seem. Yet, it is not strongly supported, as it is also very likely that Hamlet is just very close to his mother, like a typical son. I think that this is more likely because Hamlet’s mourning over his father make him appear to love both of his parents, and his relationship with Ophelia weakens the argument for Hamlet loving his mother. Either way is certainly possible, and it is interesting how both sides can be supported by evidence in the play, but neither side is entirely correct either. Shakespeare seems to have done this intentionally, to make the play mysterious in nature. I find it interesting that in Oliver’s version of the play, the actress of Gertrude was less than 30, while Hamlet was over 40. It goes to show that the production indeed interpreted Gertrude as younger than she really is, and made Hamlet closer to her age than she was. We will never know if Shakespeare truly intended on there being incest in Hamlet because it can’t be proven.
Hamlet’s actions also provide ambiguity in his own character, as one can see different sides of him in different scenes. In Act I, he reminded me very much of Romeo, who was seen as a more feminine character. Note what Claudius says in response to Hamlet’s depression: “Tis unmanly grief”. Yet this feminine-emotional side of Hamlet is latter contrasted with the brutally crazy Hamlet who feels little remorse for killing Polonius, saying little more that it was his destiny to kill him. Hamlet’s change in attitude towards Ophelia also appears uncertain, as his contradictions make it difficult to determine if he actually loved Ophelia. His distrust of everyone but Horatio is really one of the only consistent traits about him as he goes deeper into insanity. Most of Hamlet’s characterization has to be determined on whether or not he actually goes insane or not.
~ David Roccapriore
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteOphelia, as quoted from Elaine Showalter, is “the zero” of Hamlet, she is constantly either being used or betrayed every time she is in a scene. While her family is still intact she places her loyalty with her father, Polonius, who is the rat of the play. In turn, she gives up any future she could’ve had with Hamlet by giving her allegiance to Claudius, who is in the middle of a man vs. man conflict with his estranged step-son/nephew. Whilst the play progresses her understanding of everyone’s hidden agenda becomes more concrete. It becomes apparent that she was the puppet, used to everyone else’s advantage to get to Hamlet. In the article, on the first page of the Ophelia section, it is said, “At her first appearance we see an innocent, trusting, and spirited young girl, but by her last scene she is contaminated, mad and knowing.”
As she was the puppet, she also takes on the title of the double agent of the play. She seems to have a love for Hamlet but her love life becomes an open book as soon as she is called upon by her authorities. As it is said on the second page of the Ophelia section in the article, “…Ophelia’s father enters and crudely forces her to confess the exact nature of her intimacies with Hamlet.” This is clearly displayed in the book in Act II Scene I on line 84, where after Ophelia confesses a sexual encounter with Hamlet to Polonius it is said, “Polonius: Mad for thy love? Ophelia: My lord, I do not know, but truly I do fear it.” Ophelia’s tone in this passage makes it seem as if she has not a concern of Hamlet’s love for her, yet in a later scene she makes Hamlet believe otherwise. This is in Act III Scene I on line 113, when in Hamlet and Ophelia say, “Hamlet:…I did love you once. Ophelia: Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. Hamlet: You should not have believed me…I loved you not. Ophelia: I was the more deceived.” The contrast between these two scenes gives the reader a perspective into Ophelia’s complexity in the play, and how even though she does play a double agent, her herself may be the most victimized character in this tragedy.
~Ester
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteOphelia is definitely the most sympathetic character in the play. Throughout the play Ophelia is a fish being pulled down stream; she is consumed by the actions of people around her. As it stated in the article “Ophelia’, “At first appearance we see an innocent, trusting, and spirited young girl, but her last scene she is contaminated, mad, and knowing.” This illustrates how Ophelia was a very flat and static character that went unnoticed. We first began to see Ophelia’s innocence unfold as her relations with Hamlet escalated. As stated Ophelia stated, “He hath my lord. Of late made many tenders Of his affection to me.’ (Line 98). This exemplifies the beginning of Ophelia’s downfall and her loss of innocence. It also, played a major role in her characterization as a “double agent”. As it stated in the article “Ophelia”, “Polonius exhibits no tenderness toward his daughter, he’s only interested in her as a source of information to pass onto Claudius.” This demonstrates the harsh reality of how Ophelia is being used. She has to betray Hamlet, who she loves, to obtain information for Polonius to give to Claudius. She takes on a “rag doll” character by allowing herself to be manipulated and used for both sides.
In addition, Ophelia is viewed as sympathetic not because of her role as a “double agent” but because of her divine abandonment from everyone she loves. As it stated in “Ophelia”, “Ophelia abandoned by brother, father, and lover is completely isolated.” Ophelia is in a sense alone in the world. She was left by her love Hamlet, who played the role of structure in her life. With the death of Polonius, her father, and Laertes, her brother, she needed to find the structure and guidance that she lost. However, Hamlet was her only support and when he left her she lost all connection to the world and lost her sanity. This ultimately causes her to commit suicide because she has no one left in her life; she is helpless in the world around her.
Lastly, one may argue that Hamlet is the most sympathetic because he lost his father and in a sense his mother, when she remarried. However, as it stated in “Ophelia”. “Hamlet complains about being alone, he at least has Horatio.” This demonstrates the fact that Hamlet is not completely alone in his society. Ophelia however is like Hester Prynne in the Scarlet Letter; she is outcasted in society and has no way to get back in, she isolated both emotionally and physically.
-Russell Weeks
In the case of who is the most sympathetic character in the play, I would have to agree with text, On first sitting down to read (or see) Hamlet, in that Ophelia is by far the most sympathetic character. I say this because throughout the entire play, Ophelia has been through a variety of hardships, yet, every single time she overcame until the end of the play. Even in time of adversity, she had always stayed a static character in that she always shows sympathy. The text perfectly points out the fact that Ophelia is nothing more to Polonius as a “Double agent.” Consistently using her, Polonius didn’t even care about Ophelia yet Ophelia always stayed obedient to Polonius, even more to him than Hamlet. Her innocence is what sculpts Ophelia’s personality, in that, even in the end of the play, she expressed no hatred amongst Hamlet or Claudius in that they have caused her great hardships. Also, another example of the sympathy Ophelia expressed was, as the text put it, when Laertes gave advice to Ophelia that her virginity should be “warily guarded. This is ironic because Laertes attends events at whore houses and Ophelia knew of this. However, she still listened to Laertes and did not have intercourse with Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteHamlet may be a character that has great sympathy, but not to the extent of Ophelia. Hamlet has expressed sympathy at some parts of the play like apologizing to Laertes about Polonius’ death and he wanted his father’s sins to be forgiven through killing Claudius. Hamlet, though, is very impulsive and he can spontaneously become crazy. For example, when Hamlet killed Polonius, he acted reactively in comparison to proactively. Even when he killed the man, he said in the play that it was Polonius’ destiny to die for this occurs since he acted as Claudius’ dog. Also, the mannerism in which he speaks to his own mother was also very crude. Even at the point when he was not sure whether Gertrude helped Claudius, he still acted wildly in front of his mother and showed no sympathy. This is why Hamlet cannot be considered the sympathetic character.
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ReplyDeleteQuestion (1)
ReplyDeleteThe article makes reference to reader/audience sympathy and suggests that Prince Hamlet is not the most sympathetic character in the play. I disagree completely. I believe that hamlet is indeed the most sympathetic character in the play.
One clear and obvious is when he tries to push Ophelia away from him by making it appear he wants nothing to do with her even though he really does. The reader knows he's in love with her because of the fact that in Act 2 scene 2 Ophelia says,"He grabbed me by the wrist and held me hard, then backed away an arm’s length and just looked at me, staring at me like an artist about to paint my picture. He stayed like that a long time." I think one would have to be a fool not see that Hamlet is in love with her. Then that is followed up with Act 3 scene 1. Hamlet and Ophelia meet and he starts of the conversation by answering her question with "I humbly thank you. Well, well, well." then he goes to try to push her away "Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once." this is a response to her giving him back his gifts that he gave her. I think Hamlet realizes that he will ultimately have to deal with her dad( Polonius) and Claudius and he wants her to not be affected. Finally, I think that Hamlet realizes that Gertrude married Claudius as an act of desperation and as a form of sympathy tries to tell her not to sleep with Claudius anymore. "Not this, by no means, that I bid you do.Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed,
Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse,
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses
Or paddling in your neck with his damned fingers" Again he's just saying don't go to bed with him or let him touch you for that matter.
Michael Javier
1) The articled claims that Ophelia is Hamlet’s most sympathetic character based on her isolation and the total betrayal she felt at the hands of her father, lover, and brother. However I believe that the character that is truly the one most deserving of our sympathies is the last one that comes to find, which is the very reason that they deserve them most. The character I speak of is the ghost, King Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteOnce the proud King of Denmark, a man who vanquished the mighty Fortinbras, who wed the beautiful Gertrude, and the proud father of young Hamlet, the argument could be made that he was the first ever victim of identity theft. Claudius not only killed the noble Hamlet in his sleep, cheating him out of an honorable death, but he proceeded to rob him of his wife, child, and country. In the article “Hamlet” provided, the author goes as far as accusing the entire royal court of treason, “…the entire court, save Hamlet, involved in a massive conspiracy and cover up.”The humiliation that the name of King Hamlet endures ever before he ushers his first lines of immense, but once he bestows his story on to Hamlet his fate is sealed as the most sympathetic character in the play. King Hamlet during the entirety of the play lives in one of two realms, the fiery plains of purgatory which he spends most of his time.” My hour is almost come/When I to sulfurous and tormenting flames/ Must render up myself.” Or watching the former love of his life being, in his opinion, defiled by the man who killed him in cold brother, and just so happens to be his brother.
While both Opehlia and Hamlet suffer greatly in the play, neither suffer for the entirety of the play in the rare combination of physically, mentally, and emotionally the way that King Hamlet does which makes it clear that King Hamlet, the ghost, is the most sympathetic character in the play.
Question 3
ReplyDeleteThe line "to be or not to be" is the most quoted phrase in the English language. On Google, if one were to search "to be or not to be" over eight billion results would come up; and that is just the internet. The quote is so popular because it is easy to remember, but it is still extremely deep in nature. Asking whether it is better to live or to die always raises huge debates among people, politicians and country farmers alike. Hamlet's largest dilemma is that he is dissatisfied with his life and is unsure what death may bring ("the dread of something after death"). Death is called the “undiscover’d country” from which “no traveller returns”. In saying that Hamlet is acknowledging that, not only does each living person discover death for themselves, as no one can return from it to describe it, but also that suicide os a one-way ticket. If you get the judgment call wrong, there's no way back. For humans, the question poses both a moral and ethical dilemma, whether about oneself, other people, or animals. We do not even realize it, but it’s an even more quoted concept than we think. The line “To be or not to be: that is the question,” gave birth to the phrase “Out of the frying pan and into the fire,” both quotes essentially that life might be horrible, but it is probable that death is worse. Humans are simply fascinated by the quote because there is a little bit of suicide in every single one, whether simply wondering what it would be like to be dead, or actually contemplating suicide, or even actually attempting to commit suicide. All in all, while the quote is wonderfully meaningful, it does seem to be slightly overused.
In this play, to me Ophelia has to be by far the most sympathetic character . Throughout the entire play I felt that Ophelia wasn't a dynamic character, she pretty much stayed the same, therefore making her a static character. I say this because throughout everything Ophelia has been through she still remains the same, which was sympathetic. She always showed sympathy towards majority of the characters such as Hamlet, even though Hamlet pushed her away she remained entirely in love with him prattling about how perfect Hamlet was not considering the fact that her own father doesn't exactly like the fact that his daughter is in love with a "mad" man. Like Hamlet, her father Polonius doesn't even care about her too much but Ophelia
ReplyDeletestayed strong and again, remained the same. Ophelia's personality is what helps her express no hatred towards anyone throughout the play. Her sympathetic personality makes her believe in what other people have to say, for instance when Ophelia and Laertes were having a conversation on how she shouldn't have any sexual contact with Hamlet and she acknowledged that fact and took it into consideration and didn't have any sexual activities with Hamlet although being in love with Hamlet. As the text put it Ophelia is a "double agent" meaning she's two face in a way. She's with her father on how he doesn't like him Hamlet and she gives Hamlet away but she's also in love with the guy which is why the text said she was a "double agent." In my opinion, to me the most non sympathetic person in this entire play it would obviously have be "King" Claudius. Killing a king and fulling all of Denmark into believing the real king was murdered and also knowing Hamlet knows he killed his father doesn't make him the least bit sympathetic.
- Marc Cortes
Question 2:
ReplyDeleteThroughout Hamlet there were many main characters that effected the outcome of the play, and there were also other character that may not seem like they hate that great of an impact on the play. One of those characters would be Ophelia. The article makes reference to Feminist critic, Elaine Showalter, and Shakespeare's portrayal of Ophelia. Ophelia takes a larger role in hamlet than what you think, and "it is Ophelia, not Hamlet, who most commands our sympathy" (On First Sitting Down to Read Hamlet). Because of Ophelia she is the one who takes control of Hamlet, and effects him in the way he acts. Throughout the whole play Hamlet had this inner conflict of love with Ophelia, and because of Ophelia it is what Polonius believes makes Hamlet go mad changing the thought process of other characters. Before knowing Ophelia as well as we know her now after reading the whole play, she seemed as holding "the quintessential obedient daughter, a role demanded of all young women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries". However, we could think about the role of women in general during the time that Hamlet takes place. (http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/ophelia.html). Now we have to remember that in Hamlet times women were treated as lesser people and therefore that made more sense for them to have lesser roles in plays like Hamlet, however, like I said before Ophelia at first glance seemed to have a lesser role. But the true fact is that she was a more significant role than most of us think mainly because she basically had complete control over Hamlet and the type of actions he had performed. Along the same lines it seemed that Ophelia was going through the same depression that Hamlet had to overcome because they both contemplated suicide. This was brought on to Ophelia because "Ophelia is crushed by Hamlet's harsh behavior, especially when he says, "I loved you not" (3.1.8). She's also devastated that Hamlet, the man who once spoke to her with "words of so sweet breath" (3.1.4) seems to have lost his mind and turned on her" (http://www.shmoop.com/hamlet/ophelia.html). Another example of women like Ophelia controlling the emotions of Hamlet would be Hamlet's mother Gertrude because the thought of Hamlet's mother sleeping with his Uncle (Claudius) just drove Hamlet mad.
- Brandon Simone
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ReplyDeleteIt can be said that Ophelia is one of the most deserted characters in the play. Much like Hamlet, Ophelia has been neglected and isolated from the very beginning of the play. It can even be said, that she could have shared the same feelings about neglect and betrayal that Hamlet expressed in multiple scenes in the play. The ultimate piece of evidence that supports this idea is her death. Although it is unclear how she died, one can assume that the negative effects of betrayal drove her to suicide. Due to being neglected from multiple characters within the play such as her “brother, father and her lover”, Ophelia could have sided with Claudius in order to end her loneliness. Furthermore, she could have sided with the main antagonist in the story to obtain revenge on Hamlet. As a result, Ophelia could be seen as a “double-agent” to help Claudius spy and gather information on Hamlet. It could even be assumed that Ophelia is “torn between her alliances to her father and her lover” and this level of complexity could have been too much for Ophelia to handle which could have resulted in her becoming insane and ultimately killing herself. Assuming that Ophelia committed suicide, she could serve as the character that is the exact opposite of Hamlet. “While Hamlet’s madness is feigned, Ophelia’s is all too real”. Rather than contemplating on life or death, she bluntly commits suicide in order to escape her madness.
ReplyDeleteOne of the records mentioned in the packet was how Hamlet has had been made into a movie over 45 times. In fact, according to IMDB, there are over 100 versions of Hamlet adapted to the either TV or the movies. Due to Hamlets immense length, four to five hours as a stage production, most of the films involve heavy cuts to the performance, most often Fortinbras is removed. However the inclusion or exclusion of Fortinbras can show the direction the director wishes to take with the film. Those that exclude Fortinbras remove the political aspect of the play which tends to make it a much more personal piece. It is also up to the director and the actor to decide how to portray certain characters. Laurence Olivier emphasized the mother-obsession of Hamlet to an incestuous point while others do not and Films for the Humanities and Sciences has a film in which 8 Hamlet actors (Gielgud, Olivier, Vittorio Gassman, Burton, Mandy Patinkin, Williamson, Ben Kingsley, Jean Louis Berrault, Maximillian Schell, and Russian Innocenti Smoktunovsky) talk about their rationales for portraying Hamlet. Also some directors choose to portray Gertrude in a sympathetic light while others portray as a wicked person who is in on the murder of King Hamlet. It is also up to the director to decide what genre they want to take their film in. As Harry Keyishian noted in an article for the Cambridge University Press, the genre Hamlet’s directors tend to classify their creation in is very diverse. An example of this is how Laurence Olivier views his Hamlet as a film noir while Zeffirelli's version is seen as an action adventure and further still Branagh's is seen as an epic. The films have also seen a wide variety of great actors including Glen Close, Mel Gibson, Ethan Hawke, Bill Murray, Patrick Stewart, and David Tennant. Despite the starpower carried by many of the films they have had varying results. Laurence Olivier’s and Franco Zeffirelli’s versions of Hamlet were both widely popular and loved by critics while some like Michael Almereyda’s and Tony Richardson’s where critical failures.
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