The Weeks Hamlet Took Over

  Hamlet. My first impression when I received my copy was, good lord. I never knew Shakespeare had a large text published and quite frankly, I was a little apprehensive to dig into its pages. Maybe. But the fact is that I did it. We  did it. And I should probably give a big thanks to Sparknotes...thank you.

   We've watched a good number of adaptations of Hamlet in these last few weeks and there have been some I've liked and some I haven't liked. After the last page was finished in the Hamlet text we began our movie watching with the Branagh Hamlet. In this version I had a problem with  certain characters and character appearances. The men  were all so very old and bleached out looking that their appearances instilled in me the state of corruption that Elsinore was in. Creepy. Perhaps this was the point, but I had trouble connecting with the characters and the story line of the play. This could also have to do with the fact that I hadn't began annotations yet. My bad. Ophelia bugged me in most of the productions, but in this one and the Tenant production the most as I wanted more than anything for the actors playing her character to try a bit harder. I guess they felt a bit weak to me. On another note, the ghost in this production was probably the most terrifying to me as the scene set up between the ghost  and Hamlet occurred  in such  an ominous  way that I felt and saw the forces of darkness warring with the Earth as Hamlet hurried to keep up with his dead father.If the theory that the ghost is not heaven-sent is true then this scene works well to showcase the dark revengeful state of old Hamlet and the possibility that Hamlet's power came from Satan instead of God.  

    The Tenant Hamlet version was the more comical production as it dealt with the state of Hamlet's obvious insanity  and the constant suspicion and spying that transpired within the mansion walls, especially with the genius use of security cameras to indicate these issues. I don't know how discussions went in other classes, but in my class we discussed the importance of the stairs in the Olivier Hamlet. The higher up the characters ascend the closer in proximity they are to heaven and God and the lower they descend the closer they are to hell and its  ruler Satan. As I did my annotations I saw more clearly Hamlet's struggle to be decisive and to figure out if his power to purge the world-Elsinore- of Claudius's evils were ordained from God himself or from some other less heavenly power. Also in this production, we saw Gertrude deliberately take a big gulp of the poisoned cup in order to pick/side/ protect her son. I would like to think Shakespeare meant for this to happen. I mean Gertrude loved her son and remained concerned for his mad/plaintive state throughout the course of the play. For her to choose Hamlet and leave her temptation-Claudius-makes for a much more interesting viewing.

   Although Jacobi is a talented actor, his production of Hamlet did not bode well with me.Terrible of me, I know. But well,  I felt less engaged watching this film and although it was more traditional, I felt  it progressed slowly and well dryly...well the incest bit was out there and far from dull, but that's another matter. I would have liked to see more discussion over this film as I thought we focused  more on the Hawke production.  This production, although displaying a more peaceful ghost, most likely heaven-sent, didn't stick in my mind that much either. I did like the actress who played Ophelia though. Her "I'm crazy" scene was quite moving.

    Recently we read an article by Philip Edwards, the "Tragic Balance in Hamlet", which helped me to realize that I was actually sympathizing for Hamlet.What?  The David Tenant documentary asked me to consider all that Hamlet  had suffered and I did, feeling sorry for the poor kid. Oh wait, thirty-year old grown man. Sure, his dad was murdered and most of us would think of revenge if the same were to happen to us, but Hamlet's right does not make his actions a moral right. Murder is murder. Both Claudius and Hamlet are guilty. Guilty. How can they not be, Edwards, as you "praise" Claudius in your essay?

    Now I have to consider all the books  and movies I've ever read or seen in my life where the protagonist has been wronged by the antagonist. You know how many times I've sat reading a book or  watching a movie waiting for that bloody scene were justice is served? WAY  too many times. This folks shows the shift in values. Our modern culture  has changed us humans so much that  we(well me) can sit without a thought watching the most gory video jumping up and down, cringing, rooting for, whatever, for the evil  doer to be brought to death. It's crazy how I don't take time to think about these things. I think "well he tried to kill that guy with a gun and ended up dying himself, too bad for him....should have been more careful. Karma gets ya."  But really, how do we have the power to say  God has given us the divine right to rid the world of evils? I don't want to be a usurper of some possible deity like Hamlet. I'm human. A tiny individual. What do we know? And there's this problem-evil cannot just be allowed to continue on without the care of those who are innocent. We like  our happy endings after all.