Pretty much all we did was Hamlet. Watching so many movie versions of the play was pretty cool, and I was surprised by how much each had to offer that was unique.
Last year I was in Brit Lit with Ms Huntley and while reading Macbeth she kept stopping and having us write out "directing decisions" and consider things such as lighting and costumes and acting instructions. I really didn't like it. It took forever and seemed pointless... I did it of course but I didn't understand what difference it would make; I thought that there was only one correct way to do a Shakespeare play. Viewing multiple versions of Hamlet brought me back to that assignment, and shed more light on it. Now I understand better the impact that even subtle directions can give to the film/play. They can answer questions as huge as "Is Hamlet really mad?" or "Did Gertrude sacrifice her life for him?"
Something I am particularly proud of is helping our class examine Hamlet as a devil-figure. He starts out all Christian and good but he decides he want to take the King's power, and then when he tries to kill Claudius in the chapel, he can't! Obviously because prayers weaken demonic spirits (If you're not that kind of Christian, just think of exorcism movies). Then all that weird stuff happens like incest and madness. Then Ms Holmes confirmed what I was saying, so it's legit. She also said he redeems himself with the Sparrow speech, but I'll have to look back through that because I don't remember it. But this is just like how Lucifer was an angel, and tried to usurp God and then became the Western symbol of evil. Oh and it should be noted that in the play Hamlet puts together, the King's son is called Lucianus or something like that, which is a clear deviation of Lucifer.
The only other things we did were all those blog posts about Shakespeare in Prison, in the Bush, and the poem for Ophelia. Those were all really good but I'm not sure they furthered our discussion hardly at all in my hour. But I'm still glad I read/listened to them, because they were really interesting.
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteI agree that watching the different versions of Hamlet helped show how stage directions are very important. I didn’t think they were that important before, but now I know that they can have a huge impact on the messages the movie is trying to send to the viewer. Nice job making that connect between Hamlet and him being a devil figure. This is not something I had considered before; I thought that he was supposed to be a “good guy”. However your idea fits really will with the play and it’s a very interesting take on the whole play. It reminded me of Paradise Lost, I’m not sure if your read it with Huntley last because I had Patnoude. As for the forum posts I think it did help further our conversations in class a bit on whether Ophelia was Hamlet’s equal and simply an innocent victim. You do a good job of explaining what we've done in class and connecting it with other things. I think you should also include something on Tragic Balance in Hamlet, other than that great job.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of the Tragic Balance in Hamlet article, I think you covered everything we’ve done in class since the last time we responded to the course material. It was interesting to me to read about the “directing decisions” while reading Macbeth in Brit lit. I had Patnoude and we never did anything like that so it was interesting to see how our experiences with the same play differed. This may have just been my copy, but did your version of Hamlet lack directions with the exception of characters entering and exiting and a brief mention of where they were? To me this was interesting, especially coming off of Death of a Salesman with its extensive stage directions. My class hasn’t really gone into the Hamlet as a devil-figure idea so it is interesting for me to read about that. I can see where you are going with that idea and I would be interested to hear you explain this further. Overall I thought this was a good post that definitely had some thought put into it.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that Huntley made you act out the stage directions to Macbeth. That must have been dreadfully boring and useless. I do however agree that watching clips from the various films was quite beneficial to our understanding as to how the play was supposed to be perceived; a play being a visual work of art, I think we got a deeper understanding watching it than we would have with simply reading.
As for Hamlet being the Devil, I too find that whole concept incredibly interesting. I do not quite think of him as a wholly terrible man; in fact, I more sympathize with his predicament. But being that the society in which Shakespeare lived was highly Protestant and had different ideas of right and wrong than ours does currently, I suppose I understand the idea behind it. While I may feel sorry for Hamlet and understand the loyalty he feels to his father, clearly my unfamiliarity with Christian principles caused me to miss a larger aspect of his situation. It is a sin for a man to attempt to take the powers specifically given to God, which Hamlet does as he considers killing Claudius.
At this point, I'm beginning to think of Hamlet as the alternative story of Lucifer, or what would have happened if he had sought salvation rather than turning his back on God. Of course, Hamlet ended up killed as well, but this appeared almost to be a type of release for him, and only happened after he successfully killed Claudius.
The other responses already discussed what you missed with regard to the Tragic Balance thing, so no need to go in depth with that. Good post!