Dysfunctional Families

Wikipedia:

-Child abuse and neglect
-Child like parents (Mr. Bennet and Gertrude) allow the dominant parent (Claudius and Mrs. Bennet)
-Parents are often selfish

Hamlet Direction - Zach & Danny

Act III, Scene II : Lines 63-83

At the beginning of the scene Ophelia should be turned away from Hamlet showing her rejection of his romance. Hamlet is alluding to his sexual desires for Ophelia in slow advanced as not to turn her away, his movements should be slow and encroaching upon her. The 2nd line should be like the movement. On line 66 Ophelia will look up from her feet abruptly, but walk away from without looking at him slowly and ghostly, a light escape. He is frustrated that he can't get access to the sanctuary in line 67 and is being extremely blunt. As it continues his getting extremely frustrated, while he still remains seductive and Hamlet encroaches further upon Ophelia, and even she is not looking at Hamlet she reacts to his movement uncomfortably and moves again quickly away from him. In line 71 Hamlet is suggesting that Ophelia has the same intimate thoughts that he has and suggests increasingly dirty diplomacy. He is trying to get her to think less logically and more carelessly, telling her to think of the pleasure the orgasm will bring to her. Because she is a virgin the newly minted action will be useful to her, a re-birth. Secretly he is trying to bring her into sin.

Same Words Different Interpretations

Polonius is a stereotypical brown noser towards Claudius the king. I believe that knows of Claudius' possible evil and does his bindings for safety! Here Polonius is reporting to Claudius after he asked Polomius to spy on Hamlet. If I were to direct Polonius I would have him be extremely exaggerative and have him use hand motions and have him pronounce every word with extreme passion.

Dear Dr. Forman: Hamlet Paper

Dear Dr. Forman,
              I really enjoyed having so many video options! It really helped me cement an idea for the paper. I had initially wanted to write on lighting and costumes but after seeing how different each scene was I chose to write on spacing. I think that most of my bet ideas came as I was writing the paper; I hardly went back to my video notes. I think I proofread my paper like ten times! I can get a little paranoid so I made sure nothing was wrong. I hope the end result came out as I think it did and hat you enjoy the paper!

Sincerely,

Daniel Domínguez

First Body Paragraph

As directors envision making the Claudius, Hamlet and Gertrude scene come to life, they each have different artistic visions and visions of how the actors should portray the scene. Gertrude for example, is commonly thought of as a deceiving mother who has been both loving and seductive onstage. Gertrude either demonstrates her newfound devotion to Claudius or her preserved love for her son. In David Tennant's Hamlet, Gertrude is metaphorically torn in two by her commanding husband and her extremely aggressive son. The spacing between her and Claudius and her and Hamlet shows how she is neither with nor against them. She knows that she loves her son but she also knows that it is in her best interest if she keeps Claudius content. Through her up close and sensual speech to Hamlet we see that in this director’s version Gertrude is a seductress, attempting to use her sexual power in order to keep her son from going back to Wittenberg. Once called on by her newly entitled king, Gertrude retreats from Hamlet's side and obeys like a pet leaving her son to mourn alone. The fact that Gertrude stands on the side of the set that Claudius is on showcases her decision to please him instead of Hamlet.  In the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet Gertrude depicted as a completely different persona. She has an air of youth and a light that the Tennant Gertrude didn’t have. Here we see Gertrude as a tender and loving mother, one who tends to her child and only cares for him. The intimate space of both she and Hamlet make the scene extremely familial in comparison to the cold and static Tennant version. One still sees Gertrude’s sensuality but in a new light, one of care and passion. The Mel Gibson Gertrude has kept the love she has for her son and does not allow the coronation of Claudius pollute it.

            

Hamlet Scenes Essay

               Shakespeare's Hamlet has been interpreted in a variety of ways through cinematography. While some interpretations have certain things in common others are polar opposites! From lavish and bright sets to dark and private settings each clip stands out, leaving the audience with a new found insight from both the characters and the story itself. As the scenes go on one notices how miniscule things such as spacing, emotion and expression make each of these pieces a unique interpretation from both the director's side as well as the audience's side. Spacing and body language allow the audience to see how characters express their most personal emotions and how they interact among themselves making it an extremely important factor when analyzing a piece.

Character from Act Four

Hamlet in Act four truly surprised me. He has finally lost it in my opinion. I know that he pretended to be "insane" but why would he jump to the conclusion that Claudius is behind the arras? He has gone from someone of potential in the story to a helpless soul. I don't know what will happen in England but I'm guessing that his uncle wants to do away with him now that Hamlet knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are his spies and that Hamlet attempted to kill him when killing Polonius. I hope Hamlet can avenge his father's death and remain alive in England but there is nothing in this Act to reassure me of his hero like qualities I was exposed to in the first act two acts of the play.

Character from Act Three

In Act three Claudius take an interesting twist in character! In the first two scenes we see Claudius as a "concerned" father figure worried about Hamlet's well being and mental health. As the Act goes on, we see Claudius shift into someone who's vulnerable and extremely self conscious. One sees this at its best in the confession scene when we see Claudius begging God to forgive him. The play that Hamlet had asked to be presented internally disturbed Claudius and brought back the memories of the evil deed he had committed when he took his brother's, the king, life! While confessing to God he asked several times if he could still enjoy the newly obtained lifestyle and queen his murderous action gave him. I think that for the next Act we will see Claudius extremely worried as to how he will continue his life hiding such a huge sin!

Character from Act 2

Act two was very interesting. Seeing Rozencratz hired as a spy by the king and queen to oversee Hamlet's new found infatuations with Ophelia. Hiding behind a curtain Polonius witnesses Hamlet's insane behavior when around Ophelia and reports back to Gertrude and Claudius. Hamlet is playing a  bluff! He isn't as obsessed with Ophelia as he pretends to be. I think his madness is a result of his frustration towards his current familial situation. He can't fathom his father's ghost and his mother's betrayal so he acts out and seeks attention like someone during a juvenile tantrum!

Hamlet Videos

After seeing the videos of differently interpreted Hamlet scenes I noticed a lot of strange things that I wouldn't have imagined by just reading the script. Queen Gertrude is very sensual in most of these videos. She seems to attempt at seducing Hamlet and using that sexual power in order to persuade him to stay in Denmark. In other versions she seems extremely distant and unloving. The king can either be extremely condescending or extremely close to being sincere. He seems to be very static in most of the videos we saw and somewhat apprehensive at looking bad in front of the court. His distance in some of the videos is very important as well. The closer he gets to Hamlet, the more sincere and intimate he makes the scene seem. Most of the characters that played Hamlet had different attitudes in the scenes and some were completely different from what I had anticipated. in the overly emotional 1980 remake Hamlet is extremely impolite and sarcastic to both his mother and the king. In comparison to the static 2010 remake, the 1980 version uses emotion as a means to convey each character's true colors. Gertrude is seen in the 1980 version completely swoon by the king something I believe the Mel Gibson version didn't emphasize what so ever. All versions were completely different, but each interpretation leads to a deeper understanding of what the actual scene was like.

Hamlet Senior's Ghost

The ghost in Hamlet represents Hamlet Senior's distressed soul roaming 
the castle grounds. Unable to rest after his brutal murder, Hamlet senior 
seeks revenge by inspiring Hamlet to avenge his death. After reading the
 link I provided below, I found some interesting takes on the ghost's place 
in the play. The author or the article statesThat the ghost is actually an
 incarnation ( but not really) of Hamlet's inner most emotions. Also stated
 by the author, the ghost is Shakespeare's way of showing the audience 
what went on in Hamlet's conscious and that of his friends as well. After
 reading this I find it to be true and i continue to search for hints of it 
in scenes where the ghost enters.







http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/hamletandghost.html

iPad Feedback

Some of the negatives of using the iPad have been delayed responses or glitchy software. My eyes have hurt a bit when reading for the screen late at night and typing can be extremely annoying due to the overly spaced out letters.I definitely believe the benefits outweigh the challenges. I haven't had to put any books in my backpack and my back doesn't hurt like it used to when I had a ton of books to take home. Everything is in one place and doing homework has been easier! I think blogging has been great! It really makes me feel like an active  part ofthe class and being able to utilize the iPad for it makes all the more fun. Filming is great on the iPad and having it in class makes filming projects super easy. 

Hamlet Reading

There were a couple of things that stood out to me in the first act of Hamlet! For starters Hamlet is denied his return to France by his uncle, something that still makes no sense to me... Secondly, the king wants the prince and country to get over the loss of their former king Hamlet. I understand that he killed him but why does he fear being caught so much if he is oblivious to the fact that Hamlet senior's spirit is roaming the castle. Thirdly, why does Horatio ask Hamlet not to follow the ghost if he himself asked him to speak to it! I am very excited to see what revenge Hamlet has in store towards his uncle!

Socratic Discussion

Today in class we discussed the values associated with finding a mate. As discussed in our circle the values have not have changed as much from the time of Pride and Prejudice as much as one would assume. In fact from the feedback and responses I heard today in class, I would say the list of characteristics a mate must meet actually has gotten longer over time! I think this is due to the fact that both sexes have reaches a balanced form of equality, making each spouse demand an equal amount of either intelligence of financial capabilities to come from their partner. At the heart of finding a mate looks are the cornerstone of modern relationships. Since looks are all one sees before getting to know someone, they are the deciding factor of interest for single men or women. As discussed today in class, expectations haven't changed but only increasing.

1st Body Paragraph

Since Elizabeth differs from the majority of the women from her time, she is continually butting heads with societal expectations. Mrs. Bennet, a traditional English woman, is solely dedicated to having her daughters married into a higher position in society. For this reason, Elizabeth and her mother never truly get along. One can see this when Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins' proposal. Despite the fact that she is older and less likely to be proposed to again later on in her life, she rejects the offer because she believes it to be an unmatchable relationship. Elizabeth keeps her head held high and ignores what anyone thinks of her even when it's that she'll stay single for the rest of her life. Her self confidence would never be obtained by other woman of her time because of their need to conform and please society. One can interpret Elizabeth's rejection of proposals from both Collins and Darcy, two men of high status, as her telling the world that she would rather be alone for the remainder of her life, than be married to someone who she does not love because she was pressured to be with him. Elizabeth does not conform with expectations thus making her different from other woman of 19th century English society.

Intro Paragraph

Over the years, the views of marriage have evolved from being a form of assured stability, to an act  of true love and eternal unity. As seen in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, 19th century English society regards marriage as a means to climb up in status. Since women were of lesser status in society, they conformed to this expectation; putting love aside and focusing on economic betterment. Elizabeth Bennet, the main character of the novel, differs from the women of her time because of her radidical views of marriage and stability, something some might say to be avant garde.

Outline

Intro:
As the view of marriage evolves, so do the incentives for marrying someone.




Elizabeth's View of Marriage:
One should marry solely on the base of love and agreeability between the couple. One can see this when she continuously looks down upon Mr. Collin's and Catherine's marriage. She believes Catherine's decision to marry Collins solely on the base of a stable life to be ungraceful and wrong. That is precisely why she denied Mr. Collins the opportunity, something her narrow minded mother continually looked down upon.








Modern Views of Marriage For Woman:

Stability is key in modern day virtues but not the reason for marrying someone as it would have been in the time of Pride and Prejudice. Now women are much more independent and can make for themselves thus eliminating the need of a dependent relationship with an economically successful spouse. There are the other kinds of people who decide to be lazy and see if they can end up with someone with money. These people, "gold diggers" usually come from lower class backgrounds and marry solely on the basis of financial stability, usually at an excessive degree.

Essay Question

How does Elizabeth compare to modern women and their view of marriage

D.W. Harding

I agree with D.W. Harding in that Jane Austen made her work more humorous in order to not be judged or criticized for what she wrote. Living in this society, Austen knew what the issues were and what the people were like so being overly judgmental could have been very detrimental to her success. I do not agree with D.W. on the hate Austen has toward certain characters. This is taken to an extreme by D.W. and I personally just see it as Jane trying to lighten up the mood of the uptight aristocrats. Jame may mock certain personalities of her time, but to say she complete loathed them is an overstatement.

Question Focus

1) Is Lady Catherine inferior to a man of equal or lesser status than she? (O)
2) How does someone of Mr. Bennett's class obtain the connections of the aristocrats like he does in the novel? (O) X
4) How does Elizabeth define herself in society being an independent, mature, and wise young woman? Since she is before her time, does she intellectually regard herself as someone above the rest of her society? (O)
5) Why does Mr. Bennett allow his wife to stand as the dominant figure in the household, when it is usually the man, the father-figure, who is given complete power? (O) X
6) Does Mr. Darcy feel excluded from society because of his lack of interest in a spouse? (C) X

Satire towards Mrs. Bennet

"You will have a charming mother in law."

Here Miss Bingley tells Darcy that Mrs. Bennet would be a fabulous mother in law when in reality she does not truly does not fancy Mrs. Bennet  and finds her rather annoying and crazy. This is satire because she says one thing and means the complete opposite!

iPads At Buckley

After reading this article, it has become apparent to me that I am not the only one who knows that there is so much more we can do with the iPad. I know that it is the first year the school is utilizing these devices and it's going to take some time to get used to them, but I know that using the iPads in school is only beneficial. Besides the fact that it will take a good ten pounds off my backpack after school, it really does make learning a hands on experience in ever sense of the word. I believe that specifically in Dr. Forman's class, we should use the iPads for turning in and receiving our work! It would minimize the amount of paper the school uses, especially the English department, and it would make everything more efficient! If I was to receive my graded work from my iPad, I would never worry about losing it or misplacing it. Furthermore I believe that reading through the iPads is great. The highlighting feature, though annoying at times, is very helpful and really gives my reading more purpose and assistance! To conclude, I believe that we should use the iPads for more than reading in class, I believe that it should be used to grade, submit assignments and return graded work.

Working On

Currently reading Pride and Prejudice