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!