There has always been something absolutely mesmerizing about a madman, be he present in a dark psychological thriller, a heart wrenching drama or otherwise. As a product of its time, Shakespeare’s Hamlet is in no dissension of this fact, with audiences young and old enraptured by the title character’s violent insanity and his love interest’s frail and tragic instability. However, as a product of its time and its time alone, there are certainly things lost in translation when the play is presented to a less than medieval audience. This is why it is always so important that the play be reinterpreted for the audience that will be viewing it. Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 Hamlet is most definitely a product of its time as well, a fine example of Shakespeare …show more content…
It is far too often that women, in even the most modern of literature, are portrayed as nothing more than snivelling cowards, used merely to motivate the inevitably male heroes. Certainly, this is still the case in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is inarguably a product of its time; sexism runs rampant, as Ophelia, the female lead, is told by Hamlet himself to “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.121), with not a batted eye nor consideration of why this would be wrong. In this day and age, such blatant disrespect for women would be greatly frowned upon by a modern and discerning audience, no doubt filled with cultured women who would take offence. Bonham-Carter’s Ophelia is far from the frail and tragically beautiful flower that she is often interpreted as; “ she's like a rag doll losing its stuffings” (Hinson). With ratted hair and wild eyes, and a voice that shifts rapidly between soft and biting, she is an unpredictable and truly mad Ophelia, sparing nothing from the viewers. She legitimately scares the other characters, assaulting the first guard she meets outside by ripping off his helmet and touching his armour, making the audience fear for his safety. When she is lead inside, calling loudly for the Queen, she frightens Gertrude so badly with her singing and clutching at the walls that the Queen legitimately runs from her. The audience is forced to fear for another character’s safety once more as Ophelia runs swiftly after her, nearly pinning her to the wall to continue her convoluted and sickening speech. She is constantly touching and feeling at things, fiddling with a string between her fingers and grasping the Queen’s necklace or at the sides of her own dress, and the movements of her head are jerky and erratic. To an audience, she is so entirely unpredictable
A thing a lot of psychologist people forget that hamlet is a character acting inside the play. During the entire play it is very easily noticed when he is acting as an insane person. The way he speaks and the words he chooses is evidence towards the idea of Hamlet being sane. Most modern day men act like Hamlet when he is insane but the modern men are not always seen
After reading your post, I can see you have a firm grasp on Hamlet and the scenes in the play where he feigns madness. You used the same three scene I used to illustrate the effectiveness of Hamlet’s concocted insanity. In 1.5, before he even divulges his plans to his two friends, Horatio notes, “these are but wild and whirling words, my lord” (136). This indicates that Hamlet had already started getting into character by acting to people who knew him well. I also used 2.1 as an example of Hamlet’s method acting.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often times shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about 1599 and 1601, and published in 1603. Although the play was written and published about four centuries ago, it is still being read in the schools worldwide and there has been over fifty films based on the tragic play of Hamlet. As in all films, narration seems to be one of the most important aspects that make it clear for the director to communicate the message they were trying to connect to audience. It acts as a direct communication of the film’s theme and main idea. This comparative analysis shall aim to present a comparison of “to be or not to be” speech from the 1990 film Hamlet directed by Franco Zeffirelli and
William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights of all time. Shakespeare wrote numerous poems, sonnets, and plays. One of his most famous pieces is Hamlet, which is one of the most recognized plays of today's world. Insanity is a major theme in the play, and can be found in this quotation where Claudius is describing Ophelia. “...poor Ophelia / Divided from herself and her fair judgement, / Without the which we are pictures or mere beasts” (4.5.91-93).
As the innocent victim of Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s insanity is a product of her inability to cope with Hamlet and her father’s death. Her songs show hidden grief and sorrow; her flowers represent the fact that beneath the innocent exterior, there is a weakness or flaw in everyone. Hamlet was able to look past his grief for his father’s death, but he caused someone he loves to be in pain. Whether it is the frailty of women, sorrow, or death, anything, including love, can appear to be pleasant, but can be the ultimate cause of a person’s
It is or is it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity? I’m not saying Hamlet was faking the whole thing. The meaning for insanity on Dictionary.com is “a permanent disorder of the mind.” I don 't think Hamlet had a permanent disorder of the mind he knew what he was doing and even planned the majority of the events that happened. Most of the time anyway.
I don't think you fully understood what I was trying to point out with my quote so let me explain it to you a little simpler. I meant that the sheer thought of Claudius and him mom led his mind toward the thought of his father. Whether he was daydreaming or not it still shifted his attention towards his father. Also the quote you used was Hamlet saying he will never see his father again. So if you use that quote claiming he will never see his father again how would you explain the scenes with the ghost, who looks exactly like his father.
Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.
The question of whether or not Hamlet was insane is of a never-ending debate. Was he always crazy? Was he always faking it? Or was he somewhere in between? In this paper I will share three different views and provide my own interpretation of Hamlet’s sanity.
Insanity is an idea that has been examined for a long time in numerous mediums such as films, music, plays, and even works of literature. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is no exception to that rule. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters, and many scholars have been debating for centuries whether or not Hamlet is truly insane, or whether there is a particular reason for his odd behavior. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet merely pretends to be mad but in reality is sane.
An overwhelming amount of evidence shows that Hamlet faked his insanity to confuse the king and his accomplices. Often revered for their emotional complexities, William Shakespeare’s tragic characters display various signs of mental illness. Sylvia Morris notes “Hamlet contains Shakespeare’s most fully-developed study of mental illness, and has always intrigued commentators on the play.” (“Shakespeare’s Minds Diseased: Mental Illness and its Treatment”). When looking at the play, one can infer that Shakespeare makes the relationship between sanity and insanity undistinguishable from one another.
The death of Hamlet’s father and him discovering that the new King Claudius murdered him, leads Hamlet to the brilliant idea of portraying a mad man. Hamlet faking his madness leads to Ophelia’s true madness as to he murdered her father, Polonius. The death of her father hitting her hard, she begins to act as a crazed woman singing and handing out imaginary flowers, eventually ending her life. The underlying difference of madness conveys how emotions and trickery can affect the play and lives of everyone involved.
William Shakespeare tells the tale of a troubled man in his masterpiece, Hamlet. Imagine your beloved father dying and your mother marrying his brother shortly after. You’re left to grieve on your own. Instead of consoling you, your mother and uncle have a wedding and begin to share the same bed. This is what Hamlet suffers through in the play.
Insanity comes through a number of causes or events that one goes through at one point of one’s life or in several cases. These problems pile up and distort one’s mind and behavior, forcing them to move quickly on it. In most cases, it may do more harm than good, since the individual concerned can cause havoc and to innocent citizens. However, not everyone is courageous enough to confront their fears or concerns, but prefers to use manipulative means as a way to undermine the survivor. This is what happens in Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare, about a young prince, and his vengeance for his father is a killer.
Hamlet: The Tragedy of Female Oppression Feminism has erupted over the past century. The theme of patriarchy has ruled over women for centuries. With the uprising of the critique of patriarchy, more feminists have analyzed Shakespeare’s literary works as in favor of the male gender roles. In Act 1 scene 3, the station of Polonius and Laertes reveals their patriarchal position over Ophelia by constructing advices that molds their expectations of her and degrading her in ways that exemplify the oppression of women during the 1600’s.