If I was told to put the story of Hamlet into a different time and place I would envision it some time in the 21st century, when Hamlet has graduated from high school and is leaving for collage. Characters such as Hamlet, Ophelia, Barnardo and Francisco, Horatio, Marcellus Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and other like them would all be recently graduated students from the Academy of Denmark, the most prestigious high school in the nation generating hundreds of thousands in revenue every year. Ophelia, being Hamlets high school sweetheart has even decided to follow Hamlet to the collage of his dreams so that they could be together. But Laertes being the protective older brother and star quarterback he is an object of Hamlet and their relation ship. The whole city knows of Hamlet and everything involved in their lives because everyone who is anyone has graduated from this academy. The story would begin with Hamlet opening the door to the dorm room of the collage of his dreams. As he steps in, he receives a call, a call that would lead to a set tragic of events, a call that his father, founder and dean of the Academy of Denmark has passed away. With the call comes news that his mother will be wed within hours to his uncle, Claudius and that he being the next in line will ascend the “throne” and become dean of the academy. And so the story would begin.
Act 1 Scene 1
As Bernardo and Francisco, two rebellious, troublesome brothers, empty their lockers and prepare to leave for collage they encounter their old friends Horatio and Marcellus. They all decide to take one last walk though memory lane on the beautiful campus of the academy and reminisce over all the mischievous things they did which resulted in suspensions received in the dean’s office. As they begin their walk a gust passes over them, minutes later the silhouette or a man passes before them and as they turn the corner the boys find the deceased dean of school standing before them saying “Fear what is to come, for we are all in trouble.”
And Scene.
For this post I had to find two videos showing different portrayals of Hamlet in his famous “To be or not to be…” (3.1.64-99) speech.
The first video I chose was...
And the second was….
Please watch them both. They are really interesting.
One similarity I noticed was that in both of these videos the actors speak in a soft quite voice making for a scary and eerie scene. I thought both actors did a great job showing Hamlet as a man lost and confused, struggling with the decision to commit suicide or not. I also found that both actors made it seem as if Hamlet was just thinking out loud rather than talking to himself. Both actors did a great job portraying Hamlet as the confused man he is.
While in both of the clips Hamlet seems disheveled, I felt that in the first video Hamlet was shown more accurately with his scruffy beard and ragged dark clothing. I felt that in the second video Hamlet seemed to poised to be having suicidal thoughts. I also thought that in the clip featuring Mel Gibson the setting was quite different. Although Hamlet is supposed to coincidentally run into Ophelia moments later, I think that Hamlet would not speak of such controversial things in public where other like Claudius and Polonius can watch and hear him, making the first clip better.
Although I feel the first video was set in a better place, I thought that the use of props such as the dagger made the scene much more dramatic in the second clip. I also felt that by using the mirror it made the scene much more personal, almost as if Hamlet is judging himself and taking a closer look on his life and what he has to live for in the mirror. I really enjoyed how different and unique this scene was from all the others.
Overall, I think that the best clip would be the first clip with Mel Gibson. While the second clip had a unique and different approach to the scene, by using the mirror and other props, I still feel that the first clip portrayed Hamlet more accurately. The first clip is more of what I envisioned this scene to be, Hamlet alone, thinking amongst the dead. I think that this scene with Mel Gibson is more of an accurate and true to how Hamlet is portrayed in the book.
