Hamlet
From Conservapedia
Hamlet, perhaps William Shakespeare's most famous play, was written 409 years ago. It is a tragedy about incest, revenge, madness, homicide, and suicide.
The title character is the son of a murdered king, who appears in ghostly form to the young prince.[1] The dead king accuses his brother, Claudius, (young Hamlet's uncle) of murdering him.
As Prince Hamlet investigates, he faces a conspiracy involving schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; Ophelia's father Polonius; and even his own mother.
Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's murder destroys his own life and the lives of everyone close to him but a visiting college friend (Horatio).
Under normal circumstances, it would be treasonous to make any accusations of the king. It is only because of Hamlet's position as the son of the Queen that he is able to voice his suspicions. That, and his pretense of being "mad with grief" over his father's recent death. He betrays his suspicions in front of his mother and (step)father in an angry tirade and is watched closely from then on.
Polonious, the king's adviser, thinks that Hamlet is behaving strangely out of his love for Ophelia and orders her to break off her relationship with Hamlet.
Hamlet wonders why his mother would betray her husband and marry his brother only two months after his death. He grows indecisive ("To be or not to be") and unsure about the ghost's story. He comes up with an idea to stage a pantomime play to confirm or deny the story.
- "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
During the play, he makes a nuisance of himself, commenting on the action and teasing Ophelia with double-entendres, but he gets confirmation of the ghost's accusation when the King sees a scene showing a man poisoned in his his sleep and clasping the widow in an adulterous embrace. The King orders them to stop the play and storms out.
Hamlet confronts his mother (Queen Gertrude) in her bedroom, not knowing that the king's adviser Polonius is hidden behind a wall hanging. Hearing a movement, Hamlet kills the hidden spy; when he discovers that it is his girl friend's father, he hides the body in another part of the castle.
Ophelia, already upset over the sudden end of the courtship, becomes distraught after learning Hamlet has killed her father and drowns herself.
Hamlet's only friend in the play, his school friend Horatio, is the only major character who is not killed. When Hamlet is behaving strangely (it might not be an act), he tells Horatio, "I am only mad north by northwest" and "There's a method to my madness".
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Synopsis
Hamlet's friends among the castle guards see a ghost that looks like the dead king. The King announces his wedding to Gertrude, widow of King Hamlet and father of Prince Hamlet. Her attempts to cheer him up fall flat, and in a soliloquy he accuses her of incest. His friends tell him about the ghost. Laertes, son of the king's adviser Polonius, is leaving on a trip. He tells his sister Ophelia not to get too involved with Prince Hamlet; so does her father, so she promises to break off the relationship. Hamlet goes and sees the ghost, who tells him the new king murdered him. He tells Hamlet to avenge his death but not to hurt Gertrude. Hamlet doesn't tell his friends what he heard. Polonius dispatches a servant to spy on Laertes, and Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet burst into her room and scared her. The King and Queen send two schoolfriends of Hamlet to spy on him. They disagree on why Hamlet is acting strangely. The Queen says it is because of their over-hasty marriage, but the king prefers the story that Hamlet is lovesick over Ophelia, which is what Polonius thinks. They hide while Hamlet comes in and starts insulting Polonius. The schoolmates come in and question him, but Hamlet is suspicious and reveals nothing. Actors come in, and Hamlet has Polonious hire them. The famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy is about his internal struggles: he hates his uncle, he's angry at his mother but he's worried that the ghost might be a demon sent to trick him, so he has the idea of using a play to prove the King's guilt. The plan works brilliantly, as the king is forced to end the play out of his overwhelming grief. Hamlet loudly celebrates his triumph in front of the King and Queen. After his celebration, Hamlet goes to kill the King in one of his personal chambers. Hamlet finds the King praying, and decides not to kill him then, lest his sins be forgiven and he be sent to heaven. Hamlet then goes to his mother's quarters, at the request of his friends. The Queen reprimands him for celebrating at the time of the King's grief. Hamlet counters by unleashing his pent up anger at his mother's incest and lack of sadness for the death of Hamlet's father. When a noise comes from behind a tapestry, Hamlet sticks his sword through, thinking he has stabbed Claudius. Instead, he discovers that he has killed Polonius. After the verbal assault, the Queen realizes her own foolishness and vows to no longer sleep with the King.
Movies
Major film versions of the play have starred Laurence Olivier, Mel Gibson, and Kenneth Branagh. (While both Olivier and Branagh directed and starred in their versions, Franco Zeffirelli directed the one with Gibson.)
Laurence Olivier's black-and-white 1948 film won four Oscars; best actor in a leading role, best art-set direction, best costume design and best picture. Olivier's performance was considered an unapproachable ideal and remains so. It co-starred Basil Sydney as Claudius, Eileen Herlie as Gertrude, Terence Morgan as Laertes and Jean Simmons as Ophelia.
Mel Gibson's 1990 version uses modernized English and attempts to portray a grittier, tougher Hamlet. The film was nominated for two Oscars. It co-starred Alan Bates as Claudius, Glenn Close as Gerturde, Nathaniel Parker as Laertes and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia.
Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version is 4 hours long as it includes the complete, unabridged text of the whole play. The film was nominated for four Oscars. It co-starred Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Julie Christie as Gertrude, Michael Maloney as Laertes and Kate Winslet as Ophelia. It also included well-known actors in cameo roles such as Charlton Heston, John Gielgud, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams.
The 2000 version with Ethan Hawke as a believably young Hamlet is set entirely in New York City, with Denmark a corporation. Julia Stiles is brilliant as Ophelia, and Bill Murray is pitch perfect[2] as the king's tragically inept advisor Polonious.
The British Broadcasting Corporation also filmed a version for television with Derek Jacobi in the title role.
History
Shakespeare's Hamlet was based on a long narrative tradition, beginning with Saxo Grammaticus' Historica Danica (1180-1208). His legendary story of Amlethus was adapted by French writer François Belleforest in 1576; this new version of the story included more dialogue and psychological commentary than the original. By 1589, an English-language Hamlet play was being performed. The author of this Ur-Hamlet is not known, although some evidence points towards Thomas Kyd, author of the prototypical English revenge play, The Spanish Tragedie. Shakespeare received most of his Hamlet material from this narrative tradition and transformed it into the enduring work known today.[3]
References in Popular Culture
In the 1960s, playwright Tom Stoppard wrote the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which portrays the action from the viewpoint of Hamlet's schoolfriends and expands their roles.
The progressive metal band Dream Theater had their biggest hit in the early 1990s with "Pull Me Under", a song that referenced Hamlet throughout. The song has some direct quotations from the play.
Quotes and Lines
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
-Marcellus, Act I, Scene 4
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
-Polonius, Act II, Scene 2
"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
-Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2
"I am but mad by north-north-west."
-Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2
"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
-Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2
"To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die; to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep? perchance to dream. Ay there's the rub;"
-Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio;"
-Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1
"O, I die, Horatio."
-Hamlet, Act V, Scene 2
"Good night, sweet prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"
-Horatio, Act V, Scene 2
References
- ↑ Harold Bloom: "When we first encounter him, Hamlet is a university student who is not being permitted to return to his studies. He does not appear to be more than twenty years old, yet in Act V he is revealed to be at least thirty, after a passage of a few weeks at most." [1]
- ↑ "This Hamlet's effectiveness rests on an astonishing number of pitch-perfect choices, founded in Almereyda's instincts and those of the performers, many of which have the feel of being completely spontaneous. Salon review
- ↑ David Bevington, ed., The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Update 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 1997), A43-A45.
External links
- Hamlet for the Shakespeare-Impaired
- Star Trek: The Conscience of the King - a Star Trek episode
- Open Source Shakespeare - Hamlet, Prince of Denmark [2]
