Name
Professor’s name
Course
Date
The Modernization of Shakespeare 's “Hamlet”
Hamlet or The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a classical play that was written by William Shakespeare between 1559 and 1602. It shows the tragedy of Danish royal family. Prince Hamlet found out that his father was killed by own brother Claudius who became a new king. The man decided to revenge, and his actions led to death of almost all main characters including his own. Hamlet was performed and cinematized many times. The play contains eternal topics like betrayal, revenge or difficult relations between close relatives. It can be turned into a more modern thriller or detective, but the plot would need some modernizations for this transformation. While these
…show more content…
This lack of women could be caused by requirements to actors – men played both types of roles, and it could be difficult to find enough amount of travesty. The period of time also affected women’s behavior in the play. Both Ophelia and Gertrude were quite obedient and passive. These traits led to their death. This applies especially to Ophelia who did not demonstrate the presence of own opinion and easily became deranged because of Hamlet’s behavior and father’s death. Some adaptations changed sex of several secondary characters. I would like to keep the ratio the same, but improve personality traits of female characters, especially Ophelia. She would be affected by strange Hamlet’s behavior and the murder of her father, but these events should cause only a nerve breakdown and commitment to mental hospital, not the absurd suicide that happened in the original play. “There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; when down her weedy trophies and herself fell in the weeping brook” (Shakespeare 130). Ophelia can survive tragic events because of her residential treatment. This would create a more interesting final, when the recovered girl will return and find out she is the only successor of the business according to the corporate charter. Polonius was a Lord Chamberlain in the original play, and he can be turned into a chief executive officer or part-owner in the modernized version. Discussion between Laertes and Hamlet from the Act V would happen near Polonius’s coffin in this
Since then Hamlet has been portrayed in many movies to this date. The play is about a king, Old Hamlet, who is killed by his brother, Claudius, and it is up to Old Hamlet’s son, Hamlet, to avenge his death and make things right in the kingdom of Denmark. Many similarities and even differences can be found throughout both productions.
Olivia Lynch Mrs. Butterfield AP Lit 5/1/16 When you are ready to dive into the vast world of Shakespeare, you can begin by using what is known as a critical lens. The lens that may help you understand the background details of one of Shakespeare’s plays would be the Historical lens. Although there are many different lens that you can use to interpret a story, the Historical Lens is a great lens to dive into to find what really influenced the great ideas of William Shakespeare as he wrote Hamlet including the role gender plays, the comparison of Elizabeth Tudor, and the religious incorporation throughout the play. First, we can take the Historical Lens and dive into the idea of how gender roles were highly represented in Hamlet
Despite the Elizabethan era being a time of progress in comparison to previous decades, women were still thought to be less than men in almost every aspect of life. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there are two main women characters Gertrude and Ophelia. Both fall victim to the patriarchal society of the time. In “Discovering Feminism through Gertrude and Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet” the two women Gertrude and Ophelia were disrespected
Every modern society since the beginning of time has painted the female as frail and individuals at the mercy of men, unable to reap the same freedoms and aspirations as their male counterparts. The English Renaissance is no different as women were not allowed to play themselves on stage, and more often than not were seen as weak characters in their portrayal. In Shakespeare's “Hamlet”, all the female protagonists all have flaws that eventually leads to them meeting their deaths. The characters of Ophelia and Gertrude are two different women trapped in the same predicament, partly being due to the inefficacy of being taken seriously, and are therefore perceived as feeble women; looking at the persona of Ophelia, she tends to follow the direction
His beliefs shape the audience’s perceptions of women throughout the play. Hamlet’s attitude towards Gertrude and Ophelia reflects the prevailing misogynistic values of the time period, stereotyping women as weak and helpless, and condemning them for having opinions.
In Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude are the only two female characters. This already shows the imbalance of power and influence the female characters start with. On top of being so limited in numbers, the female characters in Hamlet are very limited in obvious character development. Characters like Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes are all given obvious goals and desires, whereas the female characters never have the opportunity to take affirmative actions for their needs. Despite not having much influence in the storyline, there are situations where the female characters are able to stand up for themselves.
The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.
Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.
When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134).
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.
Hamlet Hamlet is a tragedy play written by William Shakespeare. It is a play that involves numerous deaths. Hamlet is the main character in the play and he is depicted as an insane person. Hamlet faked his madness so as to confuse Claudius and his assistants in order to find the truth about the death of his father.
A ghost is considered earthbound if its essence remains lingering in the physical world and hasn’t been able to cross over into the spiritual realm. They get stuck behind here on Earth, caught in limbo between the living and dead, and wander restlessly seeking resolution. Hollywood tends to thrive on the idea that these ghosts are roaming around creating chaos to the lives of those they encounter. The fact of the matter is we can’t really be sure what the true purpose is a departed soul. There are many theories as to why a ghost, or more appropriately a spirit, may become static on Earth instead of moving on to the beyond.
Female characters in media are often portrayed as weak. They are not able to make their own decisions, and they cannot handle problems without help from ale characters. This is not the case in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The female characters in Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia, are strong, and this is demonstrated through their actions, their interactions with other characters, and even their deaths. Gertrude marrying Claudius only several months after the death of her husband is not a sign of her frailty.
To begin, Gertrude and Ophelia are less significant in the play because of their heavy dependence on male authorities in their lives. For example, when
He did not innately hate all women, but slowly as he reserved rejection after rejection he snapped. Hamlet’s relationships differed between Gertrude and Ophelia, but both had the same goal of Hamlet having someone to love and care about him. With the goal of compassion being accomplished, he spiralled in a growing hatred of the female population. Hamlet’s misogyny is not the result sexual repression , but rather his environment and the interactions with women. Ernest Jones argues that Hamlet’s misogyny stems from the sexual repression of Gertrude and Ophelia.