There are always common themes, symbols, and literary techniques that someone reading a Shakespearian play can pick out and analyze. Using the video above, find one theme, symbol or any other literary technique to briefly analyze in a single paragraph. Compare or contrast how the Reduced Shakespeare Company dealt with the technique.
By: Cassie and Lauren
The theme of the mysterious and tenebrous spirit world that seems to haunt Hamlet at every turn and, going hand in hand with seeing "Dead People", the Prince's so called "antic disposition" are both dissected here and ripped up into satire by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. William Shakespeare himself, however, as a Christian in a time where superstition ruled and witchcraft was in the air, he obviously feared the angels and demons that both God and Satan wrought in human's lives, as well as those caught in between: the sprites, ghosts, and ghouls that abound in Catholic and Gothic literature such as Dante's vivid Inferno. The ghost plays an integral part in the story, despite its few lines, by revealing the treachery of Uncle Claudius. Thus, Shakespeare has used it not only to characterize the Church's influence in Denmark and the disposition of the frightened and apprehensive characters but also directs it to forward the motion of the plot and enhance the creepy, supernatural setting. The playwright further utilizes the ghost to give credence to Hamlet's madness in the scene in which only he and not his mother can see the ghost. In the name of comedy, though, the RSC has taken the role of the ghost and portrayed it in a more trivial manner, a lackluster protagonist of a low-budget horror film that merely plays the role of tattling on Claudius.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of deception is commonly depicted throughout the play Hamlet. Hamlet feigns madness to deceive his uncle Claudius in order to get Claudius to tell the truth about killing Hamlet’s father. Hamlet’s deceiving madness makes Claudius worry that he could be a potential threat to the throne, and often ponders if this madness means that Hamlet knows the truth about his sinful killing of his brother/ Hamlet’s father. Not only does Hamlet’s madness trick Claudius, but also the emotional Ophelia who describes her encounter with Hamlet to her father Polonius and says that Hamlet was, “Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other/ And with a look so piteous in purport/ As if he had been loosed of hell” (II. ii. 90-92). His physical to mental appearance seems as though he has gone mad, and Ophelia falls right into his trap of feigned madness, and takes this encounter as both terrifying and frightening. The Reduced Shakespeare Company recites these exact same lines in the video, but use a much more playful, lighthearted tone and makes these lines into a sexual innuendo. Trying to spark comedy out of this tragic play, the Reduced Shakespeare company uses Hamlet’s feigned madness as a tool of comedy and a source of jokes as compared to the actual play that uses Hamlet’s madness as a source of deception and a tool to find the sinful truth.
ReplyDeleteOne major theme in Hamlet is uncertainty. Ophelia is uncertain about Hamlet's feelings towards her, Horatio is uncertain about Hamlet's goals, Claudius is uncertain of what to do about his killing of Hamlet's father, and finally, Hamlet is uncertain about his overall plight and purpose. Hamlet is initially deeply saddned by the loss of his father, the former king. He is barely comforted by Claudius, the new king, and his mother Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark. When Hamlet is told by the ghost of his father that Claudius was his murderer, Hamlet becomes infuriated and plans to avenge his father and murder Claudius in return. It is after this initial feeling of spite that Hamlet begins to become uncertain about his plan and if he should kill Claudius at all. Hamlet begins to question his purpose, if the ghost was a reliable source of information or a figment of his imagination, if he himself believes Claudius to believe the culprit, among other things. The Reduced Shakespeare Company demonstrated this repeated dilemma well, for example explaining the the "to be or not to be" speech the actor portraying Hamlet comedically did not perform. This is only one example of the many uncertainties Hamlet's actions were based off of. The same can be said about our lives, in that countless things we do each day are based off of instinct and uncertainty.
ReplyDeleteOne theme that carries the plot of Hamlet is the theme of sons seeking revenge. Fortinbras is shown attempting to seek revenge against Hamlet’s father, Elsinore, because King Hamlet killed the father of Fortinbras. Hamlet is another character who seeks revenge from his uncle for killing his father. Laertes seeks revenge against Hamlet because Hamlet “accidently” killed Laertes’ father, Polonius. The three sons are all seeking revenge for the deaths of their fathers, which works to carry the plot of this tragedy. This theme is depicted by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, but with a twist. The Reduced Shakespeare Company depicts this scene with more absurdity. The company makes the ghost seem more of a satiric character, which then takes away the solemnity from the scene. As Hamlet finds out that his uncle is guilty of committing the murder of his father, Hamlet is not shown in shock of finding out such a horrid truth. The play presented by the Reduced Shakespeare Company serves as a juxtaposition to the actual Hamlet because of the different moods that were created.
ReplyDeleteIn Act I, Scene 5, Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost, wishing for his son to avenge his death, which is a reoccurring them throughout the play. The Ghost hints at the terrors of his suffering. He cannot go to heaven because he died before he could confess his sins. So he must suffer dreadfully in purgatory. But the Ghost says he is forbidden to tell of his terrifying ordeal. Like Hamlet, the Ghost of King Hamlet seems little concerned with affairs of the state. His mind is full of family matters. He expresses his revulsion at the thought of Gertrude’s sexual relations with Claudius and is sickened by the betrayal of his queen. All of these factors lead the Ghost to urge his son to take revenge upon Claudius for the cause of his death.
ReplyDeleteThere are many different renditions of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” that portray each scene with a diverse tone and meaning, adding to the importance of Shakespearean literature. The Reduced Shakespeare Company did just that. Using comedy and humor to bring knowledge to their audience, while also keeping their attention, is very difficult, especially in today’s society. Unlike the original production, the Reduced Shakespeare Company makes the appearance of Hamlet’s father very brief. They add hilarity through repetition from Horatio and Hamlet and only include the main points of the Ghost’s speech. Also, the Ghost exits with a humorous departure to show the lack of seriousness yet light-hearted comicality that the Reduced Shakespeare Company is known for.
Revenge is an apparent theme in Shakespeare's Hamlet. However the
ReplyDeletedevelopment of three revenge plots with Laertes and Fortinbras
undermine Hamlet's actions. The other two react quickly and hastily
while Hamlet delays. It serves to foil Hamlet in that he is a weak
character. Although, in Acts I and II, the plot of just Hamlet's revenge on Claudius evolves with his father's request in his return as a ghost. Shakespeare himself also undermines Hamlet by making him a weak character in that he questions himself with the revenge, noting its lack in validity. Hamlet questions whether his father's ghost is real or a figure of imagination in his head, linking back to a theme of uncertainty. In the Reduced Shakespeare Company's version, they touch on how the "To be or not to be..." speech brings weakness to the character of Hamlet, this weakness brought on by the pressure of revenge that Hamlet cannot handle but Laertes and Fortinbras can later.
Although singular symbols are not regularly representative of greater ideas in Shakespearian works, Yorick's skull serves as a thematic icon. When Hamlet discovers the skull during Act V, he notes the inevitability of death and its universal grasp on everyone. Following an ashes to ashes principle, this idealogy equalizes the status ground of all characters of the play. As Hamlet faces the encroaching state of death in others' lives, beginning with his father, he realizes the vulnerability of life. In a pessimistically realistic fashion, this acceptance perpetuates his drive for revenge on his uncle. When Hamlet traces the mouth with his finger and notes, “Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft,” he furthers his fascination with consequences of death (V.i.174–175). This near obsession with physical consequences is extended in Hamlet's other references to the human body's decay. For example, Polonius and even kings will be consumed by worms. Furthermore, even Alexander the Great's Ashes could be used to stop a beer barrel hole, clinching the idea that when each person returns to the ground, she becomes the same as soil who endures disrespectful footsteps.
ReplyDeleteIn Hamlet, Shakespeare makes good use of soliloquy, which is a device in which a character delivers a long narration of his thoughts and feelings to the audience without any other characters present. This varies from a monologue because a monologue is presented when the character is not alone. It is directed at certain people. Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy gives the audience a glimpse inside Hamlet’s tumultuous psyche and exposes the questions and choices he is struggling with inside. The play Hamlet is diverse and unique particularly for the shift from characters being affected by the outside world and how the events around them shape them to this psychological battle within. In this soliloquy, Hamlet evaluates the conflict between living or dying. He tries to weigh out whether the pain and struggle is worth living through. This pivotal narration sheds a light on Hamlet that reveals his inner-most feelings through this well-employed device. In contrast to Shakespeare’s play, the RSC cuts out the “To be or not be” speech. This is to create a humorous shift from the severity and seriousness the soliloquy evokes. Instead, the actors make a joke out of the fact that Hamlet is too embarrassed and his pride too shaken from the audience’s laughter to perform.
ReplyDeleteThis video utilizes many techniques in its presentation. It is clearly a satire of the play, Hamlet, By William Shakespeare. The sarcastic and satirical representation of this play helps exude Shakespeare’s sense of humor in a modern way. The deviance from the “olde English” dialect was a necessary change in order to capture the attention and humor the audience. The array of different, unusual dialects in the video is another deviation from the play that is designed to add humor. An important symbol of this Hamlet satire is the shoes of the actors. The actors are adorned in slipshod Shakespearean Era outfits, but with Converse shoes on (shoes that were symbolic to the 20th century.) This is meant to further the element of satire and make it so obvious that it almost adds more humor to the sheer obvious nature of their sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important scenes in Hamlet is the scene the ghost encounter. Hamlet is informed of the truth about his father’s death and all the mishaps that have been taking place in the castle. He wants to seek revenge; revenge being the theme that drives the actions and spirit of the play. Madness soon begins festering throughout Hamlets mind. He does not know what to believe. His madness takes a toll on all the other characters in the play. The scene is significant because it sets the play into motion. The Reduced Shakespeare Company took something that was so important and applied the literary technique of comic relief. This technique was helpful because instead of the scene being heavy and serious, comedy was applied in order to make the importance of the scene easier to understand and follow. Also through the method of comic relief, the characters are able to add their own modern and personal touches to the parts. This gives a taste of personality of the actors to the Reduced production, while still maintaining the direction and meaning of the original Hamlet production.
ReplyDeleteThe Reduced prodution gave a bit of comic relief to the serious play of Hamlet. The theme that stood out to me the most was the theme of madness. It is known that through out the play Hamlet spends most of the time arguing with himself and second guessing everything he believes in. I think the Reduced prodution did a fantastic job with depicting the madness of Hamlet, they used the scene where Opehlia is telling about her encounter with Hamlet to give an wonderful visual picture of exactly how crazy Hamlet can be. The actor portraying Halmet rushes on stage in the middle of her converstaion screaming some nonsense about coco puffs and continues to ramble aimlessly for a bit until he reaches his point. At which point he "accidentlally" goes the wrong way off stage. Simple actions such as those gives off the impression that Hamlet is indeed insane and perhaps is better left alone. My personal favorite way of illuminating Hamlet's madness was when the famous "to be or not to be" speech was about to take place when the actor couldn't summon the courage and just broke down crying. The human mind associates break downs of any sort with weakness and the fact that it was on a public stage, planned or not, presents the question that something may be wrong with said person. This is perfect for the character of Hamlet and the theme of madness. Through out the play no one is certain of Hamlet's madness, perhaps it is just a pretense. Either way the Reduced production deffinetely brought out the humorous side of Hamlet and did a terrific job of portraying the theme of madness within.
ReplyDelete@Bracey: Your topics were very original and were supported by numerous details.
ReplyDelete@Tasha: You displayed deception well through a vast majority of characters and descriptors.
@Mcleod: You used uncertainly well by making use of extensive plot details and the mental makeup of the characters.
@Prutha: You really showed you understood the core theme of Hamlet. You extrapolated on Hamlet seeking revenge for his father very well.
@Caroline: While also focusing on revenge, you explained a different side of the play that the others did not.
@Kelsey Smith: Also, a good analysis of revenge. You really focused on Hamlet’s father driving the revenge in the play.
@Alexander: I really liked that you focused on a different symbol. You did an excellent analysis of the skull.
@Anna Cait: The fact that you focused on the soliloquies showed your originality in your post. Well done!
@Tyler: While focusing on the video itself, you did a good job encourporating the video with the actual play.
@ Taylor: Even though the ghost encounter had been discussed, you did a great analysis.
@Sydney: The theme of madness is certainly one in the play. You explained it well.