Hamlet Literary Essay

Hamlet Literary Essay

The tragedy, Hamlet, by Shakespeare is a dramatic tale of murder, jealousy and revenge. Hamlet takes place in the late 1500’s in a castle of Denmark when the protagonist, Hamlet, discovers that his father, the king of Denmark, was murdered by his uncle. Hamlet creates an elaborate plot for revenge that quickly turns sour. Hamlet’s plot for revenge leads to his traumatic downfall because everyone who he had no intention of hurting dies, and so does he. Shakespeare’s intent is to show Hamlet’s dynamic character development in which Hamlet transforms from a sarcastic, mournful, and confused boy, to an arrogant, angry and paranoid man because of revenge. Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation captures Shakespeare’s intent best because of how he displays Hamlet’s traits of arrogance, paranoia, and anger all of which bloomed from revenge. Branagh shows this in the Mousetrap Scene, Spy Scene, and the Bedroom Scene best through setting action, language and tone.

            In Act 3.2, the Mousetrap Scene, Shakespeare shows Hamlet’s traits of arrogance, paranoia, and anger through language and tone. For example, when Hamlet says to Ophelia, “It would cost you a groaning to take off mine edge,” this shows Hamlet’s signs of paranoia and arrogance because he openly admits that he is on edge and arrogantly asks Ophelia for sex. Another instance of Hamlet’s anger and arrogance is in Hamlet’s aside when he has his first opportunity to kill his Claudius, he says “When he is fit and seasoned for package… when he is drunk, asleep or in range or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed.” This shows arrogance because he wants this murder of Claudius to be grand, and therefore Hamlet ignores this opportunity reflecting paranoia because he was hesitant. Additionally, Hamlet shows anger and paranoia when he says, “as woman’s love” in response to Ophelia saying “tis short,” this reflects his anger at the situation at the situation of his mother marrying his uncle, but it also shows paranoia as it does not seem directed at Ophelia in their conversation, it is said more to the air.

            Similarly, in Branagh’s film adaptation Hamlet is shown as a paranoid, angry, arrogant man, during the Mousetrap Scene using tone, action, language and setting. The first example occurs when hamlet arrogantly flirts with Ophelia, asking to put his head in her lap. Branagh shows Hamlets arrogance when he portrays Hamlet narrating the play as well as climbing over the seats to speak to

What seems like the entire audience. Hamlet also shows anger with his tone and language when he talks back with Gertrude and Claudius with rude remarks. This all shows how Branagh uses language, tone, setting and action to show Hamlet’s arrogance, paranoia, and anger.

Moreover, in Act 3.1, during the Spy Scene, Shakespeare continues to show Hamlet’s traits of arrogance, paranoia, and anger through language and tone. For example when Hamlet says, “Ha, ha, are you honest?” to Ophelia this shows anger and arrogance because he knows of Ophelia’s deceit and is aware that he is being spied on so he arrogantly says this is his language and shows anger in its tone. Later within the spy scene Hamlet openly says “I am very proud, revengeful, and ambitious with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in”, this also shows anger, arrogance, and paranoia because Hamlet is arrogantly admitting his traits all of which are expressed in an angry tone. The quote continues with hamlet saying “What should such fellow as I do crawling between earth and heaven?” this shows paranoia because Hamlet is questioning the value of his life by comparing its value to that of a criminal, furthermore he is alluding to Claudius criminal acts, which in return ignites his traits of anger and arrogance as well.

In analogous to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation he also displays Hamlet’s traits of arrogance, paranoia, and anger throughout the Spy Scene using language, action, tone, and setting. This first happens when watching how Hamlet gracefully walks towards Ophelia, in a longing passion, he kisses her showing his passion while still aware of the fact that he is being watched by Claudius and Polonius. This continues in Hamlet’s tone in how he speaks to Ophelia, his words turn from loving to condescending, as he questions Ophelia’s honesty, much like the text when Hamlet says to Ophelia, “Are you honest… are you fair?” Hamlet also shows his when he arrogance anger and paranoia, in his tone when he confesses his once pure love for Ophelia; this is emphasized by Branagh’s music selection because it is sad and conveys a feeling of sympathy for Hamlet, almost justifying his emotions. This all shows how Branagh uses language, tone, setting and action to show Hamlet’s arrogance, paranoia, and anger.

          Shakespeare really emphasizes Hamlet’s arrogance, paranoia and anger through language and tone in the Bedroom Scene, Act 3.4. The first time this occurs is when Hamlet says to Gertrude, “come, come and sit you down. You shall not budge. You go not till I set you up a glass where you may see the inmost part of you” this shows Hamlet’s arrogance as he speaks to Gertrude in a condescending matter. This is followed by more erratic language and the tone set by Shakespeare’s chose of words, Hamlet begins to scold Gertrude when he says, “What devil was’t? That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind? Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight, Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all, or but a sickly part of one true sense. Could not so mope. O shame, where is thy blush?” Hamlet is confronting Gertrude out of all the anger and arrogance in his heart, and when he ask in an angry manner “…where is thy blush?” Hamlet is asking why Gertrude isn’t embarrassed or ashamed of what she has done.  Hamlet continues in a short monologue, “Not this, by no means, that I bid you do—Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed, Pinch wanton on your cheek, call you his mouse, And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses Or paddling in your neck with his damned fingers, Make you to ravel all this matter out: That I essentially am not in madness But mad in craft.’Twere good you let him know, For who that’s but a queen, fair, sober, wise, Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,Such dear concernings hide?  Who would do so? No, in despite of sense and secrecy, unpeg the basket on the house’s top. Let the birds fly, and like the famous ape, to try conclusions, in the basket creep and break your own neck down.” Hamlet says this out of arrogance thinking that he can control his mother’s actions or as if he knows what is best for her, as well as he shows anger through the language and paranoia at the fact that he feels that she needs to be controlled, especially after he murders Polonius.

In cohesion with Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation he also displays Hamlet’s traits of arrogance, paranoia, and anger throughout the Bedroom Scene using language, action, tone, and setting. This first happens when Hamlet angrily storms into the bedroom speaking to Gertrude in a dramatic tone that is powerful but not overbearing. When Hamlet realizes that he has just murdered Polonius, he shows a sadness or regret that he acted so furiously but this is immediately followed by a change in tone and language as he no longer feels remorse but anger once more, maybe at the fact that he did not just kill Claudius, but that Polonius actually deserved this death. Hamlet then continues to throw his mother forcefully on the bed, continues to speak at her in a lecturing manner, angry and  paranoid because his mother is unaware of her actions and paranoid because he just killed someone outside of his goal for revenge. These all show how Branagh uses language, tone, setting and action to show Hamlet’s arrogance, paranoia, and anger.

Some may say that Branagh did not do the best job of showing Hamlet’s dynamic character transformation from a sarcastic, mournful, and confused boy to an arrogant, angry and paranoid man through setting, action, language and tone but that Franco Zeffernelli more accurately depicts Shakespeare’s intent best. This adaptation does in fact; display the theme of Hamlet visually beautiful.  This adds to the medieval theme of Denmark, and sets the mood for Hamlet well. Hal Himson from the Washington Post argues that “as a director, Zeffernelli is better with furniture than after the camera.” Throughout Zeffernelli’s film he eloquently recreates the depiction of Hamlet in the text through the film through setting and set design, where as Branagh’s art direction overly exaggerates the setting. However Branagh’s adaptation is still best because Zeffernelli leaves out the subplots throughout the film which loses the depth of the play. Zeffernelli attempts to make up for the loss depth in the story, to recover through immediacy and action however the film feels bare and the actors and actresses hold the film up rather than the direction of Franco Zeffernelli.

Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation portrayed Hamlet best in accordance to how Shakespeare originally intended so. Branagh successfully captures Hamlet’s anger, paranoia, and arrogance develops from mourning, confusion, and sarcasm because of revenge through language, setting, action, setting, and tone on film. Other adaptations fail to show Hamlet’s dynamic character development, portraying as irrational and in experienced. At the beginning of the play, however, I viewed Hamlet’s action and motives as it being justified. However, towards the end of the play, I started to realize that while Hamlet’s original intentions for revenge were not horrible, in context to what happened to him, what ends up happening at the end of the play is worse than anything that Hamlet expected. This tragedy shows the importance at looking at the whole picture before reacting, and that revenge is definitely not the best solution.