WeekXII-Spirit vs Ghost

               I have given a lot of thought on the hotly debated topic of whether the ghost of King Hamlet was meant as a demon, seeking to destroy lives and cause extreme chaos, or a spirit, searching for revenge to give himself peace; and, I have come to the following conclusion.  Two out of the three very well done presentations of the play made the "ghost" a seemingly powerful essence demanding, NOT asking for, revenge.  Also, the one version that wasn't presented the same way, was far from a restless spirit in asking for it's deserved revenge.  If the so called "spirit" was as powerful as demonstrated, why not take revenge its self and save Hamlet the trouble? In every story someone comes out happy or victorious. With the pile of bodies, ruined friendships, and destroyed trusts I think a demon would be the only happy one in the group.  Because of this reasons I believe that the "ghost" is a demon not a spirit.

WeekXII-One last Hamlet

              For my last Hamlet production, I chose the David Tennant version.  Mostly I selected it because I have heard that he was the best "Doctor Who" so far, and I was skeptical of his acting abilities.  The Producer of the film was The Royal Shakespeare Company, the director was Gregory Doran, and the stars were David Tennant(Hamlet) and Patrick Stewart(Claudius). You never see the outside world, but it would seem that the setting was late 1900's in the palace of the king of England.  To be honest I thought that David Tennant's appraisers didn't do him justice. He seemed to outshine the rest of the movie with his acting, especially with his crazy act that was even better than the Branagh or Gibson version. The only other actor that fit with Tennant's ability, was Patrick Stewart (the bald dude from x-men and star trek). He seemed to portray a more in depth Claudius than the ones in the other versions.

WeekXI-No Secrets (for once)

                 It seems clear that when Hamlet says to Ophelia,"The players cannot keep counsel-they'll tell all." he's means that they reveal the truth and not hold back.  The question is, why?  In his new state of mind he has taken a liking to mind games, predictions, and secrets.  Which may be it, because the play does show both his mother's betrayal, and his fathers murder.  is that really the only possibility though.  Could be it possible that he's trying to give reason to his madness for Ophelia? later he does exclaim that,"Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum." perhaps this is just his insanity kicking in, but it's still an interesting thought.

WeekXI-Ophelia Treatment

               Hamlets treatment of Ophelia is in the nicest of words, rough; Not that she didn't deserve it. He seemed to want her to feel sorry for betraying him, because right after the beginning pleasantries of their conversation, it starts to sound more like an interrogation.  He directly insults her honesty, saying that she is been deceiving him by seduction."To a nunnery, go." are his parting words to her which could might mean two different things. It might mean she should save herself from continuing her deceitful ways, or that she should go back to he father, the "Fishmonger", and leave him be.

WeekX-Comparison

               Oh how deserving of pity am I when the greater of to epics I must chose, the lesser of which will be tread upon by shoes, and the greater of which will be lifted up in my views.  There isn't any specific parts that cause me to see the Branagh version as superior to the Gibson version, but more that the projection as a whole is a more literal portrayal of Shakespeare's work and my personal favorite. For example, the 1st ghost scene in the Branagh version was all out; with a flying ghost full set of armor, a loud wispy voice that came from all directions, and a cold dead terrain with mist and continually cracking ground.  Whereas the Gibson version ghost didn't have any armor, was located in on the castle wall, and had a human sounding voice, however it often disappeared and reappeared to make up for not flying and they did a good job at making it look lifeless yet alive.  There are many other examples like this where the Branagh overcomes the Gibson, but I'll now go on to camera angle strategies in which I believe Branagh again has the upper hand.  Branagh starts with formal straight on shots, then goes to side shots, next he throws in a few 360's, then finally begins to rearrange the pattern, evolving your subconscious into a more engaged theme.  Gibson's is impressive as well, but is more of a modren "movie" style that dosn't feel like Shakespeare to me. So to be honest both are now in my top 50 movies list but Branagh just has more depth to it. In the end Gibson had some better points, like a better actress for Ophelia and dressing Hamlet crazy as well as having him act crazy, however Branaghs ability to make me realize somthing new about it every day wins out!  

week10-HELP ME!!!

              PROBLEM!!! I have checked both the Oxfords world's classics and everyone's favorite No fear Shakespeare and have not found the answer to thought question 7 week 10 in the section listed in BHOI(2,2,321-329).  So I'm not sure what to do because August didn't find it either.

Week VIII-Frist Impressions

             I love first impressions, They seem to always go horribly.  That is, until now.  Honestly I have barely tolerated Shakespeare up tell this point, but now I am really getting into it!  I think it was the witty/hilarious/rude/mean/cool/epic remarks Hamlet made when he was acting insane that pushed me over the edge, but the pile of body's at the end helped!