Ophelia's Eulogy

Today we are here to honor the lovely Ophelia.  She was a great and strong woman and kept it together as long as she could. She was a bright soul who liked to bring happiness to others and easy to get along with and relate to.  She fell in love with the Prince Hamlet but was forbidden by her father to see him.  This crushed as it would crush most of us here, to be shunned away from the love of your life.

Since she could not see her lover it took a tool on the young beauty.  Hamlet was going through a tough time as well and he was acting inappropiate which affected her. Then Ophelia's father died and was killed by Hamlet, this set Ophelia off to go mad. All these things that went on in her life was extremely hard to handle.  Her way of dealing with all this was to take her own life, we should respect her decsion and understand the reason for her committing suicide. A girl once on top of the world was brought to her lowest point.   

Hamlet's Dilemma Entry Response

I believe that Hamlet delaying to kill Claudius immediately was a smart decision but I think he was fabricating the fact that he was not putting off the murder.  I think he was too afraid to kill his stepfather right then and there.  It was wise of Hamlet to not kill him though because Claudius was praying an not sinning like he usually does, so when killed he would of went to Heaven rather than Hell.  I do believe that Claudius is really guilty of killing Old Hamlet so it is justified of the killing of the king.  Hamlet's decision was smart but i think he was putting off killing Claudius rather than thinking it through. 

Hamlet : To be or not to be reflection

     All four different scenes of the "To Be or Not To Be" speech have their pros and cons.  The Olivier version had a very large attempt to be emotional and dramatic.  In the beginning, the music was too dramatic and theatrical because it tried to set up an eventful speech but the monologue was portrayed as more emotional.  The setting of the scene helped it seem more real.  I thought it was a good choice of the director, Olivier, to have the scene set on a high cliff over the water.  The set could represent the decision for Hamlet to kill himself or not; should stay with the rock or go down with the water; the rock represents life and the represents is death.  I thought the use of the dagger had potential to confuse the audience because if he was complementing suicide wouldn't he simply jump off the cliff instead of stab himself?
     Branagh's scene of Hamlet I feel as though was the worst because it seemed to rehearsed and forced.  There was no authentic emotion in this version and that was probably due to bad acting.  I thought the use of the two way mirror was a wise decision because it made you think was he referring to Polonius and Claudius or to himself.  Especially when he picked up the dagger and pointed towards the mirror, he could be either pointing it at himself or Polonius and Claudius.  I do not think the set was too great but the props helped.  There was not enough emotion in Branagh's speech unlike Ethan Hawk's speech.  This version was very dark and gloomy and had a different take then the others.  The setting being a video store could bring different thoughts.  I think that it was a weird set but interesting because he was looking around like he seemed to be searching for something, like maybe an answer.. to life. 
     The Mel Gibson scene I believed was the best because of the emotion and setting.  I thought Gibson portrayed the emotion of this speech correctly.  The setting in the tomb was interesting as well and when he would talk about death and the after life he would turn to the dead bodies, which is a good representation.  I think there is so many versions of this play because it can be interrupted in so many ways.

Analysis of the First Ghost Scene

     All three different versions of the play Hamlet provided me with different reactions.  In the first version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the first ghost scene gave you a dark and gloomy feeling.  In this scene Hamlet, played by Mel Gibson, was way more frightened and scared of the ghost unlike the other two movies. The ghost in this version was extremely emotional and depressed as oppose to him feeling anger. The director focused more on the arrival of the ghost rather than the way he was portrayed during the conversation between Hamlet and Old Hamlet. There was not a lot of background music in this version but the music that was played was every suspensefull and not as sad as the others.  In my opinion, all of these decisions and choices the director made were very wise because this is my favorite version.  I liked this version the most because I thought the way the characters were portrayed helped me understand the story and the personalities of the characters more.
     The second version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, was way more dramatic and exaggerated then the Zeffirelli and the Almreyda.  The scene overemphasized the way Old Hamlet tried to act "ghostly". The ghost was taken more literal in the second movie which caused it to be slightly corny and not scary in my opinion. The blue contacts, the whispering, and the big helmet was too dramatic unlike the other two versions, they were more subtle in terms of the ghost.  There was fog and smoke on the ground shown in the scene and blood pouring out of the father's ears, these things contributed to making this movie more dramatized.  The flashbacks that the director used helped me understand the nature of what happened that night and get a better idea of how everyone was acting during those events.    
     The third version, directed by Michael Almereyda, was more modern and did not take place in the same Shakespearean time period as the others.  The modernized version helped me relate more and made the movie more interesting.  The lighting in the ghost scene was brighter than the others but the use of props were beneficial to the audience because of what they represented.  If I could have the ideal version of Hamlet it would be the emotion and suspense from Zeffirelli version, the flashbacks from the Branagh version, and the modern setting of the Almereyda.