I suppose, since were already nearly done with Hamlet, that I'll just breifly touch on some of the major recurring themes I've noticed thus far, most of which were discussed in class last week.
The first is dreams. . . Hamlet brings dreams up a lot, comparing it to death; good dreams to heaven, rest, and piece, and nightmares to hell and damnation. The most prevalant example of this, of course, is in his famous "To be or not to be" speech.
" To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to; 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause- there's the respect that makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time. . . .but that the dread of something after death. . .makes us rather bear those ills we have to than to fly to others that we know not of?"
This makes me think of the mindset he must have been in at this time, with his son passing away just prior to his writing this. . . clearly, death was a subject he put much thought into.
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Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet - You might recognize him as
Professor Lockhart from Harry Potter. He's one of my
favorite actors, and reminds me a lot of Brian Vaugn, an
actor who is in many productions each year at the Utah
Shakespearean Festival. . . maybe we'll get to see him
in the Winter's Tale! |
The next is daggers entering the ear. . .obviously a reference to the particular way in which Hamlet Sr. was murdered. The most curious reference I think is when Hamlets mother brings it up as he's chastising her for being so hasty to marry his Uncle. . it almost makes me wonder if she had more to do with her father's death than is apparent (even if it was just encouraging him. . . something to ponder.)
Another is the idea of Fortune as a whore. I think this is just Hamlet showing more angst against his mother, who seems to have acted as Fortune because she seems to be making most of the decisions. . .and in his eyes, a whore for being so hasty to remarry. Harsh? Maybe. Understandable that he feels that way? Completely.
Finally, probably the most common theme discussed is whether or not Hamlet is acting most of the time, and when he is and isn't. . . honestly, I have a hard time coming up with an answer; I hang out with a lot of actors, and to be perfectly honest I can't even tell when THEY are being serious. . . so that still remains a mystery to me.
Also, Leontes always struck me as your typical drama queen, someone who looks for conflict and maybe even bores without it. Being part of a theater troupe, I think Shakespeare probably saw his fair share of divas and might be trying to warn againts that kind of behavior (More power to him). His message to them, then, I would think is that being creating conflict out of nothing, and letting it get out of hand will only bring you more suffering in the end.
