Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Act 2 Scene 2 "Hamlet's Soliloquy"

18 comments:

erika said...
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erika said...

Hamlet’s Soliloquy


In the passage where Hamlet comes back from watching the play, the author William Shakespeare suggests that Hamlet is upset because unlike the actors he is unable to show the emotions that have been taking over him. In Act 2:2 Hamlet recites his third soliloquy where he feels overwhelmed because he wants to take revenge over his father’s death. Hamlet is unable to get over the fact that Queen Gertrude and King Claudius are not affected by King Hamlet’s absence. In the movie the scene begins with Hamlet walking in a studio where he locks himself, and begins to let out his feelings.

While watching the video the delivery of lines by Prince Hamlet played by Kenneth Branagh, begins to change as Hamlet begins to let his feelings out. He starts off by saying” Now I am alone. O, what rogue and peasant slave am I!”(Act 2:2, lines 576-577). Where his voice sounds hesitated as if he is feeling tired, or is having problems breathing. The room where Hamlet locks himself up is somewhat dark which represents him wanting to be alone, where no one is able to see him. This specific room looks like it could be the castle’s library, since it’s filled with books. The imagery of the setting of the scene helps the viewers acknowledge that it could be a place that helps Hamlet relax, and this could be why he chose to come in here. Hamlet is wearing a black suit which is a color that could represent isolation.

When Kenneth Branagh delivers Hamlet’s lines” A broken voice, and his whole function suiting with forms to his conceit- and all for nothing! For Hecuba!” (Act 2:2, lines 583-585), he successfully acknowledges that Shakespeare writes a short line like “For Hecuba!” to make the audience focus on it, or to show some type of drastic change. Then Branagh is able to reenact the transaction of moods, by increasing the volume of his tone as well as using body language like facial expressions to display the anger. Hamlet is now being presented as a violent person who cannot control his anger. Hamlet’s voice becomes louder, which indicates the intensity of the scene. There is no music being played, which makes the viewers focus on the lines being delivered by Hamlet, this could have been purposely planned by the director to emphasize the importance of what is being said. There are also hand gestures like making a fist that lead to Hamlet knocking objects off.

In the video Kenneth Branagh begins to walk around the room displaying Hamlet’s discomfort. Hamlet is unable to settle down as his emotions keep rising, and taking over his body. Hamlet is now becoming more physical by breaking objects. This could also be interpreted as Hamlet not being a materialistic person. Being able to break things that are probably expensive, shows that even though he is a prince he’s different from everyone else in his family. This can also connect to why Hamlet is so upset at the fact that his mom and King Claudius are not affected by King Hamlet’s death. The way Kenneth Branagh is able to reenact the scene in such intense way, and shows that there’s more to Hamlet that meets the eye.

Hamlet then seems to be caught up in his emotions that he begins to act insane as he throws his body against a wall near the window. This setting imagery is important since it’s the only place in the room where light comes from. After slamming his body against the wall Hamlet then seems to lower his voice tone. The imagery being set up by Kenneth Branagh connects with the scene because it’s a drastic point where Hamlet seems to want to be near the light to perhaps find an answer of why he’s father had to be killed the way he did. “That I, the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore, unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a very drab” (Act 2:2, lines 612-615). The window can represent Hamlet trying to look up the sky to seek for answers from heaven, or perhaps his own father. Hamlet than realizes that either way the only way he will feel complete is if he takes revenge against his cruel uncle.

Finally Kenneth Branagh adds mystery or suspense sound to the background when Hamlet decides how to unmask his uncle. “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (Act 2:2, lines 633-634).Where Hamlet delivers his lines in a sudden and rushed way. This being a sign that Hamlet finally came to a solution. At the end of the scene Kenneth Branagh makes it clear that Hamlet indeed will set up a play to test King Claudius’ conscience. The camera then focuses on Hamlets face, and a small version of a stage. The stage is an important image that Branagh chooses to close the scene with because it has a small doll on stage that falls down, which foreshadows Claudius’ downfall.

Susan M 7 said...

    In Act 2 scene 2, Hamlet recites his third soliloquy where he is describing the players act and how it affected him. The actor playing Hamlet delivered the lines with so many different emotions it makes Hamlet seem insane. By act 2 scene 2, Hamlet has fully transitioned into a state of insanity due to the confrontation he had with the ghost of this father in previous acts. Hamlet starts off in this scene whispering, breathing heavily, and leaning against a door. He slowly walks away from the door while describing the players he had just watched. His face seems almost astonished about the performance he is describing, but in seconds it seems as if Hamlet was disgusted by them. Once Hecuba is brought up in his soliloquy there is anger in his tone. There is anger because he always compares Hecuba to his mother in his mind and is ashamed that his mother did not act the same way during the loss of his father. Hamlet begins to use many hand gestures and looks around the room making him look confused. Hamlet suddenly begins to yell out his lines at the top of his lungs showing what great anger he has bottled up. He then becomes violent towards himself by slamming himself against a wall, knocking down some items on a table, screaming as loud as he could, and making fists. Suddenly just as fast as it started he calms down but speaks faster than usual. It then goes right back to how the soliloquy started, he is whispering and breathing heavily.

Kennith Branagh is the actor playing the role of the young King Hamlet and is also the producer of the movie. A film producer helps in creating, supervising, and controlling the movie, therefore would have a large role in setting up the imagery. The setting of this scene is in a large dark room. In this scene where Hamlet enters, there are many thick books all around making it seem that Hamlet reads much. This backs up the connection between Hamlet and the character Horatio in the beginning of the play. The first characters in act 1 scene 1 represent the sides and characteristics of Hamlet. Horatio is introduced as the smart man out of the bunch of characters, so showing the books in the background shows that Hamlet reads much thus is an intelligent man as well. The setting is in a large dark room. There is a globe, old masks, and many paintings on the wall. This shows that he has much money because he is royalty. The candles on top of the small tables remind the viewers what period of time this is. One of the props used in this scene was a small model of a stage. It is used to represent the plan Hamlet has to capture his uncle and even has a little king in the center of it which falls right at the end of this soliloquy. That just makes the scene more dramatic.

This scene starts off with little to no lighting which makes this scene seem almost eerie than calm. Once Hamlet beings to walk away from the door he was leaning on the lighting gets brighter. His voice gets louder and his tone becomes angry and the lighting directly relates to it. The light usually represents the truth. When Hamlet gets in front of the window he explodes and lets all his anger out. The light/truth seems to effect him and the producer makes sure that is noticed. In this scene no music is being played and none is used so it may be more dramatic, Shakespeare would want everyone to be able to hear him clearly.

Finally Branagh uses camera effects to make this scene dramatic. The camera always focuses on Hamlet always following him to where he is wondering off. By the end of the scene Hamlet is announcing his plan on how to capture his uncle. Shakespeare made sure that before the soliloquy ended that plan was in the play and Branagh did a good job using his prop and doing a close up on Hamlets face when announcing it.The camera gives him the close up so all the emotion on his face can be seen through his eyes.

Jesse L. 2 said...

Jesse Lai
Period 2

Hamlet's Confused Side

In William Shakespeare’s play of Hamlet, Hamlet wants revenge on his uncle, King Claudius, for his father’s murder. However, other obstacles come into play, such as his love for Ophelia and conflicts with his royal family, such as his mother, Queen Gertrude, and Polonius. When other obstacles are intact, Hamlet will experience great difficulty into achieving his task, which is to gain revenge of Claudius. In Act Two Scene Two, William Shakespeare provides us Hamlet’s soliloquy to show us how much anger and insanity one will experience when they are brainwashed by the horrific outcomes of great, unredeemable losses and the resolutions to their problems.

In Act Two Scene Two’s of Hamlet, he is unsuccessful in fulfilling his deceased father’s wish, which is to dethrone and take revenge of Claudius. This causes him to be mad, insane, and twisted because he is “a dull and muddy-mettled rascal” who is being defeated by his own royal family. He has no spirit into having heart and intelligence to defeat the people who have betrayed him from revealing the truth. Instead, he is mind-controlled with the royal family’s lying acts towards him. This can be said when he is “like John-a-dreams”, which defines him as an absent-minded dreamer. Hamlet is considered one because he is only focused in his father’s task and doesn’t show his true character towards his love, Ophelia, and his good friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Ophelia is a woman who loves Hamlet towards the bottom of her heart, and claims that she would do anything for him. However, she betrays him when she gives the love letter that describes his love to her to Polonius. This prevents Hamlet from receiving any information on Claudius’s moves as well as preventing him from seeing his love ever again. It’s not only Ophelia who betrays him, but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as well. When they “were sent for” to spy on him by King Claudius. All of the trust that he gives towards his friends has shattered, thus immobilizing his calm character and igniting his insanity. This is all caused by the loss of his trust to the friends that he admired and respected the most.

In the Act Two Scene Two’s video presentation of Hamlet, Hamlet is extremely substantial into showing us more of his angered personality. The scenery is in a closed room with dimmed lighting, which indicates that Hamlet is about to express his dark side, similar to a villain thirsty for victories over their enemies. He expresses to the audience that he is a mad man who, like previously before, shows us the effects of not being able to take down King Claudius. Also, he feels nervous and confused by walking impatiently, and speaking quicker as he progresses in his speech. First, when he mentions that “a damned defeat was made” and that he is a “coward”, his voice starts to intensify with anger as if he is out of control. He expresses deep regret for not taking any chances into earning a victory. This indicates that one who doesn’t earn in victory will suffer in the end. He suffers as he continues on with his speech until he hits the items on the table when he mentions “’swounds, I should take it”. His personality, in this case, differs from his usual, calm, happy side, similar to how he expresses his love to Ophelia. This shows us that he is a failure who experiences a great defeat that could cost him everything that he has worked hard for. However a few moments later, when Hamlet mentions how he “should have fatted all the region kites with this slave’s offal”, he shows hand movements similar to how a murderer holds a knife willing to murder an individual. Also, the moment he mentions “villain”, this indicates that the knife-signal from his hand movement shows us that he still wants to get rid of the villains around him so he can achieve his goal, which is to take revenge on Claudius. When he mentions “O, vengeance”, he starts to calm down afterwards, indicating that he has a second thought around his mistakes, and tries to find a second way to take a second chance into successfully avenging his dead father. The music that comes in after he mentions the term “devil”, changes his angry tone and expression to a calm and concentrated man, which indicates his second attempt or plan into succeeding his father’s wish by going into the play, “The Murder of Gonzago”. Hamlet’s entire speech of describing his anger from his losses and unsuccessful opportunities helps the audience visualize the realism of personality, setting, and music by watching it through the video. It also helps us visualize his resolutions to his problems as well.

The video presentation of the play, Hamlet, does a great job into helping us visualize his personality as well as indicating his importance in acting. His formal portrayal of his suit helps us indicate his proper, calm manner. Howver, the shadowy, imprisoned scenery helps us envision where the speech is taken place and the purpose of it, which is to express anger through words. His personality from his defeat by Claudius is acted out well, such as the use of hand and foot movements, along with his quick, loud tone. Also, the music helps us indicate the resolutions and turning points in a conversation of the play. The entire play’s setup of music, the delivery of lines, scenery, and his portrayal helps viewers see the outcome from Hamlet’s defeat, and his non-withdrawal resolution to it.

Anonymous said...

The Video I chose was Act 2 Scene 2 “Hamlets Soliloquy”. In this video Lord Hamlet has just witnessed The Player (an actor) tell a story about Pyrrhus the son of Achilles who, seeking revenge for his fathers death killed Priam the King of Troy, during the Trojan war period. Lord Hamlet is astonished at the way the player was able to go to such great lengths and exhort such fantastic emotions while telling a story that had nothing to do with his own life. The Players story was quite comparable to Lord Hamlet’s situation dealing with the death of his father, the king. The video I chose shows Lord Hamlet dealing with the reality of manhood and courage.

The video starts off with Hamlet walking into a room, a library of sorts, and closing the door behind him. He leans on the doors very solemnly and says “O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” He says this because he is beginning to realize what a coward he has been. He thinks that if an actor can show so much emotion over a story that had nothing to do with his own personal life, he should at least be able to shed a tear or two over the death of his own father. Hamlet continues pacing through the room and he starts to speak louder “What would he do had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? He would drown the stage with tears…” Hamlet knows that if the Player was actually experiencing his situation in real life that his emotions would then overpower even the fiercest of any actors, once again putting his self to shame because he cannot find it in himself to let out the emotion that he would like to. “‘Swounds, I should take it; for it cannot be but I am pigeon-livered and lack gall to make oppression bitter, or ere this I should ha’ fatted all the region kites with this slave’s offal. Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!” He says this while knocking over furniture and hitting walls, Hamlet is going mad because he simply cannot express himself anymore than a rock would be able to but yet he is jealous of the player who expresses himself so courageously over a mere fable.

After all of the self arguing Hamlet is doing he stops and looks as the other way, almost as if you could see a light bulb go off over his head. “ I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play have, by the very cunning of the scene, been struck so to the soul that presently they have proclaimed their malefactions. For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak with most miraculous organ.” Lord Hamlets has remembered that if ,say, a murderer was to go to a play that had a murderous and devious plot and at the beginning of the play had only a conscience that was guilty, that by the end of the play everything on the stage would presumably get beneath the skin of that very murderer forcing him or her to come clean of their sins. Now in the scene Hamlet is devising a plan to try and place the blame upon his uncle (the king) for the murder of his father (the previous king).

Amazed by how well the Player has just portrayed a vast array of emotions Lord Hamlet says aloud to himself “I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks; I’ll tent him to the quick. If he but blench, I know my course.” Lord Hamlet will have the Players put on a show for his uncle, a show that hopefully will force his uncle into confession. Hamlet ends the scene by saying “ The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” , so if all goes according to plan for Hamlet he will sit his uncle down for a nice play and while his uncle is viewing the stage, Hamlet will be viewing him.

Guy O2 said...

The portrayal of the Hamlet’s character in act 2 scene 2 of the video clip entitled “Hamlet’s Soliloquy,” displays an intimate moment of frustration and restriction that Hamlet feels regarding the death of his father, the deceased king. In contrast with the very expressive players or actors who passionately delivers a speech about the fall of Troy and the death of the Trojan king Hecuba, Hamlet tears himself apart emotional because he feels that he is a coward who can not show his true emotion toward his mother’s marriage to his uncle, Claudius who is according to Hamlet is a “Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!” Hamlets’ frustration and rage is mainly due to the fact that he feels unable to show his revengeful state of mind and his true motives to justify his father’s death due to his murderous uncle.

In the soliloquy, the actor who was playing the part of Hamlet first delivered his lines by gradually increasing his voice as he passionately paces back and forth and violently thrashing objects around the room. The actor’s body language along with the way he projected his voice in the right moments by putting more emphasis on certain lines than others gave the scene more of a realistic vibe that the audience can identify with. Watching the clip on act 2, scene 2 made the context of the book more understandable because it provides a visual way for one to see Hamlet’s character in his emotional state. In my opinion, the actor adequately depicted Hamlets’ anger and frustration.

Hamlet first enters the room and appears to be overwhelmed and even fatigued from his internal conflict with himself. This is due to the fact that he feels as if he is a coward who has true motives in expressing remorse to the deceased king and is insulted that the players can just freely and passion shed tears upon delivering a speech about the king of Troy to which they have no personal connection with. By listen to the manner in which the actors acts out his lines, Hamlet seem offended by the players ability to enact the story of the king of Troy by using “… fiction, in a dream of passion,” where as for him, he has to conceal is his rage. People around him already thought he was crazy so concealing his emotions was probably for the best in order for him to execute his plans to show the kingdom that Claudius was one who murdered the former king.

Towards the end of the soliloquy, he lowers his voice and becomes more rational. Instead of rambling on about the way the players can just falsely emit tears and emotion, he realizes that he can use the player’s ability to manipulate Claudius in to confessing his crime of murder. According to Hamlet even though murder has no tongue, it “will speak.” For dramatic effect, the camera zooms in to Hamlet’s face as he talks about the apparition he saw and how it could be the devil in disguised. Then as Hamlet lowers his head into what appears to be a toy stage of some sort, he says “…I'll have grounds, More relative than this.—the play's the thing, Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.” As the scene ends, Hamlet knocks down the figurine that is suppose to symbolize the king, Claudius. Using props like the figurine help put more drama in the scene and makes the lines from Shakespeare come to life. Alone with loud crash of the figuring falling and the last few lines in the scene, it grabs the attention of the audience and in a way foreshadows what will happen later in the play.

The manner in which the actor expressed himself and the way the camera focus in Hamlets face towards the ending made the video clip very lively and opens the eyes of the audience. This particular way of showing Hamlet’s emotion gives the audience a sense of what kinds of extreme dilemmas and emotions that Hamlet is feeling in an entertaining way. The way the scene was enacted effectively shows Shakespeare’s work in a powerful and emotional way.

Unknown said...

Play explication


In the tragic story of Hamlet a play created by Shakespeare there are specific scenes that are well written and the visualization is even more interesting. Specifically, act two, scene two where Hamlet feels the need to express himself deeply on the situations that he undergoes throughout his life. In the play he has some type of break down where everything that he feels that he has bottled up should be released out because he is tried of all the nonsense in his family .he is very frustrated to a point that every one else thinks that he have gone insane but truthfully he seems to be the only one that is sane.
The mood of act two scene two is very tense; Hamlet seems to let his emotions take complete control of him. On the stage the lights are low and it seems to be the time of midday where it is still daylight but gloomy. The lighting has so much to do with whether or not a character is in a good mood or not, since it gloomy one would say that he is in a sad, depressing frustrated mood. This is also portrayed in Hamlets clothing which he is dressed in black clothing and that’s not normal for a person that is royalty, they usually dress in clothing that is red or purple because those colors represents royalty. In the play at this moment Hamlet is trying to emulate that he is not felling very royal because he is so depressed and frustrated.
Thoughtfully the play director made the scenery of the play in a room where there is a lot of items very cluttered a lot of furnisher. It added to how all the thought where just all bottled up in his head. Then in the scene he was able to release them and also throw some items around to show that he was receiving some type of relief that he was able to let go and loose of all his burdens. Hamlets actions show that he is angry because he is yelling and throwing things across the room including his body almost proof that he is in so much agony and pain. That his body language is also an expression of how he is feeling and the idea that he wants to portray.
He is dealing with the fact that he has to find revenge for his father, which involves him killing his own uncle. This is something he thinks he cannot achieve but yet he feels that he cannot disappoint his father. He thinks that it is almost worst, as the whole community acting like is father’s death did not faze anyone at all. He feels that his uncle is a mockery of his father and he finds that he does have anger for his uncle Claudius but he does not feel it as much as he feels it for his mother. He thinks that if things were the other way around that his father Hamlet would have not married as quickly as she did. Whore for being so open and willing to marry very quickly. In line 614-615 acts 2 scenes 2 Hamlet says, " Must like a whore, unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a drab”. Hamlet expresses that the whore is what he sees his mother as. Hamlet think his mother is a whore because for being so open and willing to marry very quickly. He delivers these lines, with a tone of angry and at the beginning of his soliloquy he hells but its like it hurts him to feel the way he feels about his mother. It takes a push for Hamlet to say that his mother is whore so he is a little more clam and says it in a low tone of voice.

Pollyanna S 1 said...

Pollyanna Silva
March 10, 2008
English 12 CP
Period 1

Hamlet Soliloquy

On the Clip by William Shakespeare, the clip is showing how Hamlet the prince of Denmark is feeling so angry at his self because the death of his father and now he want revenge. I notice that Hamlet is very angry and mad because he is screaming at his self and he wants the first player to act out the play of “The Murder of Gonzago” for the count on the next day .By player “The Murder of Gonzago” he will find out if Claudius is guilty of king hamlet’s death’s. Hamlet feels like a slave for the king and queen because they want him to stay in Denmark to spy on him. Ophelia want his love and Polonius doesn’t want him to be with his daughter Ophelia. Leartes wants Ophelia o be careful with Hamlet and Hamlet also feels like a slave for the ghost because the ghost of Hamlet father want the prince Hamlet to get revenge because he was murder. “What a rouge and peasant slave am I!” .In this passage is showing how Hamlet feels about what everyone want fro him ,because of this he fells mad and angry.

I notice when Hamlet first starts off in Act 2 Scene 2 ,he was whispering, breathing heavily, and leaning against a door. He slowly walks away from the door while describing the players reaching on the play of “The Murder of Gonzago” that he had just watched. His face seems very serious about the performance that he had describing for the player to play. Once Hecuba is brought up in his soliloquy Hamlet tone is anger ,because Hecuba was a lady that cry and cry because she lost her husband. Hamlet brought up Hecuba on his soliloquy because he compares Hecuba to his mother and is ashamed that his mother did not act the same way during the loss of his father. “What ’s Hecuba to him, or he to (Hecuba,) that he should weep for her?”. This passage is showing how Hamlet compare his mother to the Hecuba because both lost they husband , but Hamlet mother seems not to care about the king Hamlet dead and Hecuba care about her husband because she cry and cry. That why Hamlet seems very angry and suddenly begins to yell out his lines at the top of his lungs showing what great anger he has bottled up. He then becomes violent towards himself by slamming himself against a wall, knocking down some items on a table, screaming as loud as he could, and making fists.

The setting where Hamlet enters to act out his soliloquy take place in a large dark room and there was so many thick books all around making it seem that Hamlet was is the library of the castles . The setting is in a large dark room and there is a globe, old masks, many paintings on the wall, large candles on top of a small table ,chair ,tables and a large clock on top of the table . This shows that hamlet had money because he was royalty.
Hamlet was in the dark room alone this represent how he was feeling inside hem that was sad, mad and angry because of his father dead .“That I, the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore, unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a very drab” (Act 2:2, lines 612-615). This show how Hamlet want to figure out a plan to get revenge of his father murder ,and also to capture his uncle because now he know how murder is father that was his uncle Claudio. In the room also has a little king in the center of the room.


That the end of his soliloquy the movie had a mystery or suspense sound to the background this was when Hamlet decides how to unmask his uncle and to get revenge his father murder. “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”.
This passage is showing how he will get revenge of his father murder. This passage also show how Hamlet finally came to a solution to get his uncle a sign make . At the end of the scene Kenneth Branagh makes it clear that Hamlet indeed will set up a play to test King Claudius’ conscience. The camera then focuses on Hamlets face, and a small version of a stage. The stage is an important image that Branagh chooses to close the scene with because it has a small doll on stage that falls down, which foreshadows Claudius’ downfall.

Unknown said...

In the scene of the movie, when hamlet has his soliloquy in act 2 scene 2, the director suggests that during his soliloquy, hamlet is not happy with the events that are going on such as the reaction of his mother when king hamlet died, the uncle’s betrayal, and the vengeance. The director displays his suggestion through imagery and the tone of hamlet`s voice. The director does this to make us feel like hamlet does, so we can try to understand him.
In the soliloquy Hamlet claims that when his father king Hamlet died, his wife Gertrude should have mourned like Hecuba, a woman who mourned for her lover’ s death so hard that gods themselves felt her pain. But Gertrude did not mourn like Hecuba, instead she married with in a month to the brother of king hamlet called Claudius and this breaks Hamlet’s heart, he is not happy with this. The director uses the imagery of Hecuba mourning and seeing this woman in her despair over her love makes one feel sorry for her, but seeing another woman not mourn for her lover’s death like Gertrude it makes one feel angry at her just as Hamlet does.
Next Hamlet screams out “o vengeance” when he screams his tone changes and the tone is an angry tone. Here the director uses tone change to show that hamlet is angry at his uncle’s betrayal and will avenge his father. And for someone to scream vengeance on the top of his lungs, it shows that the person is angry at some one they seek to hurt and to make them pay, just like Hamlet wants to do to Claudius.
Then Hamlet claims that the whole vengeances issue makes him feel like a whore, that he feels like he is being used like a drab. The tone here changes but still it’s a tone showing anger because hamlet seem to ask himself that, why must he do the dirty work of his father?, why can’t the father take vengeance by himself? And one can feel the same as Hamlet if they have to do someone else’s dirty work. Then Hamlet draws the conclusion that the revenge of his father might be a trick by the devil or some spirit and thus he has to watch the king and observe his reaction to the speech by the players, and with that he will gain the information to know if the vengeance of his father is real or a mire trick of the devil or some spirit.
In conclusion, Hamlet is not happy with the events that are going on such as the reaction of his mother when king hamlet died, the uncle’s betrayal, and the vengeance. But if Hamlet was to speak with his people, a better resolution would be found rather than vengeance.

Linda e 7 said...

Linda El Alami
3/10/08
Period 7
Video Critique


In the passage after the player performs and Hamlet is alone, William Shakespeare suggests that it is a challenge for Hamlet to show his emotions and Hamlet becomes furious when others can with no reason. In the beginning of the soliloquy Hamlet walks into the room and seems out of breathe as if he is trying to hide or is running away from something. The room Hamlet is in during the soliloquy looks like an office or library. When he walks in, he stays stuck to the wall for about twenty seconds as if he lost his balance. When he finally moves, he walks slowly throughout the room. He speaks slowly, somewhat whispering. Then, all of a sudden the volume of his voice rises. He looks around the room and walks. He keeps looking behind him as if making sure nobody is listening. He is in front of this castle/house object and his facial expression seems like he is unable to understand what is going on.

Hamlet gets to one point where you question if he is sane. One of those scenes is when he says �Am I a coward? Who calls me a �villain�?� (2:2). In the video, it looks like he is talking to someone and wanting for a response as if someone will actually answer him. Hamlet lays his head on a globe like object it makes the audience think he is about to break down and cry. Then, Hamlet keeps making a fist and hits some candles. As soon as those break his tone is outrageously mad as if he is about to murder someone. Hamlet again makes a fist from the dresser to the window and hits his fist as if it will go through the window. Through that he says �Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain! O vengeance!� When he states that line it seems like he is trying to speak with all his power. When he is at the window it makes the audience think that he does a stabbing motion as if the king is the window and that is what he wants to do to the king. Hamlet slowly drops to the floor as if he is breaking down. When he says ��must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words and fall a-cursing like a very drab�� he makes the hand motion to show that the words and his feelings want to come out but can�t.

When Hamlet starts talking about the devil his facial expression shows that he is determined to do what is on his mind. He becomes calm, focused because he thought of a brilliant plan just to kill. When he talks about the murder plan he speaks faster like the plans keeps coming to him by the second and he has to let it all out. At the end of his video, he is back to that castle/house object and you see an object looking like a king falling through the floor as if that was the king�s death. The ending particularly turns into a dramatic part because of Hamlet�s tone and motions.

Paco G 2 said...

For this assignment I chose video of act 2 scene 2 when Hamlet delivers the soliloquy about the actor that talked about Hecuba and the whole play that Hamlet put up to try to see if Claudius showed any remorse of having killed King Hamlet. In the speech Hamlet seems really frustrated about not being able to show his feelings and he criticizes the actor for being able to show any sort of emotions that he doesn’t even necessarily feel, but just because it is his job he is able to show all those fake emotions and Hamlet that truly feels frustrated cannot show his emotions because nobody even believes him and they all just think that he is insane.

When Hamlet comes into the room he delivers the lines in a very calm, skeptical way about how the actor can just let tears run out of his eyes when he cries about nothing, for Hecuba who is nothing to him. As the speech goes along he kind of picks up the volume of his voice and starts to get a little more agitated. He looks really frustrated and he says that if the actor felt even close to the way he feels right now he would be able to drown the stage with tears. He also starts getting way more agitated when he questions himself about being a coward, but he calls himself a coward because he says that he can’t say anything and I think he feels that way because Gertrude and Claudius kind of just told him to just get over the fact that his father died and move on with his life. He seems to get really mad when he starts talking about Claudius and how he took his spot on the throne without any remorse, he is just King Hamlet’s brother and just like that he was able to get the throne by murdering the King and then act like if nothing ever happened and then by telling Hamlet to just get over the fact that his father is dead and to pretty much just stop whining about it. At the end of the speech he starts to get more calm after he mentions the fact that he is thinking about avenging his father. He calls it a revenge from heaven and hell, as if it wasn’t really a big deal to take revenge on someone who is capable to do such a thing and then show no heart about it. Like if Claudius deserves what Hamlet is planning on doing to him and that its not really wrong to take revenge on such a bad individual.

The imagery of this scene is pretty intense to my point of view because it really helps you picture how the actor at first talks about someone like Hecuba and how he can show all his emotions just like that and that kind of puts an image in my head of someone in like a Hollywood movie just acting a part and crying about something ridiculous like the death of a king when obviously they have never experienced anything like that and they are just crying about it because it is their job and they are getting paid to cry. Shakespeare is always very detailed because as the speech goes along and Hamlet starts talking about how he could fill the stage with tears and drown the stage. It really puts a picture in my head about how he could do that because all the emotions that he has in his head and all the feelings that he keeps inside of it really gives me the picture that he could such a thing like cry for days and kind of pretend like he is an actor since he kind of interprets in different parts of the book that life is not anything, but a dream that everyone has and that lasts a long time and that nothing is really real, but abstract and that kind of plays with my imagination a little bit also just to think that nothing we really do is real and that everything is a dream and that no matter what it will all be over soon. There is a lot of imagery among the lines like when he calls himself a coward, he uses some weird imagery to my eyes, as if he was calling the whole world a coward and every single individual that is not brave enough to show feelings and to cry and to just go for what they believe in and to just follow what we think is right. I don’t think that it is only imagery that Shakespeare wants the reader to feel, but also the feeling of knowing that we all have felt like that at one point; whether it is after breaking up with someone or just at one difficult point of our lives every single person has felt like they are not really letting their feelings show and Hamlet mentions that fact of cowardliness, saying that maybe that’s all it takes, just a little bit of brave effort to really feel satisfied after letting out emotions show and that it is okay because even the toughest people have to cry sometimes. Then when he calls Claudius a creature that just sits behind the scenes watching the play he describes him like a beast or a monster because that’s what people think when they hear the word creatures, and he gives me that interesting imagery of a creature sitting on a throne knowing that they’ve murdered somebody to achieve what they wanted and to feel completely satisfied about it, since he shows no remorse. It also makes me relate to it in the way whenever I have cheated on something or done something wrong just to get something achieved, I’ve always felt like for some reason I didn’t deserve what I got but I wouldn’t say anything because by saying something that could just make the situation worse, and that’s maybe how Claudius feels because if he confesses that he has killed King Hamlet, then he is gonna get arrested and thrown in prison so maybe he does feel bad about it, but since it is already done he thinks that confessing will just be a stupid idea.

The portrayal I think is pretty appropriate because Hamlet is wearing black and that usually represents lust, and Hamlet is feeling really frustrated and I think that that is a perfect way to show that. The camera effects don’t really show in this scene because the camera just kind of follows him around from the same spot the whole time and advances with him and then at the end if gives us a close up of Hamlets face when he is thinking about how he is going to get revenge on King Claudius. There are really no sound effects in the scene except for when he breaks those candles on the floor, or when he slams himself against the wall that’s near the window. The music that plays while he is talking calmly at the end is a pretty melancholic melody that just shows tries to give the viewer the sense of suspense and that at the same time it’s kind of sad which shows Hamlet’s frustration and desire for revenge.

In this speech Hamlet seems like he is kind of going insane at some point, but in others he does make a lot of sense like when he is trying to get revenge, I don’t think he is insane there because I know that if someone murdered my father and I knew for a fact who did it and nobody else knows and nobody is taking action on it and I have no proof to prove that that person kills my father I would certainly seek revenge too and I would probably be just as frustrated as Hamlet is. I think Hamlet is going insane though, because all those feelings that he has inside him at one point, he is just not going to be able to take it anymore and he is either going to have a nervous breakdown or by keep watching Claudius sitting in his father’s throne he is going to do something stupid that is going to bring him consequences. Hamlet is in a pretty hard situation and not only did he lose his father, but he also feels like he has lost his mother because she married Claudius after only a month. So I think that Hamlet is probably going to go insane or make a really bad decision that is going to cost him a lot.

Nada.A 2~.~ said...

In Act II scene 2 in the scene where Hamlet just came back from watching the actors rehearse the play, the author William Shakespeare suggests that Hamlet Is upset because he isn’t able to express his emotions as they are when he is in the situation itself. and i think that the director was able to accomplish to show that hamlet is becoming insane as well.
In the first paragraph between lines 577-584 he says the lines in a low whispering tone but then his voice starts getting a bit louder and he sounds angrier as he says “and all for nothing! For Hecuba! What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba?” Then when he starts saying if it was him who was acting out this part, him who is actually going through the actual situation. How he would react in comparison to the actor, his voice starts rising higher when he says that then it goes back to normal. Then when he says “and can say nothing—no, not for a king upon whose property and most dear life a damned defeat was made.” His voice gets very low again, and his voice sounds like he’s helpless and about to cry. Then when he says “am I a coward?” he starts getting mad, and speaks very fast. Then when he says “who does me this?” he starts yelling and screaming. then he says remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles with such a deep scary tone in his voice, and screams the word “o vengeance!” then he starts getting calm again he yells only one more time when he says: “about my brains!” then at the end the tone of his voice sounds evil when he says how he’s going to watch the king and see how he reacts to the play.
The scene was set in a room with many antiques and books. The walls are white. I noticed that here were sculptures of faces and there were masks that looked evil looking. And there were pictures of landscapes everywhere. There was a candle holder that he broke. There was a big window, with light curtains. Through out the soliloquy he walks around an antique castle. He keeps on going back and forth to it, opening it and closing it. The castle to me obviously symbolizes the castle itself, and the problems in it. When he says at the end how he is going to see how the king reacts to the play, he looks into the toy castle and makes the toy king fall, saying that his end is coming soon.
Hamlet is portrayed as a middle aged man around probably the age of thirty. He is wearing a suit that is all black, probably symbolizing that he is wearing it from the sadness of his father’s death. He is wearing a white shirt under. His eyes are dark and he has darks bags under them. They could be because he has been acting crazy, not eating or sleeping because of everything that’s happening. Something about his face makes him seem like he’s evil, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.
for the lighting and camera effects, When the scene starts out he has just entered the room, and he stands against the door and the room is dark all between lines 576-583. He starts walking towards the bookshelf. I noticed that when he says “-and all for nothing! For Hecuba! What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?” they show masks behind him when he says that. One of the masks looks angry with big wide eyes open as if it’s staring at him and it is a dark color. The other mask is smiling and light toned. When he says how the actor would drown with tears on the stage if he knew what this play really was, the camera goes towards the castle and he takes it and opens it. When he starts saying remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain! He walks towards the window, and there is a lot of light there compared to the beginning of the scene. Then the camera goes down with him as he sits and stops screaming and there is little light when he says “this is most brave,” until he says: “about my brains”. From lines 626 - 631 the camera starts getting closer to him. Then the camera is actually in his face when he says from lines 632-635 how he’s going to watch his uncle is going to react to the play. Between lines 626-635 he is holding the castle again while he’s speaking, and the camera goes through the doors of the castle as he says his last line of his soliloquy.
As for the sound effects and the music in this scene, the room is quite in the beginning the most and the most clear because it is the time he is most calm in his voice. You can only hear the sounds of his footsteps, until he says: “who does me this?” then he starts screaming and he breaks the candle holder and you hear it shattering on the floor. He hits the closet that’s behind him when he says bloody, bawdy villain! And he is still yelling too. When he says remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain! It is as if his voice was echoing in the room. Then he hits the window, and calms down, and the room is all quite again. There is no music until towards the end, starting exactly at line 628-635. The music is made by a violin and at the beginning it starts at a low note, then it goes higher until he says: “abuses me to damn me.” the tone gets low again. Between lines 633-635 the tone of the violin keeps on getting lower and lower, but at the same time in the background there is a violin that is playing in a high pitch.

Chris A. said...

In Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet enters a room in a manner where he does not want to be heard or seen by anyone. Hamlet then starts to speak to himself about what he just saw from watching the players, leaning against the wall speaking ever so softly, breathing heavily, he starts to move away and walk toward the wall of books still speaking softly but yet disgusted by what he just saw. Within Hamlets Soliloquy, his emotions finally show, expressing what he feels about his uncle being king, Hamlets sanity is being brought to into question. Moving back and forth, raising and lowering his voice, using hand gestures, and his facial expression changing all of this contributing to his insanity. Hamlets suddenly explodes with anger, his lines being delivered with such ferocity, his body being thrown against the wall, from speaking softly and slow to screaming and speaking with such fast pace might show his true self. From being confused and unsure to being confident in his way on finding a reason to know his “course” and having the evil glance in his eye that something bad is going to happen. At the end he goes back to whispering rather than yelling.

The setting is taken place in a large dim room. The room seems quite modern in my opinion; from the house he opens up to the globe, but to make it seem more from Hamlets time candles are everywhere. Wall of books, paintings, the whole scenery of the room that Hamlet says his soliloquy shows his status as royalty, everything seems expensive; something that people could not have if they did not have money.

The camera would stay afar and would follow him slowly to show all of Hamlets emotions, showing all of Hamlets upper body, his hands gestures to his explosive throw he did. When Hamlet calms down the camera would close up on his face to show his facial expression to let the viewers know exactly what he is feeling like when he exploded in anger. The lighting is quite dim; the only lighting is from the outside light coming from the windows.

There is little to no music in this soliloquy just the actor delivering his lines to make it seem more dramatic. At the end when Hamlet is planning to catch his uncle in the act of his remorse towards the murder of his brother an eerie music is being played.

yan w p7 said...
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yan w p7 said...

This video click takes place in Act Two Scene Two, when Hamlet came back from the player’s acting. He locked him in a room at the very start then he narrates his soliloquy. The actor who plays Hamlet delivered the lines with much different state of emotions, which spoke unsteadily in a voice that betrayed his emotions. He leans against the corner of wall with heavy breath then the actor starts with a little of sorrow, as he says: “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” As he’s with the deep tone when he says “O”, this includes with sorrow. He’s kind like reproach himself like weak-minded. But when he talks about the player, he slowly walks away and he is amazes about the way the player just played. For Hamlet that kind of feeling seems like unbelievable and admires his acting. As he says: “Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit That from her working all {his} visage wanned, Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, A broken voice, and his whole function suiting With forms to his conceit-and all for nothing! For Hecuba!” ( lines 578 – 585, pg.117) when he says Hecuba he feels a little anger because he thinks that why the player has cried for Hecuba that the event has happened on his father is more horror. Then when he says about his own event, his voice is rising, which is bug up. “He would drown the stage with tears And cleave the general ear with horrid speech ……The very faculties of eyes and ears.” (lines 589-593) Especially when he says “drown”, and at the time he adds some petty action, which is seems like he knocks the model of castle but in fact he opens the gates of castle. He bends on the a rotundity that looks like a globe, at that time his voice and expression seems so compunctious, which he thinks that he can not do something helpful. “yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing-no, not for a king Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?” (lines593-598) Then he’s kind like losing his mind because he’s so agitated and even makes many hand gestures and looks around and walks around the room. Then his voice became more loudly, which shows he’s so anger. He even bumps against wall and pull down the candle on the table. Then he clenches his fists and speaks faster and loudly. The window seems like his target that he gazes fixedly to the window and walks to there and makes a fist knock to the windows. Then he squats over there also clench his fists and knocks his legs. After that his emotion causes him with violence, because at that time he’s talking about the process of murder of his father. Finally his eyes and expression show that he’s planning something. As he says that he unsure about the ghost’s saying. So he thinks if the king really did it and if he sees the play about his father’s process of been murdered, he would feel nervous or something else, at that time he will look into him. However that might help him to find out the answer but that might also brings him at stake.

Kennith Branagh is a nice actor, who plays the role of the young King Hamlet and also he’s the producer of the movie. The cameras usually close up on all of his face that his emotions are easily to catch. The setting of this scene is in a dark room but with a slight of sunlight, which can see Hamlet’s shadow. In this scene, there are many thick books all around making the room smaller and it also seems that Hamlet study hard. The white candle and old timepiece placed on the small tables that might indicate the period of that time. There is a globe beside the bookshelf, some old masks on the corner, and some paintings on the wall. These show that he’s rich and his interest. There also has a model of a castle and a small king appears in the center of the castle at last three seconds of the video. And then it falls down at the end of the soliloquy that indicates Hamlet’s plan to catch the king’s real face. The small king falls down that might means his inevitable hour.

charlieper1 said...

Charles Countie
Period 1
English 12 CP

The scene begins with Hamlet pressed against the wall which is bluish gray to resemble the emotions flowing through him. There he is, isolated in his room. He begins to speak in a in this quietly and confused voice. As he speaks he begins to pace, his words and actions portray aggravation as he speaks of what he just saw. "O , what a Rogue and Peasant slave am I!" he goes on about how this player was so emotional in his acting. He goes on, "Tears in his eyes, ditaction in his aspect, A broken voice" The tone in his voice becomes angry as he becomes confused as to why the player is so emotional to Hecuba. He walks in front of a wall of books swaying his body left and right as he frustratingly asks himself these questions. Now he begins to speak saying that if the actor had the passion had the motive that he does, the player would drown the stage in his own tears. While he's saying this the scene turns, Hamlet stands in front of a castle replica, with pictures of places on the walls and the globe of earth to the left. This room is a room of an intelligent man who’s been places, and here Hamlet is overwhelmed with emotions of hatred, sadness, and confusing. He continues to ask himself question like, " Am i a coward?" and "Am i a villain?" He continues to ramble on to the point where he becomes outraged and yells his words while hitting the candle stick toward the floor in a violent manner. His pacing has taking to more of the room and he looks crazed as he's shooting to himself, "I AM PIGEON LIVERED AND LACK GALL" calling himself a coward because he can't do the things he feels he should. He walks in a fast past toward the other side of the room, there are two windows that the sun shines through. He chooses the left window, pounds as he screams and frustration. Then collapses, he speaks now in a voice of understanding, calm and collected. As he continues he thinks of this in genus plan to catch his father’s murderer. The look on his face straight, serious. The plan, have the actors play out the scene of his fathers death in front of his uncle and watch the expression his uncle shows. He says, "If he but blench, I know my course." if the uncle looks guilty, Hamlet will have his vengeance. Now in a quieting voice, his face grown stiff as the camera closing in towards his face, and his eyes starring but starring into nothing, its quiet. He talks about the devil and how he could assume a pleasing shape like Hamlets father and that the devil is taken advantage of him in this weak state of mind. But he continues to speak of the plan, "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king." Scene ends. This scene shows the twisted side of Hamlet, when Hamlet begins to seem crazy. He has just seen his father’s ghost and the ghost told Hamlet the person who wears the crown kill me, which is Hamlets uncle. This scene leaves us in awe at the in because it ends act II and leaves us wondering if it could be the uncle.

SoloDolo1025 said...

In the Act 2 scene 2 video clip, Kenneth Branagh, the actor that plays Hamlet does an excellent job. In this soliloquy, Branagh belches out the lines while throwing objects across the room violently. He paces back and forth yelling and whispering, putting emphasis on the most important words and phrases. Hamlet’s internal and external conflict is affecting him and will soon affect others around him.

In Act 2 Scene 2, Hamlet presents his third soliloquy of the play. Hamlet is expressing his hatred for women and his plan to catch the “king’s conscience”. Hamlet is still angry over his mother’s remarriage and his new step dad/uncle, who killed his father.
All of this anger revolves around his father’s death and how he will avenge his father. The scene starts off with Hamlet walking into what seems to be a library.

In this room Hamlet begins to release all of his anger and frustrations. He hides in this room, locking the door behind him, making the statement that he wants to be alone. He is tense and angry wearing a black suit, which can symbolize that he is still mourning over his father’s death.

When Kenneth Branagh begins to deliver the lines he seems weak, it does not sound like anything is coming out of his mouth. His voice begins to get louder, but when it gets to “For Hecuba” his voice is at its highest volume. The audience senses the anger he has for women at this moment in that to word line. Those two words show so much emotion. Branagh goes on by throwing objects and his arms around uncontrollably. Hamlet continues to yell and ramble about his troubles. No music is playing during his soliloquy, but it is better that way because it causes the audience to pay close attention to what Branagh is saying.

Anonymous said...

In this part of the story ,prince hamlet is coming from watching Pyrrhus the son of Achilles who, seeking revenge for his fathers death killed Priam the King of Troy, during the Trojan war period.he gets in to a small room which it looks like a library or hamlets private room. He is whispering, breathing heavily, and leaning against a door. He slowly walks away from the door while describing the players he had just watched.
His face seems almost astonished about the performance he is describing. There is a globe, old masks, many paintings on the wall, large candles on top of a small table, chair, tables and a large clock on top of the table.he is kind of upset because the player could drop some tear and turn red his head just for a moment of recitation but if the player would know hamlets feelings he would be crying more and be a best performance.
At this moment of the scene hamlet is full with anger and start to complain about his father and angry about what was really happening with his life, he says “Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain! O vengeance!” When he states that line it seems like he is trying to speak with all his power. He breaks his tone is outrageously mad as if he is about to murder someone; at that moment he breaks a window and he fall in the floorat that moment everything is getting quiet and more rational. He yells only one more time when he says: “about my brains!” then at the end the tone of his voice sounds evil when he says how he’s going to watch the king and see how he reacts to the play
He feel used because the ghost was kind of obey what he says, and he feels used too because everything what he does or say is not working. Hamlet makes a conclusion that the revenge of his father might be a trick by the devil and he has to watch the king and observe his reaction to the speech by the players, and with that he will gain the information to know if the vengeance of his father is real or a mere trick of the devil.