Week 12: Another Hamlet

I watched The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet.  I watched this version because it looked better than the other version we had.  It was produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company, it was directed by Gregory Doran and the star of this version was David Tennant.  Its hard to say what the setting is but I would guess some wear around 1990.  The whole movie is done inside a somewhat modern palace, a lot of the palace was made of black marble.  I thought the acting from everyone except David Tennant and Patrick Stewart was pretty much awful.

Week 12: Page161 Q.4: From Hell or Not

I do not believe that the ghost of Hamlet is from hell because, he has not yet gone into hell, the ghost tells Hamlet that he is, "Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, and for the day confin'd to fast in fire...".  The ghost of Hamlet must continue like that until, "...the foul crimes..." he committed while he was alive have been, "...purg'd away.".  Meaning that he is in purgatory, because Shakespeare was catholic he probably believed that purgatory was the place you went to before going to heaven or hell.  Therefore the dead king had not come to his final resting place, probably hell.  The ghost did use Hamlet as his puppet, the ghost might have seen that Hamlet was already angry with his uncle and mother, so all the ghost had to do was tell him that he was murdered by Hamlet's uncle and then Hamlet would take revenge for his father.

Week 11:Thought Q.9: Two Faced

I think Claudius is two faced, because sometimes he acts as if he feels remorse for killing Hamlet, however most of the time he acts like killing his brother was just business.  Claudius only feels remorse when he figures out that Hamlet knows he murdered the king.  That remorse is only short term and is quickly thrown away.  Throughout most of the play he acts like killing his brother was just a job that he had to complete in order to become king.

Week 11: Review Q. 9: Speeking to Gertrude

Hamlet starts off speaking to his mother angrily and accusingly.  I think he might have spoke to her like that at first because he thought that she took part in murdering his father.  Once he realizes his mother doesn't know that his father was assassinated he begins speaking to her more kindly.  Hamlet's words seem to send his mother into shock, probably because she had not suspected that her former husband had been murder, especially not by his brother, her current husband.

Week 10: Branagh vs Gibson

Kenneth Branagh and Mel Gibson both did a good job making a movie of Shakespeare's play Hamlet, however I believe one is better.  Branagh did a good job keeping his version very close to the actual play.  Keeping his version so close the the play also hurt his move though because there was lots of time when it was dead and boring, which is not what I like in a movie because it makes me fall asleep.  Branagh also made some poor actor choices, the worst choice being Robin Williams because Williams did not fit the role well at all.  The worst part of Branagh's version was the time period that he chose to set it in.  Gibson cut quite a bit but the parts that he cut were the dead boring parts.  In the end Gibson showed the same main story line that Branagh did but in half the time.  The actors that Gibson chose fit their parts very well and they were better actors then the ones in Branagh's version.  Gibson also set his version in the correct time period.  I do think that Gibson could have done a better job with the ghost though.  Because of the things that I have listed I like the Gibson version the best.

Week 10: Thought Question 7

Thought question seven starts of by asking, "How does Hamlet describe man in 2.2.321-329?"  However in 2.2.321-329 Hamlet is not describing man, he is talking to Rosencrantz about why the actors quit acting in the city and are now traveling act.  Because thought question seven is flawed I can not answer the rest of the question.

Week 9: My Thoughts

I did not like the Branagh version of Hamlet.  Then Branagh turned Hamlet into a girly movie and come on there was only one scene that had very much blood.  Branagh could have used lots of blood at the end of the movie when everyone was dying but no he turned that decent action scene into a girly action scene.  The fight between Hamlet and Laertes would have been ten time better if Hamlet and Laertes would have been bleeding every where or if when Hamlet threw his sword at his uncle blood would have squirted everywhere when the sword hit him.  But no the only person that bleed was Robin Williams, seriously.  I also did not like the time period that he put it in. However Branagh does play a good crazy person.  These are my thoughts on Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet.

Week9: State of Mind

Hamlet appears to be in a depressed/angry state of mind at the beginning of the play because of his fathers death.  He wears all black clothes and hardly talks to anyone.  He is angry towards his mother and uncle for getting married so fast after his fathers death.  After discovering that his father had been murdered his state of mind changes greatly.  Once he devises a way know if the ghost was telling the truth about being murder and sets his plan into play he begins wearing clothes with color.  I think Hamlet would describe his state of mind at the end of the play as a vengeful state.

Week8: Politicians...blah disguesting

Since this is an election year I suppose I will find people from Julius Caesar that are similar to the presidential candidates.  I think that Obama and Caesar have similar attitudes because they act like they so much better than everyone else and only some stuff they do isn't a waste of their time.  Obama especially acted like this during the first presidential debate.  Joe Biden is pretty much just a face that doesn't do much, although he has very good speaking skills like Cicero who in Julius Caesar is renowned for his oratorical skills.  Paul Ryan and Casca have very similar political view points, they are both opposed to one person having lots of power.  And last but not lest Mitt Romney, I guess I will have to jump on the band wagon of comparing him to Brutus because their is no other character in Julius Caesar that is similar to Romney.  Both are trying to help a country by taking political control of it.  However Brutus turns out to be a terrible ruler, hopefully Romney won't be like Brutus.

Week8: Friendship

It seems like Brutus is only friends with Cassius so that he can use him as a tool and does not see their friendship as a true one like Cassius does.  I say this because in Act 4 Scene 3 Brutus pretty much tells Cassius that unless he has zero flaws then he dosen't want to be around him because, "I(Brutus) do not like your faults."  Cassius views their friendship very differently, he says, "A friendly eye could never see such faults." meaning that if Brutus was a true friend he would not be so fixated on his falts and would be more understanding of his actions.  Brutus and Cassius view their friendship totaly oppisite.

Week7: You can't Justify Murder

I think Brutus and Casca are trying to justify killing Caesar by saying that they are, "...Caesar's friends, that have abridg'd his time of fearing death."  It seems to me like they are not sure killing Caesar was really what they wanted.  They are very wrong when they think they have done him a favor because to Caesar, "It seems to me most strange that men should fear death..."  Caesar believs that the "...The valiant never taste death but once."

Week 7: He Could Have Saved Himself

"Hail, Caesar! Read this schedule."  That "schedule" could halved saved Caesars life, instead of reading Artemidorus's letter Caesar was wooed by Decius(one of the conspirators) into reading a letter from Trebonius by saying, "...at your best leasure, read this humble suit." This is the second time Decius has led Caesar closer to his death with his deceitfully talking.  Caesar said he would not read Artemidorus's letter first because, "What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd."  He could have thought that Artemidorus's letter would be a waste of time to read though and that was why he didn't want to read it.  I think with Caesar as long as you praise him he will do nearly anything you want.

Week6: Why Shakespeare Why?

"The clock hath stricken three."  The funny thing about a clock striking three in Julius Caesar is that clocks with gears weren't invented till 1400 years after Caesars death.  I don't know why Shakespeare would say the the clock struck three, it could have been that he didn't realize that mistake.  It's more likely that because this is Shakespeare it has some in depth meaning, if this is right I have no clue what the meaning is.

Week 6: Women always worry

There isn't much to say about review question 1.  All I can see that is significant is that in scene one Brutus's wife Portia is worried about Brutus because, "...yesternight at supper you(Brutus) suddenly arose, and walk'd about musing and sighing, with your arms across..."  Portia knows that Brutus is planing some, "...some sick offence with in your(Brutus's) mind..."  In scene two Caesars wife Calpurnia is worried that Caesar will be killed because of a dream that she had.  She says's to Caesar, "You shall not stir out of your house today."  She also says, "...I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they fright me."  Calpurnia begs Caesar to stay home but Caesar believes he is invincible and ignores her.  I believe the fact that both Brutus's wife and Caesars wife are worried for them is the only thing significant in act two scene one and two.

WeekV: All Great Things Come to an End

Caesar "...swounded and fell down..." after refusing to accept the crown three times.  Cassius says that Caesar is a weak feeble man, "And this man is now become a god..."  I think Cassius sees that Caesar is coming to an end and Rome will be soon to follow.  Cassius eludes to the fall of Rome when he says "...we have the falling-sickness."  I think Cassius is the only one that sees the end of the "Great Roman Empire".

Week V: Because Caesar's Left Ear was Deaf

Nearly every great ruler has had a right hand man, usually a good friend or their spouse.  I believe that Antony is Caesar's right hand man.  Antony is always close to Caesar, constantly giving him advice and helping Caesar get around because he is old and feeble.  Antony also encourages the people to love Caesar.  Caesar says to Antony, "...tell me truly what thou think'st of him." Caesar is trying to decide if  Cassius is a threat, once again asking for Antony's counsel.  Antony's relationship with Caesar carries the title "right hand man"

????????

I believe that Henry is a good king but not, "the mirror of all christian kings."  I would say that Henry has two main problems that keep him from being the, "mirror of all christian kings" the first being that he lets his temper get the best of him, the second being his lust for power.  Henry lets his temper get the best of him during the battle of Agincourt after a few French soldiers ransack their supply wagons and kill all of the English pages, letting his temper rule his actions he immediately has all of the French prisoners executed.  Henry's lust for power is what led him to go to war with France and to give France no choice but to make him heir to the French crown.  The former partying Prince Hal can be greatly admired for turning into the great Herny V, though I do not think he is "the mirror of all christians kings."

A Well Thought Out Plan

The way that Henry handled his victory over France was not the way that most conquers would.  I think most kings would have continued fighting the French until France was completely under their control.  If Henry would have continued fighting, a lot of French cities and land would have been destroyed.  Henry shows that he is very smart when, instead of taking the French crown right then, he gives them, as he calls them, "...just demands."  The French have no choice but to agree with Henry's demands.  Henry's demands ensured, that once the French king died, France would be England's.  The major deal breaker of the demands was Katherine, because if he married Katherine then Henry and his sons would be the heirs to the French crown.  Henry shows that Katherine is the deal breaker when he says, "...a fair French city for one fair French maid..."  When he says that, he is implying that the only way France will have peace is if he marries Katherine and France agrees to Henry's other demands.

Pistol the fool.

How would a poor, probably illiterate foot solider know fluent French.  I would say that Pistol knows some French because he says to his captive in sloppy French, "Yes, cut your throat, by God."  Even though Pistol knows some French he can not understand it because he has no idea what his captive is saying.  At one point in their conversation(if you could call it that) the French soldier says the French word "Bras" which means arm, Pistol misunderstood and thought that the soldier wanted to pay him in brass, he didn't like the sound of that.  Pistol views his captive solely as a way get more money because if the Frenchmen doesn't pay him he is going to kill him.  King Henry on the other hand treats his prisoners as the rules of war require, that is until he sees that the French have killed the English pages and destroyed their supplies.

He loves his horse...maybe to much.

The Dauphin or as they call him in the book The Duke of Bourbon feels as if his horse is the best horse in the world.  When the Dauphin begins bragging about his horse the Constable and Orleans agree with him and praise the Dauphin's horse themselves, when he starts comparing his horse various things like saying, "He is the prince of horses."  I believe this is when they decided that they could no longer tolerate the Dauphin's prideful boasting.  They really began mocking the Dauphin when he tried to say that he wrote a sonnet about his horse, when he starts to recite the sonnet Orleans recognizes it and says's it is about someones mistress, the Dauphin disagrees with him and says's that his sonnet was copied and also that his horse is his mistress, Orleans and the Constable then begin to mock him showing that they no true respect for the Dauphin.  If they had respect for him they would not have mocked him as they did.

A Mere Image of Henry

Why would the boy leave Bardolph, Nym and Pistol?  It appeared as if they took care of him and treated him fairly.  The boy left them because when they joined Henry's army he saw what kind of cowardly scoundrels they really were.  The boy was smart when he said, "I must leave them and seek some better service.  Their villainy goes against my week stomach, and therefore I must cast it up."   His statement shows a desire to live a respectable life unlike his former company.  Henry is much like the boy because he too left the scoundrels of his youth to make a better life for himself.  Ironically, the boy and Henry happened to leave the same drunkards.

To watch, or to read, will one make you weak?

Does visual entertainment weaken a persons imagination?  To answer this question we must first understand what visual entertainment is.  It can be many things such as TV, movies, video games and theatre(not movie theatre).  I believe that Shakespeare would have agreed with me that visual entertainment required just as much if not more imagination then reading a book.  If you are reading a book written by an eloquent author then they will probably give a fairly in depth description of what is going on.  If it is a book written by someone like J.R.R. Tolkien then you may read an entire chapter about a tree.  With that much description not much imagination is needed.  However in Shakespeare's plays imagination was required, during battle scenes and scenes involving ships he even had the chorus(the narrator) announce to the audience that they must use their imagination since they couldn't fit hundreds or thousands of soldiers on their stage that was much smaller than most battle ships.  I believe that visual entertainment dose not weaken a persons imagination at all.