Topic: English (Drama)

Order Description
Overview:
This week we’ll be going into our first play, William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” You’ll be asked to do the following assignments regarding the play:
1.Watch the Kenneth Branagh version of the play (1996).
2.Get involved in the Discussion Boards.

Lecture:
We’ll be approaching plays here through the eyes of the director and the actor, NOT the audience. So I’m going to ask that you work like actors and directors here. The play that actors hold in their hands only presents one small factor of the play that we actually see on stage. An actor needs to do the background work of the character; a director needs to do the background work of ALL the characters and the situation as well.

As Ernest Hemingway said, “What we see on the page is like the tip of the iceburg. It’s only 10% of the full volume of the work. The other 90% is below the water.” What we’ll be doing here in Unit Two is the filling in the other 90%.

For instance, before an actor can take the stage as Hamlet, he needs to understand Hamlet’s background, where he came from, what he’s been doing his last thirty years or so, in order that he may be able to present a full life onto the stage. For example, in order to pull off his interaction with Ophelia, he needs to know (as well as she) whether they’ve made love, whether they are in love, whether Hamlet is ready to break up with her and just hasn’t told her, whether their relationship is in courtship stage, whether they’re being led to an arranged marriage, etc. etc. etc.

Depending on the answers given in the background work that you do, you’ll be offering a completely different play. For instance, when Alan Rickman performed Hamlet, he did so as a man with a split personality. The ghost of his father never really came down to earth to speak to him. Rickman’s Hamlet had just lost his mind and was his father and himself at the same time. The people who saw this play saw Claudius as a good man, who was just besieged by this nut case.

What I’d like you to do this week is to fill in some of the missing 90% on some of the major characters of “Hamlet.” Let’s pretend that we’re putting on the play, our own version. Let’s not contradict each other. Everything each of us says will be in addition to the comment before. Thus, if someone says that Claudius is 35 and has been married twice, the next person can’t say, “No, he’s 50 and has never been married.”

If someone says that Claudius and Gertrude have been having an affair, this can’t be contradicted. What’s put on the page is a given as truth. We can only add on. I ask that you take this seriously. Although it would be fun to speak of Hamlet as being from Venus (I actually saw a play where his father was played by a used Buick LaSabre), this would be too personal of a production that not enough people could get involved in.

Three of the most important aspects of the play that acting companies all need to deal with before they begin are:

* How long has the relationship been going on between Claudius and Gertrude?

* How involved was Gertrude in the murder of King Hamlet?

* What is the nature of Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia and its history?

With all this in mind, let’s take a look at the film version. Branagh puts his piece on in mostly a traditional manner. His major iceburg alteration was that he wanted to portray Polonius as an intelligent advisor, as opposed to loveable buffoon that we see in most stage versions

Assignment: Discussion Board Question:
Okay, let’s see how much fun we can have with this week’s Discussion Boards.

I want to explore the background of the characters, as discussed in the main section of Unit Two. If you have not read this Unit, please do so before you explore these posts. You should also view the Branagh film before hand as well.

I’d like you to create backgrounds for some of the main characters in the play as noted in the threads. You can use your wild imaginations to create them. The only rule is that once something is created, it cannot be countered, so these biographies are cumulative. From these backgrounds we will begin forming our own version of how we would put on the play itself if indeed we were to direct the piece.

You need to offer three Primary Responses (at least two paragraphs; at least 125 words in length) by Friday, April 8th, midnight; and four additional Secondary Responses (at least 75 words) by Sunday, April 10th, midnight.

Pick 3 Characters: 2 paragraphs for each at least 125 words:
1)Fortinbras Character Background
2)Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Character Background
3)King Hamlet Character Background
4)Polonius Character Background
5)Ophelia Character Background
6)Laertes Character Background
7)Horatio Character Background
8)Gertrude Character Background
9)Claudius Character Background
10)Hamlet Character Backgro