Act II, for me, was about Polonius’ fall. Clearly Hamlet’s depression and decisions drive the plot, but Polonius’ character arc was not clear to me in previous readings. We are presented with a lapdog to the new King, who is guilty by association with a murderer and who, as an overbearing and overprotective father, deprives a young couple of the joy of love. In Act I, Polonius provides caring fatherly advice for Laertes, engendering compassion in the reader. But Act II begins with his suspicion of his son as demonstrated by his instructions to Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. We immediately begin to suspect his motives and character when we see him stoop to subterfuge upon his own son and “By indirections find directions out.” Even subtle changes, as Shakespeare has him forget himself in the middle of directing Reynaldo, demonstrate the change to Polonius’ character. He doubles down as he arranges to spy, together with Kind Claudius, on his daughter Ophelia as she speaks with Hamlet. And his fall from grace is complete when we witness Hamlet’s interactions with Polonius, who he suspects of both over-supporting his uncle and responsible for the denials of Ophelia. It is not without intent and awareness that Hamlet calls Polonius a lowly “fishmonger.”
Hamlet is a play about the faults in human nature. The contrast between the different faults of man portrayed by each character provides insight into Hamlet’s inner moral struggle. Polonius’ role is to show that misplaced loyalty and condescending overprotection can lead one astray from the moral path. Polonius is the follower to Hamlet’s lead.
For Act II, I decided to watch the Branagh version of Hamlet while following along in the Bedford text writing notes. I started by watching Act I, which I had read previously and gained some new perspectives on the text from the actors. As Act II started, which I had not read, I found that I was missing details of the text and switched to completely reading the text while the movie played in the background. I would occasionally glance at the movie, but predominantly was looking at the text. Following the text with an actor’s voice allowed me to see the detailed word choices more clearly than watching the film. Has anyone else tried reading along while listening or watching the movie?
I went ahead and re-read the story and then watched the film the week before. The movie was fantastic and really made the book very very clear to me. The book has so many subtlties that the movie brings life to. Also when watching the film when you see someone step aside and give an aside it makes more sense to the viewer in remembering how this is done in the book.
ReplyDeleteWow, that an interesting approach, watching and reading at the same time!
ReplyDeleteNo, I hadn't thought of that, maybe I'll give it at try.
I'm very glad that I read the play completely before watching the movie. At first I wanted to see the movie first, because never having been exposed to Hamlet I didn't want to know how it ended. Luckily I did not get the DVD right away and I was "chomping at the bit" so I went ahead and read it. My internal picture was SO different than the movie!!! I definitely have my own interpretation and I must have a streak of puritanism in me, because in my version Ophelia had NOT slept with Hamlet.
I want to see the Laurence Olivier version now.
BTW Overall I did not care for the Branaugh movie. It did have its high points. I thought the character of Horatio was acted the best. I loved Billy Crystal and Robin Williams too!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion setting it in a more modern time frame (mid 1800's) created an even worse incongruity with the speech and actions than already exists by virtue of it being written in prose.
I've been having a hard time tracking down that version of Hamlet. The Blockbuster I usually rent movies at only has a version with Ethan Hawke, which I can only assume isn't near as interesting as the Branaugh version. So I'm going to keep searching for it, I'm happy to see people have been watching it though. I look forward to it!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this a year ago in my high school english class, the teacher had us do this as she played the movie during class. I found it very helpful and now as I re-read it, I can almost picture the scenes in my head. I find it is easier to understand the Shakespeare's difficult writing when you can hear the inflection of the actor's voice.
ReplyDeleteI read Act I and Act II, then purchased the DVD and watched the first disc. I finshed reading the book and watched the second disc. I enjoyed the Branaugh version of Hamlet. It helped me to understand more of the play.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Branagh version again this weekend and liked it much better the second time. I think that once again, the language threw me off. The second time I watched it, I did't worry so much about trying to understand the words and I focused more on the visuals. IT was a completely different experience.
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