Ophelia + Ophelia

As I watched the two clips of Hamlet, I was struck by how similarly the two actresses acted, yet they were so different. While reading this scene, I pictured Ophelia as a girl who received a ton of useless advise from everybody who was older than her. For some reason, I felt as if she was just playing along and not taking any of the advise seriously. The actress playing Ophelia in the Zeffirelli version of the film perfectly acts out exactly my thoughts on Ophelia. She continues to just laugh off all of the "wise" advise which she is receiving. She is not snobby and acting like a smart Alec but by her behavior, we can tell that the words of her brother and her father really don't mean much to her. Instead of stopping to listen, she attempts to avoid more advise by continuing with the task at hand. On the other hand, in the other Hamlet film, the actress playing Ophelia becomes more and more annoyed as her bother gives her advise. Her temper only worsens when her father speaks to her and attempts to rub more wisdom into her. She does not stay relaxed like the other character. Instead she became increasingly angry, as if what they were saying actually bothered her. This, in the end causes her to finally really snap at Laertes and call him a hypocrite. In both cases, I think we can really see that Ophelia isn't the stupid girl that everybody thinks she is. She is actually quite intelligent. She keeps her thoughts in her mind and superficially agrees to listen to avoid conflict and others' doubt in her.

First Impression of Hamlet

We first meet Hamlet in William Shakespeare's work, "Hamlet," at the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2. The prince presents himself in a black, mournful suit and is chastised for it by his mother and his uncle who is the new king of Denmark. Hamlet does not seem to care much for his uncle Claudius at all. He shows him no love and very little respect. In fact, Prince Hamlet later tells us himself that he does not like the man.

We can see that Hamlet is still in grief from his father's recent death. I think that this is only normal behavior. He clearly displays his belief that his father's death was not given enough attention because he still suffers from the sorrow. Everybody else, including his mother is over the fact that her former husband is dead. In fact, Hamlets mother has already remarried to his Uncle Claudius. She shows her lack of sensitivity to the topic of King Hamlet's death when she tells the prince, "All that lives must die." (I .II .72)

After everybody but Hamlet exits the room, he explains to us his true thoughts and emotion. He is upset because his father is dead. This, I think, is fully justified as it seems as if everybody else is more excited about the new king rather that showing grief about the one who has just passed. Futhermore, Prince Hamlet is bitter about the fact that his mother has so quickly remarried to his uncle Claudius. Hmmm...thats really pretty disgusting. If my mother was doing that, I'd be totally grossed out and super upset. That's just weird!!! What makes it even worse is that Queen Gertude does not even care. She's like, "Out with the old and in with the new. Thats life!"

In conclusion, I find Hamlet's behavior and thoughts to really relate well with the audience's thoughts and behavior. His actions actually make sense to me.

I find this picture to really well exemplify the scenario taking place in Act I Scene II