Clint Eastwood as Hamlet

Since I started reading Hamlet, just over a month ago, I have been unable to shake my awe of how many ways the text can be interpreted into other settings. After spending a while contemplating Michael Almereyda's Hamlet movie, I envisioned a backdrop of my own that would truly exemplify the contextual diversity of Shakespeare's work.

I placed Hamlet in a Western ghost town, similar to Clint Eastwood movies (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or Fistful of Dollars). Taking the place of the kings (Claudius, and previously Hamlet), would be the mayors of such towns. Meanwhile, Prince Hamlet would take the place of the the future mayor and the son of the recently killed mayor. Likewise, Polonius would be the sheriff. This Western setting would give a whole new perspective to the text of Hamlet. The country of Norway would be a Mexican group of bandits. The movie would be set in the late 1800’s.

An example of a Hamlet scene in the wild west would be when King Claudius (Mayor Claudius) and Polonius (Sheriff Polonius) throw Hamlet into a room with the sheriff’s daughter, Ophelia, and spy on him. The mayor and sheriff would be “testing” to make sure that heir Hamlet would be worthy of being the next mayor of this town. At that point, Hamlet would give his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy.

Which Film Is "To Be" Better?

Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy is one of Shakespeare's most renowned. Through the numerous movies of Hamlet, we are able to directly see how each one interprets the scene so differently from the next. 

As I was roaming around on Google trying to find a version that I felt depicted the scene best, I ran into a clip of the soliloquy which I thought was extremely plane and almost boring to an extent. As I watched the clip above, I quickly realized that there was nothing that captivated my attention. The scene is set-up as if the actor is reading directly out of the play. Although he does show some emotion while reading, the actor doesn't help me visualize his thoughts in any way.

Luckily, I came across a version of the "To Be or Not to Be" that tremendously helped me envision the scene taking place. The actor playing Hamlet helps us understand his exact thoughts by showing several examples of what he is talking about take place right in front of him. I found this to be a lot more helpful than just watching the actor read the lines of the play. I am also able to follow the thoughts of Hamlet in the second clip a lot more easily than the first. Being able to see Hamlet's thoughts firsthand was a huge difference for me.

Although the lines were the same, the way the scene played out in the second clip was way more interesting to me!

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