looking back

My favorite thing that we did in this class this semester was definitely the movie Hamlet essay.  It was the most unique essay I had ever done in high school and it was really interesting the way we analyzed one scence for 2 weeks and trying to pick out the smallest details that the director put in their to see if we can get the signs that the director wanted us to get.  I had to dig very deep into this movie and it is something that I dont normally do, I usually just watch the movie but to be able to write a 3-5 page essay on once scene of a movie is incredible and is something that i know i will have to do in college, so this was great practice.  Having to anyalze two films and their differences to each other, but also their differences to Shakespeare's version, really challenged me to think critically on the movies performance choices.

Preformance Choices

I was Queen Gertrude and my performance choice was one of becoming very seductive while empowering myself by touching and feeling Ashkan.  I was very furtive and sly with my words while I am trying to persuade Ashkan to stay in Denmark.  Ashkan was very sarcastic and trying to belittle me with his over exaggeration of the word Seems.  Our performance choice of Ashkan exaggerating and trying to belittle me, is very like Hamlet as he is frustrated and angry with his mother.  His mother, me, plays the part of innocence and seductiveness, trying to convince Ashkan that I did no wrong and that he should remain in Denmark.  Hamlet, Ashkan, is not fooled by my acting or my furtive and sly and seductive persona.

Prufrock

"No I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be."  In the poems we see all the difference between Hamlet and the poet.  Hamlet is the Prince while TS Eliot advises the Prince.  The poet is an attendant lord while Hamlet will never be degraded by his father and is a natural tragic hero.  Hamlet has a lot of strength by the end of the play and we don't see that with TS Eliot who talks like he is another sheep in the herd.  The poet is ok with taking the role of a peasant.  While hamlet wants to fight and be a leader in his society.  That is obviously later on, in the beginning we see the similarities between Hamlet and TS Eliott where they are both very hesitant and TS Elliot is very fragmented in his writing, illustrating his inability to make up his mind and his indecisiveness.  We see this in the beginning of Hamlet where Hamlet is always debating and couldn't make up his mind whether or not to kill his step father.  We also saw Hamlet's indecisiveness as he prepared to kill the king on multiple occasions but then aborted his mission.  Yet we see a major difference in the growth of the two characters, as we see that Hamlet has grown to face his indecisiveness and ultimately kills Claudius.  While TS Elliot is still confused and is still indecisive as he is going through his mid life crisis, TS Elliot does not fully accomplish anything or grow and we can see that to be a testament to their place in society and their future.