We finished reading the text itself a two weeks ago. I was not there on the last day so I missed Andrew's dramatic reading of Hamlet's character, but I read it separate so I think I got the just of it. I really liked reading the original version because it allowed me to visualize the play myself rather than watching interpretations. But, at the same time, the text had basically no stage directions so for all I know I was not even visualizing it in the first place.
After we finished reading the text, we watched various versions of film. The first was the David Tennant banana version and I probably liked it the least. This was because I didn't like how they mixed up the order of some scenes and had every scene in the same room. I think that the movie was supposed to reflect acting it out on a stage, but really the story itself is suppose to take place in many different rooms in a castle, and they lost that aspect by filming in one giant marble room. Making a play into a movie is a great opportunity to make use of settings that you can't provide in a theater. I liked the other versions for the same reason, they made use of placing the play into the real world. My favorite was probably the black and white version, and I plan to watch the entire thing soon. My favorite Hamlet was also from the black and white version. I can't really pin point why, but I sort of got the best feel for the character from that actor, where I felt that the other actors were trying too hard.
Now for the discussion of the play itself. There really is so much to consider about Hamlet, I would really like to interpret it in the most extreme sense, where Hamlet was hot for Horatio and Ophelia was knocked up by Laeretes. I also think that Fortinbras is the most underrated character in the entire play. He was Hamlet's foil in the sense that he listened and respected his Uncle after he took the throne prior to his fathers death. I think this also supports the conclusion that if Hamlet had been confronted by the same situation in a setting other than Elsinore, he would have turned out much differently. Fortinbras was the control of Shakespeare experiment. His experiment basically exemplifies how everything goes down the drain when you lock a bunch of social-maniacal people with no sense of logic or moral judgment withing close proximity of each other.
Over all I think that these last few weeks before brake have be tortuous and I cannot wait until Christmas. Thank god for AP lit for actually allowing me to have a bit of fun at the end of my day!
