Hamlet (place)

About: Hamlet (place) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2771 publications have been published within this topic receiving 16301 citations.

The Film Hamlet - A Record of its Production

Abstract: A record of Sir Laurence Olivier's production of 'Hamlet'. Actors, writers and technicians tell their story of the film

"To be or not to be" in "The Belly of the Whale": a reading of Joseph Campbell's "Modern Hero" hypothesis in Hamlet on Film

Abstract: The composite hero of the monomyth is a personage of exceptional gifts. Frequently he is honored [sic] by society, frequently unrecognized [sic] or disdained. He and/or the world in which he finds himself suffers from a symbolical deficiency. (Campbell 37) In creative or dramatic terms, Joseph Campbell's "monomyth" conceptualizes the heroic prominence of the protagonist in a given fiction. Although most of Campbell's research is based on theological mythologies, his concepts are steeped in twentieth-century psychoanalytical theories (4-19). Campbell focuses on the initiatory paradigms of universal myths and formulates the hero's rite of passage into three major stages: "separation [departure]-initiation [action]-return [reflection]" (Campbell 30). Campbell's book on the subject, The Hem with a Thousand Faces, has consciously been appropriated by the writer and film-critic Christopher Vogler who applies Campbell's theories, "The Adventure of the Hero," to protagonists of several modern films ranging from Pulp Fiction to Star Wars. Similarly the tragedy of Hamlet focuses on an exceptionally gifted central character who, once the "symbolic deficiency" of his world has been identified, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" (1.5.90),1 vows to purge his world from that "deficiency," "time is out of joint. O cursed spite, / That ever I was born to set it right" ( 1.5.196-97). By aspiring to guide his society to safety (Campbell 391), Hamlet qualifies as a mono-mythical hero since he too desires to "set [his world] right." In Hamlet, heroic intentions are often embedded in soliloquies. Soliloquies, claims Mary Maher, are the hallmark of Hamlet's persona (Modem Hamlets xi, xv-xvi); indeed the role of Hamlet is often defined by and depends upon his soliloquies for completion. 'To be or not to be" is unique of all of Hamlet's soliloquies: on stage it is "an overheard soliloquy" (Charney 123; Orange 62,65) but on screen it is a pivotal point in the hero's journey. In his celebrated paper, "The Meaning of Hamlet's Soliloquy," Irving Richards ascertains that Hamlet's "To be or not to be" is "the crux of the drama, the point at which Hamlet takes the audience into his confidence and reveals the secret of his complex soul" (745). Conversely, Maher argues, audiences of screened Hamlet intimately connect with him and feel obliged to identify with his dilemmas ("Hamlet's BBC" 426). Therefore, "To be or not to be" remains central to Hamlet's character textually, theatrically, and cinematically. The textual positioning of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" was thoroughly assessed by Lewis Mott in 1904 (26-32). One hundred years on, I would like to examine the positioning and setting of the soliloquy in recent Hamlet films. I will examine four Hamlet films, Laurence Olivier ( 1948), Franco Zeffirelli (1990), Kenneth Branagh (1996), plus Michael Almereyda (2000), and apply Campbell's hypothesis as demonstrated in "The Adventure of the Hero" to ascertain the position of "To be or not to be" in the protagonist's journey in each of these films. The placement of "To be or not to be" within the hero's rite of passage framework set out by Campbell depends on its positioning within the individual film's structure, which can easily alter from one step of the hero's journey to another, indeed from one stage to another. I will demonstrate that, regardless of each film's mise en scene, "To be or not to be" is placed in the Separation/Departure stage of the hero's journey, which takes place inside "The Belly of the Whale" in three of the above mentioned Hamlet films, Olivier, Zeffirelli, and Almereyda, (whereas Branagh's soliloquy takes place in the Initiation stage). "The Belly of the Whale," according to Campbell, is a metamorphic step when "The hero, instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, is swallowed into the unknown, [where he] goes inward to be born again" (90-92); it is a nightmarish sentiment with ancient resonance; it is the last moment of decision-making before the hero has to take action. …

Hamlet and Oblomov: A Comparative Study

Abstract: The aim of this research paper is to explore by comparing and contrasting between the two literary characters Hamlet and Oblomov how they are in their essence indecisive that are exploited by William Shakespeare and Ivan Goncharov in different historical ages to project different visions of the human situation. Every author is influenced by his age to certain degrees and if the art of characterization of William Shakespeare is set against that of Ivan Goncharov, it is because of the difference of ideological perspectives. William Shakespeare’s character Hamlet comes from the Renaissance England and Ivan Goncharov’s character Oblomov comes from the nineteenth century Russia. The former is in certain ways different from the latter despite the fact that those traits of the both characters are the same as indecision and procrastination. The comparison and contrast will be highlighted in this paper in terms of Marxist hermeneutics, which is scientific theory and method of analyzing the social and literary types in the context of class milieu. Applying Marxist literary hermeneutics to the art of characterization of both the authors, the present study tries to introduce new portrait and re-evaluation of the personages of the two literary types in an innovative perspective.

Soliloquies in Hamlet: Necessary or Unnecessary In the Context of the Play

Abstract: Hamlet (1600-1601), a world famous play, Shakespeare's most debated work and perhaps the longest play written by William Shakespeare (1564, 23 April-1616, 23 April) has given rise to radically different interpretations. Several soliloquies uttered by the hero, Hamlet, are considered one of the core themes of discussion and these interpretations. The paper tries to examine the necessity of the soliloquies which Shakespeare has mentioned through Hamlet in his famous play, 'Hamlet' as some critics think that the soliloquies are irrelevant, ambiguous not necessary in the context of the play. Mentioning some definitions of soliloquy and its necessity the paper will focus on the topics with some reference of the related lines of soliloquy from the play according to that perspective including some reference of great writers and critics. It is well-known that Shakespeare often has his characters spoken in soliloquies during the course of his plays. Besides, soliloquies are essential to the presentation of a story through the medium of a play because they provide the chance to tell the audience specific pieces of information which cannot be disclosed through normal conversation. In his work, 'Hamlet', Shakespeare's title character is shown to speak in seven soliloquies. Each soliloquy advances the plot, reveals Hamlet's inner thoughts to the audience and helps to create an atmosphere in the play.