Words, words, words!

"A man may fish with a worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm...Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar."

With this quote, Hamlet points out the inevitability of death. People might live two completely opposite lives but regardless, they will die. When dead, the only difference between the two type of people, will be the kind of dish they are for the worms. This quote points out the circle of life because it goes on to explain how a worm may eat the remains of a king, this worm is then eaten by a fish, and then the beggar eats the fish. In the end, it is almost as if a king has passed through the body of a beggar. In the circle of life, no human is superior. I chose this quote because it not only vividly explains life overall, but it also is a moral lesson. It teaches one not to act superior or be discriminatory against others because in the end, everyone is not so different.

Something is Rotten in the State of BHS!

My favorite version of Hamlet is the one directed by Zeffirelli. Out of the three versions we watched, this is the version I feel is the most authentic. The movie opens with Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet mourning over Hamlet Sr. By starting the film with this scene, instead of the dark, cold, and mysterious night with the guards, Zeffirelli is pointing out the main conflict of the play. The scene immediately creates a dark and depressing mood and an inside look at the tensions between the characters that will be explained later in the play. When Gertrude lays across the casket in tears, and looks up at Claudius, I could feel the tension between the two and almost see a sense of guilt in Gertrude's eyes. Also, this version accented the idea of light in order to help create the mood. When Claudius first speaks, half of his face is in the shadow while the other half is lighten up. This represents the deceit and mystery to Claudius' character. In addition to using light as an advantage, Zeffirelli uses music in order to enhance the mood. When Hamlet is angered by Gertrude's statement that he "seems" upset, the music played in the background is tense and gloomy in order to represent Hamlet's true depressed and angered feelings. The last scene we saw included of a great use of scene selection. During Hamlet's soliloquy, when he is talking about his mother and her deceit, the camera goes from Hamlet's face to Gertrude waving to people and smiling. This shows the theme of appearance vs. reality. The public views Gertrude as someone who is doing what is necessary and is still a heroic figure, whereas Hamlet views her as incestuous and frail. This film does a wonderful job in accenting the main points of Hamlet and really bringing out the underlying tensions.