Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Megan Kao
Herzman
English 11H, P5
14 March, 2011
Hamlet:
Ask a hundred bachelors to each plan a wedding proposal, each one will be different.
From the setting, to the timing, to the music playing the background, every detail gives the
proposals own unique feel, even though ultimately the bachelors all say the exact same line,
“Will you marry me?” Similarly, Shakespeare’s play Hamlet was virtually inalterable.
Shakespeare wrote with a combination of pith and exactitude, each line critical in understanding
the speech’s message. However, Shakespeare left directors and actors the freedom to interpret
the characters through varieties of facial expression, volume, tone, and costume. Even with the
same speaking parts, characters could have various personas. In two of the many Hamlet
renditions, the 1996 unabridged film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, and the 2009
television adaptation directed by Gregory Doran, we see the contrasting focuses of directors both
depicting the same a cynical Hamlet. The former highlights Hamlet’s open vengeance and
embitterment, whereas the latter focuses Hamlet’s internal boyishness and fear. Because of
Hamlet’s unpredictable actions in the presence of others, soliloquys are best source to understand
the true thoughts of Hamlet. With their individual interpretations of Hamlet, Branagh and Doran
In the Act 2 Scene 2 soliloquy, Hamlet takes a momentary break to evaluate his own
productivity. Because he is in solitude, Hamlet has no reason to uphold the multitude of faces
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and concealed emotions; thus, by the nature of soliloquys, he will reveal his real emotions and
opinions of himself. In Doran’s film, David Tennant finds Hamlet’s boyish and fearful nature, a
side often shadowed by Hamlet’s seemingly cold and cynical outside personality. At the opening
of the scene, Hamlet throws his shoes off in an initially frustrated manner, only to retreat to a
small corner in a colorless banquet hall. He does not sit in the golden embroidered thrones, but
rather huddles unmoving and silent to calm down. As Hamlet speaks, he leaves pauses between
lines long enough for the audience to digest the sorry sight: a wearied pale and skinny boy
reproaching himself for being a useless “rogue and peasant slave” (2.2.587). Even as he speaks,
Hamlet regularly looks back at the camera, as if searching for approval. Hamlet seems unable to
trust himself in avenging his father ‘properly,’ and thus chooses to revert back to his self-
doubting ways. He goes as far as venturing to break the fourth wall and sincerely asks the
audience, “Am I a coward?” (2.2.598), creating an almost sad comedic effect. Hamlet dons a
However, the initial sullen deprecations drive a certain rage in Hamlet, for he jumps up in
a burst and speaks in a louder and more aggressive tone. His wild-eyed, emphatic usage of the
stage space projects an unnerving attribute. Hamlet fears incompetence, for the player’s
emotional and captivating performance served as wake-up call and prompts him to reevaluate his
course of action. Realizing that he has not been on task, Hamlet tries to convince himself to
become more proactive, ultimately crying, “Vengeance!” (2.2.610). He refuses to let others one
up him and desires to become a man in order to fulfill his duty to avenge his father. Doran
portrays a Hamlet undergoing constant changes in attitude between fear and aggression. Though
the emotional turbulence prevents a conclusion, it ultimately exposes Hamlet’s under the surface
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boyish emotions. Using the misleading six-pack shirt as a pivotal point, Doran captures not only
While Doran’s rendition sought to weave in Hamlet’s dual personality, Branagh’s version
portrayed a Hamlet whose emotions would be easily understood through visuals and audio.
Branagh’s Hamlet fills up the screen with a dominating presence, achieved through his
extravagant body language and attitude. As soon as the scene opens with Hamlet dramatically
slamming the door behind, we immediately hear Hamlet’s tense heaving. There is not a
moment’s worth of silence, forcing the audience to ride along with Hamlet’s unrelenting manner
of speech and actions. Unlike Tennant’s Hamlet who reveals his complex character through
emotion. To focus on Branagh’s dramatic facial expressions and actions, the camera strays no
father than five feet from Hamlet. His sequence of action is almost predictable as he expresses
his frustration by instinct—violence. Destroying furniture and raising voices are only too
familiar to those who have passed adolescence. Hamlet’s emotions never deviates from resent
and anger and seamlessly transitions between those two courses. Although this Hamlet appears
more emotional, Branagh makes sure that he keeps Hamlet by not losing his total composure.