Modern Day Hamlet

If I were to imagine what "Hamlet" would be like in a different time and place, I would imagine what it would be like right now in Southern California. I would expect it to be a rich family in Orange County. In the family, there would be Old Hamlet and Gertrude in their 40s and Hamlet as a 16 year old boy. They own a lot of money that just gets passed down from generation to generation, laying on Gertrude's side. Old Hamlet's brother, Claudius wants the wealth so he tells Gertrude lies about Old Hamlet to get her to divorce him. After she divorces him, Old Hamlet, outraged at Gertrude and Claudius, moves away to New York to make money in the stock market. He gets no custody time with Hamlet. Claudius puts the moves on Gertrude to get her to marry him so he can secretly get all the wealth from the family. Claudius, Gertrude, and Hamlet live in a huge house with a tennis court in the backyard, while Old Hamlet lives in an apartment because he invested all his money in the stock market. When Hamlet finds out about what Claudius did, he becomes very angry and plots ways how to take revenge on Claudius and split up Gertrude and Claudius. Because he is only a teenager, he whines and complains a lot and doesn't get very much "relationship advice" respect from Gertrude. He becomes very dramatic and drama takes over the play instead of revenge.

Act 1 Scene 1 is where the guards along with Horatio and Barnardo await the ghost at midnight and finally see him. Now imagine in modern day southern california how this would translate out. Old Hamlet's old neighbors (friends of Hamlet's) live in New York and saw him walking by in Times Square. They couldn't believe it so they called Horatio and Barnardo, Hamlet's best friends from middle school, to come to New York to see if they could find him because he looked very troubled and different. So they flied out and they are waiting at Times Square late at night, when the neighbors saw him two nights previous. There are lights everywhere and because it is a weekend, the streets are filled, loud, and busy even though it is late at night. They finally see him, and they stop him. He tries to just ignore them and keep going but Horatio speaks up to stop him and asks questions like why are you here just like how in the play he says "what art thou that usurp'st this time of night" (1.1.54). Old Hamlet just stares at him finally recognizing him and only says "send Hamlet here." He then walks away and disappears into the crowd of people.

Later on, Hamlet will see his father and will be told to take revenge and sabotage Claudius and Gertrude's relationship. Does Hamlet succeed or doesn't he? Imagine for yourself the rest.

To be or not to be

For this week's post, I'll be comparing and contrasting these two interpretations of Hamlet's famous soliloquy "To be or not to be."In the first video, Hamlet was alone and he seemed very depressed and down. He looked and sounded as if he had nothing to live for and was questioning why he is even still living. This is how I imagined the scene the way Hamlet acted when I read it because he talks as if he has nothing to live for and questions if his life is even worth living. I thought of this scene as Hamlet's suicide scene because he contemplates taking his life. In this first video, all the colors are very dark as well. This adds to the depression and sad mood. He wears very casual clothing showing me that he has no reason to look nice and wear fancy clothing because he has nothing to live for. Lastly, in the video, I noticed that the room he was in did not seem too fancy or interesting. It looked bland.

In the second video, there was definitely a different feel and perspective about the soliloquy. He seemed upset, but not as upset as I imagined or as in the first video. To me, just from the look in his eye and the way he acted, it seemed like he was more focused on revenge than actually being depressed and truly not having a reason to live. I agreed with this setting and the clothes he was wearing than the other video. He was wearing a fancy suit, which I would imagine a prince would wear. He was in a fancy, vibrant, and rich house/ room, and the overall lighting of the room was light and not as dark as the other video. To me, I don't know why, but I kept thinking that he was thinking more of using the knife for revenge as opposed to for himself.

Overall, I preferred Hamlet's actions and the way he was portrayed in the first video better. However, I preferred the setting in the second video better because it seemed more realistic to what I expected. In the first video, the fact that he seemed SO depressed like he just had nothing to live for was what made me prefer the first one. In the book, "To be or not to be" (3.1.64) translates to is it better to be alive than dead. To me, the first video captures that better.