The Bards Challenge: Week Five
In this Post:
Hamlet
Sonnets 14-18
Hamlet is my favorite play. Ever. It is often considered to be one of the greatest pieces of literature in the English language. Famous actors have often played the part of Hamlet simply to say they’d done it; a lot of people would say you can’t be considered a “real” actor until you’ve played Hamlet. And I haven’t played Hamlet.
Yet.
Quotes on Hamlet:
There are three immediate quotes I’d like to share with you.
The first, is a quote from Orson Welles, (You know, author of War of the Worlds?)
“Once Shakespeare had written him, he never wrote about a man of any genius at all again. . . Once he’d written Hamlet and discovered that there was no actor who could play him, he turned to something else.”
The second, is a quote from Isaac Asimov, (Another HUGE science fiction author that also happens to be a Shakespeare buff)
“Shakespeare has said so many things so supremely well that we are forever finding ourselves thinking in his terms. There is the story of the woman who read Hamlet for the first time and said, ‘I don’t see why people admire that play so. It is nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together.’”
And finally, one from a wonderful Shakespeare scholar, Norrie Epstein:
“There’s no character quite like Hamlet in Dramatic Literature. He’s a sensitive poet who is unable to act, yet he manages in one way or another to kill almost everyone in the play.”
The Reduced Shakespeare Company:
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
This is a great video showing part of RSC’s show. It’s hysterical, and will quickly tell you all you need to know about the plot of Hamlet.
Kenneth Branagh:
In case you weren’t aware, Kenneth Branagh is my favorite actor and Director of all time. He’s really famous for his Shakespeare films, but you might recognize him as the director of Thor or as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter. ;) This is an introduction to his Hamlet, and I think it says a lot of what I feel about the play. You don't need to watch it, but it's a pretty neat video.
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Thoughts on the Play:
Ophelia:
Despite being titled “The Tragedy of Hamlet,” most of my sympathy seems to lie with Ophelia. When I read the part where we find out she died I just want to cry. On her first appearance in the play, Ophelia is an innocent, trusting, and spirited individual. I grow to like her because of her sincere nature. I don’t know if you felt that way, but when I read Ophelia’s lines, they just rang true to me. But by the end of the play all of that innocence and spiritedness has been yanked from her and replaced with an insanity that leaves you unsure whether to be horrified or weepy.
I think what it comes down to is one of the play’s most cryptic lines, spoken by Ophelia:
“Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
This is my second favorite line in the entire play. It’s the fundamental question everyone needs to ask themselves. “Who do I want to be?” Hopefully, once they know their answer, they can take the steps to achieve it. In a different light, I think Norrie Epstein had it right when she said, “Ophelia goes mad because she discovers what others ‘may be.’ Tragically, she never learns what she might have become.”
The Band Perry:
You might be familiar with this big new country band, “the Band Perry,” and their big hit “If I Die Young.” (You can watch the music video here). That song unceasingly reminds me of Ophelia! (Even the video seems to be modeled after her). Just look at the lyrics:
If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had just enough time
And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger,
I've never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand.
The lyrics and tone of the song always seems to remind me of that innocent young girl who was broken by the harsh world around here until it all seemed to crumble around her ears. It also makes me think of this photo:
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.”
Are you ready for my all-time favorite Shakespeare quote EVER? Drumroll please…
"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all."
“But wait, Andrew, that’s all just gibberish! It makes no sense!”
Oh, but it does. What Hamlet is saying, mere minutes before he takes his last breath, is that even in the death of a sparrow we can see evidence of God and his love for us. And whether we die now or in years to come, the moment when we have to face death will come. And the only thing we can do, is be ready when it does.
What this means to me is that I need to live every moment in my life in such a way that if I died tomorrow, I would be able to stand before those pearly gates and say confidently that I had lived a life that I could be proud of.
And…. I’m going to quit with Hamlet because I’ve gone on too long already. So let's continue onward!
Sonnets:
And I begin to see the light!
The first two sonnets this week were more of the usual about the youth needing to have kids, but sonnets 17 and 18 struck out to me like a doorman wearing a ten gallon hat.
Sonnet 17 expresses discontent because Shakespeare realizes that even if he could capture all the youths beauty and virtues in his verse, no one would believe him unless the youth had a child that mirrored the youth's beauty. This seems like more of what the last 16 sonnets have been about, but not when you look at sonnet 18.
Sonnet 18 is where the abrupt shift in the sonnets takes place, and, rather than pleading for the youth to have children, Shakespeare seems to fall head over heels for the youth and expresses his love for the youth's grace and beauty, etc. What it seems like to me, is that Shakespeare has now given up on the youth having kids, and has instead decided to do his best to capture the youth’s beauty and virtues in his verse like he expressed the desire to do in the previous sonnet. Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen, the next hundred and some odd sonnets are going to be quite lovey-dovey. ;)
P.S. If any of you need a good pickup line, here’s a great one:
“If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age to come would say 'This poet lies:
Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.”
~Sonnet 17
Questions:
So what did you think? Was it your first time reading Hamlet? If so, how do you feel about it? You HAVE to share at least one favorite quote with me, and I’d love to know if you agree/disagree with me about Ophelia.
Next Week:
· Romeo and Juliet, (ooh-la-la!)
o Take a good look at how Romeo acts while “in love” with Rosalind, and then how he acts while in love with Juliet. Try to note some of the differences. (hint: there’s a lot of sun and moon imagery.)
· Sonnets 19-23
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