Reflective post

I feel I have gained Shakespeare literacy through many things accomplished in this class. I’ve read a range of Shakespeare’s plays such as, sonnets, comedies, tragedies etc.  I’ve also studied a single play, Othello, more in depth. For this course we were able to view two plays, Merchant of Venice and Love’s Labors Lost, and I think this has been the most helpful for me in gaining Shakespeare literacy.  Watching the plays be performed, as they were meant to, rather then just reading them taught me allot about

Shakespeare’s works.  Since reading theses plays I’ve noticed a lot of modern movies books, reference shakespeare. Weather quoting his writing or discussing his life Shakespeare’s legacy is found everywhere in pop culture.

During class we had the opportunity to learn about the context, language, and themes of Shakespeare’s plays.  These have helped  me to analyze the plays we’ve read in my blog posts. While watching a couple film adaptations of Hamlet I was able to critique the performances using these things. Through our project of mimicking Shakespearian works I have been able to apply what I’ve learned. 

Blogging about shakespeare has given me the opportunity to engage in Shakespeare creatively.  By comparing it to music and other works, casting the plays(such as Merchant of Venice) and making a literary map of Othello. For the final project my group has even tried performing. 

Act IV scene I with stage directions.

Francisco and Fillipa enter stage. Francisco give Fillipa, disguised as a duchess, a rose.

Francisco: The flowers dost suit thine eye, Cecilia?

       

             Francisco leans in for a kiss. Fillippa leans back disgusted.

 She tries to keep a distance as they walk, while flirting.

Filippa:  'Tis so, my lord, tho ne'er care for roses.

              Painted beauty promises but then they

              pierce and prick when drawn too near, and we bleed.

Fillippa sits down on a bench, she see’s the empty spot next to her and quickly puts the rose down to “occupy” the seat. Francisco, pursues Filippa by brushing aside the rose, sitting and taking her hand.

Francisco: They mean not to harm but simply remind

                   the young lover's soul of his living love.      

Francisco leans in for a kiss as Filippa dodges him.                     

Filippa: Forgive. I miss your meaning. Pray, do tell.

Fillippa goes to stand but Francisco, oblivious, grabs her hand preventing her. 

Francisco: How the heart aches, sick, nay, nigh death even

                 Of one who loves but knows not of its return.

                 A roses' thorn pricks merely to awake

                 a sleeping dreamer to act on his love.

Francisco kneels on one knee in front of Fillippa.

Lucio appears in the gardens, although unseen to Francisco and Filippa.      

Lucio is behind a wall or pillar and spies Cecilia

Lucio: (aside) What's this? Fair Cecilia and Francisco.

            O, if only I beside her walked

            Sweet verse and line t'would surely fill her ears.

Filippa: You speak as tho experienced, my lord.

           (aside) What's this? Here, nigh on knees, this swooning sword!

Francisco stands seriously.

Francisco: Fair Cecilia! Words with no actions take

                 Are mere symbols on a page or breath on

                 fleeting wind which leaves as quickly as comes!

                 Dost thou weigh (judge) the meaning of mine words now?

Filippa stands cautiously.

Filippa: Indeed. But thou fails to weigh (take into account) my mean (poor, of low rank) state.

Francisco Grabs Filippa’s hand and moves closer.

Francisco: Tis nothing.

Fillippa smiles in fakery then looks away  to avoid Francisco’s gaze

Filippa: Correct. Nothing is what I have.

Francisco, thinking he has offended, rushes to redeem his speech.

Francisco: No no, your worth (rank). It is of small import (significance).

               Filippa pretends to be offended.

Filippa: Sir, callest thou my worth (value) base (worthless)?

              Lucio jealously looks upon Fillippa and Francisco

Lucio: (aside) Francisco had a base (of low quality) school to mix words,

and marks not the meaning of his fair bird (object of prey).

Staging Shakespeare

My group is working on staging a scene from our lost play  so I decided to research more about the subject (our group hasn't had theater experience). Here are some things I found that could help everyone with their plays.

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=963

Scene Changes with No Curtain
In Shakespeare's time there wasn't a curtain to drop between scenes.  To signal a scene or location change, all the characters would exit the stage and you would have different characters enter to begin the scene. In some cases when the characters remained on stag,e such as in Romeo and Juliet Act 1 scene 4 to scene 5(move from street to Capulet house), dialogue or stage actions made the change of location obvious.


Props and dialog were a big deal in Shakespeare's day. They were used to specify where the setting of the action because the playhouses didn't use movable scenery to make the set precise.  They did however use stage props such as rocks or banquet tables etc.


Actors would sometimes leave the stage as part of the performance. like the Ghost in Hamlet who appears beneath the stage. They used things like trapdoors or used building fixtures to stage things like the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. The stage was also provided with rjpes and winches so that actors coudl descend from , and reascend to the "heavens".

Shakespeare in the 40's

First off I loved the play. Great acting and Setting it in the forties during war time was brilliant!. I thought changing the setting added to the themes of Love's Labour's Lost. 


For example:


 In this play the women make their suitors go through the test of a year apart to verify their love. They know that True love will pass the test of time while infatuation will not. In the play the men were about to go to war, that kind of situation is a recipe for extreme infatuation and historically it was. In Shakespeare's day, women fell for sonnet writing gentlemen, the same way war brides fell for soldiers so this theme translated well to the change of setting.


The men in the play give up all worldly things to study like soldier going to war giver up the real world to go fight, they still want these things so its an inner battle. 


Another thing I really like about the play was the role of accents. A lot of the character had different accents such as: new jersey, spanish, british, cockney, etc. I thought this was an interesting choice for the director. I don't know for sure what he was trying to say but for me I thought it added to the importance of language in the play. 


One thing I didn't think transferred well was the role of the teacher. The actor was decent but I felt her role didn't make as much sense as it did in the original setting. I thought incorporating the play scene into a radio show was genius. People didn't go around performing spontaneous plays in the forties so I wasn't sure that scene would work with the modern setting but they figured out a way to make it work and I loved it.

To be or not to be a Comedy: Love's Labors Lost

First off can I say I loved this play. It was so different from Shakespeare's other comedies and yet there are many similarities. Because of the ending some people including myself aren't sure if the play should be considered a comedy. So I decided to use the Comedy formula I posted about earlier to determine its genre-legitamacy.

What originally made me question its genre was the ending. If Love's Labors Lost was a normal comedy it would have ended with five marriages. Instead at the end the lovers depart and their futures together are left ambiguous. Biron at the end of the play says,"Our wooing doth not end like and old play; Jack hath not Jill: these ladies courtesy Might well have made our sport a comedy." I feel like these lines are admitting its not a comedy. On the other hand,perhaps this was just a statement Shakespeare wanted to make. The point of a marriage at the end of a comedy is to show that society is once again fixed/restored. Love's Labor Lost doesn't end with the characters problem being fixed which also isn't typical of the genre.


I felt like the male character of the play and their female counter parts were foils of each-other. Foil characters are often found in Shakespeare's comedies.


Most comedies center around love and in this way Love's Labors Lost was the ultimate comedy. Also, the scene where then men disguised themselves as Russians is also found typical of Shakespeare comedies. The case of Disguise or mistaken identity provides humorous opportunities and was therefore used often (ex.Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice).

There were Stock Characters: Don Armado, Jaquenetta, Costard, and Dull. There were also the wise servants: Mote and Boyet These types of characters are typical of the Shakespeare Comedies


In Conclusion, I would say that Love's Labors Lost is more Comedy than not but the ending definitely breaks the mold of the typical Love wins out in the end plot.

Pitching to a Shakespeare's Audience

I found this interesting book called The Background of Shakespeare's Plays it had some interesting facts about the Elizabethan audience concerning there taste in plays. Here are some facts that I thought were interesting and could help in our play writing. 

Storyline

1. Playgoers wanted a story -old, patched or borrowed,- so long as there was plenty happening.


so twisted complicated plots were what entertained the Elizabethans
Shakespeare usually had two or three plots going on.  not all were not all were logically resolved but they had a hero or heroine "on the horns" of a dilemma. The play I'm working on Duke of Venice has two solid plots and a less resolve third plot which I think is representative of this.

Setting

2.Setting of the play wasn't as important so long as it was romantic.  the Elizabethans were not strict about geographical or historical facts. They preferred the play to be set somewhere exotic. 


This would explain shakespeare setting a lot of his plays in foreign places like Italy. Our play takes place in Venice which was a popular setting for Shakespeare's plays.

Characters

3. Shakespeare was more interested in his character then his plot which was popular with his audience. If is plot was lacking in logic he would compensate by slightly tarnishing the figures of his main plot, I. E. making his minor characters more attractive, he could use a tale of pathos and potential tragedy for high comedy.(he did this in Much Ado About Nothing). The interest lies in the character and incident. 


Though were not writing the play we tried to create deep/complex character traits that would "tarnish slightly" our main characters and make our B character more appealing. 

Themes

4. Elizabethans like romance as a theme for plays no matter how extravagant. They had a great love an capacity for imagination. they liked stories where wars were averted by sudden conversion, disguises impenetrable,and where love at first sight is the expected thing and anything can happen. ex. "Twelfth Night only in Illyria can  a girl disguised as a page produce such complexities. and other stories like the Tempest are possible only in the glory of romance."


disguises, marriage, romance are all found in our play. Also our third plot of impending war is averted by a transformation of the main character which was a popular idea back then.

Manners

5. Even though the stories took place in different times or settings characters were expected to conform to Elizabethan mannerisms. I.E Romans behave like London Crowds they would not have been well received otherwise.


Though I don't know much about Elizabethan behavior we tried to model them after shakespeare characters rather then Italians etc. By doing this I think our characters would be understood and enjoyed by an Elizabethan audience.

Whats in a Comedy

So Our play the Duke of Venice is a comedy and we tried to use the Shakespeare-Comedy formula to come up with our plot. 

First off we came up with an A-line and B-line plot. Shakespeare uses regularly uses in his plays. Our A-line plot involves Francisco and Fillippa while our B-line plot is centered around Lucio. 


Comedies usually start with a broken society and at then end everything society is fixed. This is usually represented by a marriage (ex. Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Knight, Taming of the Shrew, etc.) Our play begins in a broken society Venice which is getting a new ruler. This causes many problems but in the end they are amended by marriages. 

Foil character, who provide contrast between character) are found in many shakespeare plays (Bassanio and Antonio, or Portia and Jessica)so we decided to have some in ours. For example Francisco is responsible for ruling Venice but he would rather see the world. He is carefree and lacks responsibility. Lucio, has traveled the world and wants to settle down. He's experienced the life Francisco wants and is now looking for a life filled with duty and responsibility. 


Also, Shakespeare uses Dynamic characters that undergo a change in the course of the play (ex. Katherine-Taming Of the Shrew) Francisco and Fillippa  Francisco doesn't want to rule and doesn't take life seriously. He's using his power to further his own dreams by threatening to conquer Croatia. Fillippa wants the power and respect that her brother has. Fillippa takes life way to seriously and hasn't figured out the true meaning of living. both characters under go changes as a result of the plot.

Most Comedies involve young love. There are often obstacles keeping the characters from there loves and these are resolved in the end. For example, in Taming Of the Shrew Bianca can't be with her love until her sister is married and in Twelfth knight Orsino and Viola can't be together because Orsino thinks Viola is a man. In The Duke of Venice, Fillippa can't be with Lucio because she is pretending to be Francisco's lover. 


Mistaken Identity is also a common theme in Shakespeare Comedies. For example: The Comedy of errors is a play that entirely revolves around mistaken identity. In our play Fillippa is pretending to be a (word for female suitor??) that her her brother falls in love with. This leads to misunderstandings and comical situations. 

Some Stock Characters we could add to our play:
The fool 
The Drunk
Perhaps Fillippa has a wise servant
etc.


Another thing we need to work on is a new name. Shakespeare's comedies often have clever names (ex. Twelfth Knight, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About nothing) We could get away with ours because there are some straight forward names (ex. The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Two Gentlemen of Verona etc.) However I think a clever name would be more exciting. 


The general theme of Shakespeare Comedies is that loves always wins out in the end.

The Lion King

Just for fun.. I was watching the Lion King and heard and loved the subtle Shakespeare references
Ex.  During the hakuna matata song

Timon:  "Oh the shame what's in a name"   (based on aline from Romeo and Juliet)     

It made my day!

The Duke of Venice

So based on our meeting in class, I flushed out a basic plot for the play,  it doesn't have character descriptions and its just a prototype. To my group, see what you want to add or change an we can combine our thoughts in class!

The Duke Of Venice

Act I

The Venice Council discusses the potential problems with the Duke’s failing health. They send two Council members to the Dukes estate to report his standing 

Francisco and Fillippa  are attending to their father when the two councilmen arrive they trick the Duke into passing a law that his son must get married within a month or forfeit his title. Francisco and Fillipa return and the Duke makes his announcement and gives advice to his children, before dying. Lucio gains a fortune from his dying master.

Act II 

Francisco declares war against Croatia. The Council and Fillippa are against him. Fillippa wishes to become the duke and rebukes her brother because he isn’t serious. Francisco doesn’t want to be king or marry but to continue his learning and see the world.  Lucio returns to venice to marry and gain a larger fortune. He visits, Francisco, an old friend, at the Palace.

Act III

The Council enlists Fillippa in a plot to prevent Francisco from marrying.

Lucio wins a bet from a Aristocrat and sets the councilmen’s servant free.  The servant leaves town and Lucio collects his money from the Aristocrat. Francisco discusses, with a Croatian ambassador, his intent of war. He begins accepting suitors. and false in love with Fillippa, who is disguised. Lucio returns to the palace and likewise falls in love with the disguised Fillippa. Fillippa likewise falls in love with Lucio.

Act IV

The Aristocrat seeks revenge on Lucio and accuses him of stealing his money. Lucio, is sentenced to hang.  Francisco declares his intention to marry the disguised Fillippa. Fillippa, in love with Lucio urges Francisco to help him escape. Francisco, conflicted with his duty and friendship, decided to seek out the servant who Lucio freed as a witness. The ambassador of Croatia threatens war against Venice. 

Act V 

Francisco returns with the servant, who clears his name, to Lucio’s hanging. Fillippa reveals herself and confesses her love for Lucio. The Councilmen is arrested  and Lucio receives his business.  Francisco Marries the princess of Croatia, therefore preventing the war and keeping his position. Fillippa and Lucio are married and she gives her blessing to Francisco.  The Council accepts Francisco as the Duke.

From Grimm To Shakespeare

I decided to try converting a Grimm Fairytale to a plot in a Shakespeare comedy. I think this could be a really good way to develop the story for the class video project so read about it and see what you think!


here's a link so you can read the original story (don't worry its not super long! )
The Jew Among Thorns by the Grimm Brothers

Characters:

Grimm: Shakespeare version:

Master The Duke of Florence

Servant Valentyne

Beggar Piers the servant

Jew Adriel the Jew

Shakespearized plot: Valentyne A faithful servant is bequeathed a  fortune when his master the Duke of Florence dies. He sets about to Venice find a wife and begin his new life. He runs into a Jew called, Adriel and his servant Piers. Valentyne wins the servant Piers freedom and Adriel’s business in a duel. Adriel buys back his business and later gets revenge by accusing Valentyne of stealing his money. Valentyne is later sentenced to death by hanging. Piers, through other eventually connecting plot-line, returns to Venice and vouches for Valentyne's story. Adriel is cast into prison and Valentyne overtakes his business.

This kind of plot line thrown in with a romance

and the B-line plot of Piers could easily become a Comedy. 

Develop themes and motifs for the story and you've got a Shakespeare play.

Desdemona's soliloquy

I found this song, Oblivion by Grimes, that reminded me of Desdemona from Othello. I decided to try copying Shakespeare's writing by adapting the song to fit the story and be formatted like a soliloquy. I would probably insert this soliloquy at the start of Act V scene II.


Background of Act V Scene II: In this scene, Desdemona is discouraged by her husband's treatment and how far they've grown apart. In the end Othello comes to their bedroom and kills her out of false jealousy.  




Oblivion by the Grimes: 

Soliloquy:

Another walk-about after dark.

My lord is not my lord,unvarnished he me.

Beset right here, with which cause I wish. 

My lord is victory. I beg his discolored spirit.

Alas he leaks, to me yet falsely.

Now I’m left behind

Parted,with no key.

My sense aches at thee,

waiting till death departs. Always looking straight.

Othello lend a hand

From unlawful touch.

My eyes observe you on a darkened night.

O tis troubling seeing you in light.

I cannot weep for love. By virtue I wait

A look into my eyes, preferring my health

Video project

I've been thinking about the class project a lot and here are some of my thoughts:

I really like the idea of adapting,  a known story because then we can focus more on quality production instead of worrying about a plot.  Also, adapting stories is what Shakespeare did right?
I really liked Emily's "Final Project Ideas" blog with the whole documentary/ making a trailer. It could be really fun and I think that would give us an opportunity to really show what we know about Shakespeare's writing.

I also had the idea of maybe splitting up into small groups and making trailers for different Shakespeare adapted stories.  It could be cool to assign each group a genre (romance, comedy, tragedy, history) and have them magnify it in their retelling. Or we could do this as a class just making four trailers as a group.  This would also give us a good opportunity to study & share Shakespeare's formula for different genres.

Though King Lear is set in a pre-christian pagan era there are many allusions to Christianity found within the Play. The biggest example of this is Cordelia.

Throughout the play there are several allusions to her being a Christlike figure. In Act 4 scene 3, when Cordelia makes her reappearance, she described in reverent/biblical terms such as: "she shook...The holy water from her heavenly eyes”(28-29). Cordelia's character is motivated by love in all she does which is similar to Christ love. Cordelia has several christ like traits such as forgiveness, purity, and, love. Even though her father at the beginning of the play turned her out, Cordelia forgives him and brings and army to help her Lear. In scene four Cordelia says "O dear father,.. It is thy business that I go about” which is similar to Luke 2:49 where Christ says, "I must go about my father’s business”. In Act 5 when Lear and his daughter are reunited he kind of shy's or hides from out of shame for his mistakes but Cordelia welcomes him with open arms this reminds me of Christ's role in repentance. When we sin or make mistakes often we find our selves avoiding repentance out of shame for our actions but no matter what we do Christ is ready and waiting to forgive and help us. Cordelia is killed and essentially martyred at the end of the play similar to Christ's martyrdom in Jerusalem.    Because of these specific references to Christ I think Cordelia's character is meant to symbolize the Savior as opposed to just christian ideals. 

Because I interpreted the play this way I kind of attributed Edmunds character to satan, Christ's counter part. 

Edmunds motivated by hate for societies rules, his father, and his brother. But the underlying motive is jealousy. In an Lds perspective Satan wants to bring us down to his level out of jealousy because he can't rise to ours. In a general christian view Satan is evil. Edmund deceives his father and turns him against his brother Edgar. He deceives Goneril and Regan making them think he's strengthening their power while turning them against each other by stringing them along. In the end his actions lead to both Goneril and Regans death (I think in this case death could be symbolic of damnation). Satan's purpose is to deceive and tempt and Edmund does all these things with purposeful malice which is why I think he represents the devil.

Othello's Geography

Here's a video I made as kind of a historical/geographic preview to Othello. Enjoy!


Ps. Its better to watch it in bigger format so I would click the enlarge button. 

The Hand Which Threw the Pearl Away.

Marriage is common subject in several of Shakespeare's plays. In Othello its actually one of the main themes/motifs. The couples in this play(Othello & Desdemona, Emilia and Iago) are subject to questions of trust, loyalty, love, and equality. Iago is constantly deceiving his wife and uses her for personal gain. At the beginning he confesses of a rumor of her infidelity with Othello prior the plot of the play but this doesn't seem to be the cause of his scrupulous actions as its only mentioned one other time in the play. In the end Iago kills his wife for exposing his true character without even blinking an eye; proving he didn't love her.

Emilia throughout the play is loyal to her husband. We see she's obedient as she retrieves Desdemona's handkerchief at Iago's request. In Act IV scene 2 when she talks to Desdemona about Othello's false judgement It seems as if she hinting at her husbands false judgement of her rumored affair with Othello. Therefore we can assume her complete fidelity/honesty to Iago.


In Act IV scene 3 Emilia gives a soliloquy about her view of marriage. She talks about the double standards in relationships applied to fidelity. She talks about the weakness men use to justify having mistresses and says "And have we not affections? Desires for sport or frailty as men have?". Though focused on the metaphor of intimate relations I think this speech is more about equality in a Marriage then about justification for woman cheating because at the end Emilia says "then let them use us well; else let them know the ills we do, their ills instruct us so." This is similar to a scene in the Comedy of errors where Adriana talks about marital equality: Act 2 scene 2 


"For if we two be one, and thou play false
 I do digest the poison of thy flesh,
 Being strumpeted by the contagion
 Keep then fair league and truce with thy true bed I live unstained, thou undishonoured"

 In Othello both Emilia and Desdemona are misused by their spouses. They're called whore and treated like sinners while in reality their spouse are the ones in league with "devils".  Shakespeare actually uses the theme of wrongful accusations in a few plays. For example, in Much Ado About Nothing Claudio exposes Hero for infidelity (which was false) He publicly humiliates here and even though it all works out in the end a similar motif of inequality of gender comes up again. Historically in Shakespeare's day women were taught to be obedient and compliant in Marriage but his plays often challenge the idea. For example, in Merchant of Venice Portia defies her husband and follows him to court. She then acts as a judge (bold for a woman) and then questions his fidelity (as a test) and one point threatens to cheat on her husband. In there relationship she seems to be in control which was the opposite trend of the Elizabethan times. Another example of this is Taming of the Shrew. In this play Katherine appearing to be "tamed" by her husband but if you read between the lines she's really just her spouse is just teaching her how to be a partner in a marriage. In the final scene of the play she gives a speech about her duty to her husband to follow his "honest will" and the mutual respect of a relationship. Othello and Desdemona obviously don't have this kind of a relationship and it was ultimately their down fall. 

Othello didn't trust Desdemona or confront her about his worries. Then, due to the manipulation of Iago, he went mad with jealousy. Desdemona appears to be the a weak compliant woman but when Othello hits her she defies him saying " I did not deserve that". I Don't think Desdemona is weak she is just in love and expects a relationship with mutual respect. I think At the beginning Othello did to because he honored her request to accompany him to cyprus. but the loss of a mutual respect and trust between the two of them eventually led to both their death. I think by using this idea in his plays Shakespeare is tying to show that love and lasting relationships die without equality/mutual respect.

Hamlet vs. Hamlet Part II

Another interesting difference between the Kenneth Branagh and David Tenant was the role of Gertrude, Hamlets mother. "Frailty thy name is woman" is one of Hamlets first descriptions of his mother. The character of Gertrude is the most questionable among the cast. Several things about her character are left open-ended for interpretation in the play. For example: Did she conspire to kill her husband? Did she cheat on her first husband? Did she betray Hamlet when she confides in him after her Act III scene with Hamlet? etc. 

The differences in interpretation are usually seen in Act III Scene IV  and Act V Scene II. In Act III Hamlet goes to his mothers bedroom and they discuss his behavior and hers. Hamlet end up telling his mother about Claudius' role in the Kings death and killing Polonius. Gertrude's reactions and actions in this scene determine whether you think she's a murdering adulteress or just a "frail" woman dependent on men to fulfill her. In the final scene of the play Gertrude drinks the poison meant for her son. Depending on your interpretation, This could be done of guilt or ignorance.


In Act III of the David Tenant version Gertrude was shocked at the Idea of Claudius killing her first husband. Yet she still had inconspicuous motives when she rats Hamlet out to his uncle. At the end of the play when Claudius tells her not to drink the cup she exchanges an all knowing look of discovery and disgust with her current husband before basically committing suicide. Gertrude is portrayed as innocent woman fallen to the passions of her heart when she finds out her lover is a murderer she feels guilty and kills herself. 


In the Kenneth Branagh version Gertrude is shown flirting with Claudius while her first husband is still alive. This gives the impression that she is unfaithful and therefore you wonder if she was a conspirator in the kings murder or just an adulterer. In the Act III scene you can't really tell what Gertrude is thinking. You can tell she's scared of and for her son based on her reactions, but she's never really on his side. Therefore when she rats him out to Polonius it is more consistent. In the final scene she's oblivious to the poisoned glass that causes her death. Never do you really see her feeling guilty so either she was in on the murder or never accepted it when Hamlet told her. Over all, I liked this interpretation the best. I felt it was most consistent with the test and plot. 

Hamlet vs. Hamlet

I recently viewed both the Kenneth Branagh and David Tenant Film adaptations will a group from class. Both films were exceptionally good .... and extremely different.  The David Tenant version is set in modern times but has a distinct old world feel. They wore modern clothes but kept the original language. This was a little distracting at first but by the end of the movie I was comfortable with it. Some interesting things they did was using security cameras and having the same actor play Claudius and Hamlets father. The Security Camera's were used to spy on hamlet and open/shift scenes. I felt like the cameras made the film choppy at some points however It gave an interesting spin on Hamlets choice to play crazy. At one point Hamlet breaks the camera in the main hall to and says "now I can truly be alone". He then goes into his soliloquy but he still acts crazy even though he's completely alone. This gave me the impression that Hamlet had really lost his mind by the time he kills Polonius. When he returns from England he seems to be of sound mind even during the ophelia burial scene.
I thought this was a good interpretation of Hamlets character. I loved Hamlets character in the film but I felt some of the other character were lacking in the acting, or at the very least, Shakespearian department. Ophelia bugged me and though she played a good crazy person I felt her role/character was made to modern and independent. The point of Ophelia's character is she's dependent of men and having people make decisions for her. For example, she was almost sarcastic in the scenes with her father which I thought distracted from the themes of the play. 

The Kenneth Branagh version was a more traditional Shakespeare interpretation. I wasn't quite sure if it was sett in a Elizabethan time period but it was in the past. One interesting thing they did in this version was create back story. Though the script was true to the play, several times throughout the movie there would be blips voiced over with the lines from the play but showing interpretations of past implication found in the lines. Such as Gertrude flirting with Claudius while the kings still alive. Sometimes I enjoyed the clarifications of the flash backs but sometimes I disagreed with the films interpretations. All in all I loved the film but I didn't think it was Kenneth Branagh's best role. I much preferred David Tenants Interpretation of the character. His character was allusive like Hamlet is supposed to be but he added a more dimensional personality to it. Also David's portrayal of madness was much more convincing then Kenneth's. I felt Kenneth was over the top at some parts and While Hamlet is supposed to be off the wall and inconsistent It was too much for me. As for the rest of the film I much preferred the Kenneth Branagh version because it was creative but true to the atmosphere of Shakespeare.

Self Assesment

Gaining Shakespeare Literacy:This semester I've been trying to expand my knowledge of Shakespeare's works. I read Merchant of Venice for the first time in this class. Through films and the play of Merchant of Venice I've be exposed to performances of the plays we've read in class. For example, I watched the kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet with some people from the class and then we watched the David Tennant(royal acting company) version. watching & comparing these to movies helped me see the possible ways to interpret Shakespeare's play differently. As for the Legacy of Shakespeare I've watched modern/pop culture adaptations to see the influence he's had in the world today. For example, The Shakespeare episode of Doctor Who and the Japanese interpretation of Hamlet (The Bad Sleep Well).


ex. Legacy http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/02/hamlet-japanese-style.html

Performance http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/01/merchant-of-venice-for-kids.html


Analyze Shakespeare Critically: Through class discussion, blogging and personal research I've increased my ability to contextually analyze/interpret Shakespeare's plays as I read them. Analyzing the text is something I need to work on. I find studying and interpreting the themes to be fairly easy, but I have a hard time analyzing the language.


ex. Contextual Analysis http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/01/tempest.html
http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/01/casting-merchant-of-venice.html

Textual Analysis
http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/01/all-that-glitters-isnt-gold.html


Share Shakespeare Meaningfully/gain Digital Literacy: Through this blog I've been able to share my thoughts about Shakespeare as I learn more about his works. Also looking at others' blogs and various websites devoted to the bard has helped me engage in Shakespearian discussions with others. Outside of class (and the internet) Shakespeare has come up a lot in my everyday conversations. I blogged about talking Shakespeare with one of my co-workers but my latest conversation  was with my grand mother about her experience with Shakespeare (Which I'll post about later). Speaking with random people about Shakespeare helps me see the influence of his writings and how he's still popular today.


Ex:connecting 
http://petersonmarina232.blogspot.com/2012/01/henry-v-second-chance.html


Personal Learning Plan:
One of the things I need to do is engage in Shakespeare creatively. This is the section I will be trying to improve the most. One of the courses out come I need to work on is Depth. I plan on studying my individual play in depth and to Gain Shakespeare literacy.