Tragedy Scripted and Staged

Hamlet

Act I, scene ii: A room of state in the castle.

      I picked this scene because it introduces many important characters, feelings, and events that are important throughout Hamlet. Such as, using the conflict with Norway as an excuse for the quick marriage of Gertrude and Claudius. This scene also introduces Hamlet’s feelings toward Gertrude and Claudius, as well as their feelings toward Hamlet’s mourning. At the end of this scene, Hamlet is told about a sighting of the ghost of his father. Which he then decides to join watch in hopes of seeing his father’s ghost. Hamlet meeting his father’s ghost is important, because that is when he learns the truth about Claudius, which sets up Hamlet’s mission to expose the truth about Claudius. My interpretation of Hamlet from reading was that Hamlet goes from depression from losing his father, to gradually going insane throughout the play. My interpretation from reading seemed to match the staging. Watching the staging, Hamlet seems excited to meet the ghost of his father, which did not really translate from reading. The staging brought Hamlet’s character to life by showing the transition of his behavior around different people. For example, when he was in the presence of Gertrude and Claudius, Hamlet was formal, when he was by himself he was gloomy and angry. When Hamlet was speaking to Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo he was more excitable and less formal than he was around Gertrude and Claudius. In the staging, Claudius and Gertrude were on a platform and Hamlet was off to the side. Most of the scene Gertrude and Claudius speak to Hamlet while standing on the platform. Claudius came down from the platform to lecture Hamlet about his mourning being “unmanly”. By using the platform in the staging it shows the hierarchy, Claudius and Gertrude are higher up than Hamlet, and Claudius came down to Hamlet’s level to lecture him about his unmanly mourning.