Hamlet

In the past two days I have watched three different versions of Hamlet--that's at least nine hours of this play on film. Moreover, I read Hamlet on Monday and Tuesday. As much as I love all things Danish, that is a great deal of the "dithering Dane." Here's the rub, I don't get Hamlet. That is to say, it is not that I cannot comprehend the story or pick out themes, but on the whole I find myself almost completely incapable of sympathizing with Hamlet.

One character who I do feel for is Ophelia, who seems surrounded by inconstant men. I cannot help but think if she could just converse with Beatrice she would not have gone insane. Which led me to wonder if this would have been Hero's fate if she had not had the Friar and Beatrice to advise her. It is an interesting thought.


All in all Horatio seems the only truly constant character--true in his relationships and fulfilling his duty--and so it seems fitting he's the one left alive.

In the end it seems the whole thing could have been circumvented if everyone had communicated better with one another. Maybe they should use this as an example in Mutual lessons and therapy sessions.


Now for my unanswered questions. Does Hamlet really go mad? Does it matter? How come nobody dislikes Claudius even though he's a murderer? Did Gertrude play a part in Hamlet's father's death? Does the ghost of Hamlet's father tell him not to blame Gertrude, Hamlet's mother? Because if he did, it seems like Hamlet ignores that injunction. Does Hamlet love Ophelia? If so, does he turn on her because she is easily swayed by her father, because she lies about where her father is in the nunnery scene, or because he really is disgusted by how immoral people really are? Is Hamlet in love with his mother? If he is in love with his mother is he also still in love with Ophelia? How many people does Hamlet kiss anyway? Ophelia, Gertrude, Yorrick, and I swear in one of the movies he kisses Claudius. Why does Horatio stick around when Hamlet is always ordering him to do this, that, and the other? Is it a rule that if you're making a Hamlet you need to use the most confusing castle you can find? Why are all Hamlet's in film versions blond? Should blond have an "e" at the end? Doesn't Branagh's Hamlet look kind of like a blond Luigi at the end with those gloves? Why does Branagh's Hamlet have green eyes in the middle of the movie? Was Fortinbras truly intending on invading Denmark anyway? What is Horatio going to do now? Write a book about his crazy vacation in Denmark? Didn't Olivier's Hamlet seem longer than Branagh's somehow?

The moral of the story? Don't talk about your problems in endless soliloquies and asides, talk to people; they can reason with you better. Murdering people is never a good idea. Oh, and it's just wrong to love your mother in that way.

And now the shocking part, I think I liked Mel Gibson's Hamlet the best.