The Question of Character

1. Hamlet
The Question of Character
Day 2 – January 18, 2017
Sheila Jones, South

3. Elements to Consider
• How will director/actors interpret
characters and their motivations?
• Will director select one or more
dominant themes to guide
interpretations?
• What symbolism and imagery are
used?
• Does the production follow the usual
conventions of tragedy, especially
revenge tragedy, or does this production
deviate from these conventions?

4. Elements to Consider
• How will director/actors interpret
characters and their motivations?
• Will director select one or more
dominant themes to guide
interpretations?
• What symbolism and imagery are
used?
• Does the production follow the usual
conventions of tragedy, especially
revenge tragedy, or does this production
deviate from these conventions?

5. Characters to Explore
Hamlet
Prince of Denmark.
Son of Hamlet
Senior (the ghost)
and Gertrude.
Stepson/nephew
to Claudius.
Claudius
Newly elected king.
Brother of Hamlet Sr.,
whom he murdered.
New husband of
Gertrude.
Ghost
[Hamlet Sr.]
Murdered King.
Hamlet’s father.
Late husband of
Gertrude.

6. Characters to Explore
Polonius
Lord High Chamberlain.
Father of Laertes and
Ophelia.
Ophelia
Daughter of Polonius.
Hamlet’s girlfriend.
Laertes’ sister.
Gertrude
Queen of Denmark.
Widow of Hamlet Sr.
New wife of Claudius.
Hamlet’s mother.

7. Hamlet
Melancholic/Depressed
“an intellectual…with a
proportionate aversion to real
action consequent upon it.”
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“the prince of philosophical
speculators” – Wm. Haziltt
Cruel, brutal
“polished by nature, courteous
from the heart” - Goethe
“A Renaissance man”
Driven by
Oedipal passions
A coward
“quick and impetuous
in action” – A.C. Bradley
Mad [Angry? or Crazy?]
Scheming
OTHERS?

8. Hamlet
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
_______________________________________
Cruel Too good for world
Crazy Mad Angry
Hamlet: As I perchance hereafter shall think meet /To put an antic disposition
on – I:v:171-172
Gertrude: Alas, he is mad! III:iv:105
Hamlet: Unhand me gentlemen. By heaven I’ll make a ghost of him that let’s
me! I say, away! I:v:94-96.
Hamlet: The time is out of joint. O curséd spite/That ever I was born to set it
right. I:v:189-190.
Impulsive Deliberate
Emotional IntellectualDetached
<Play Clips of Hamlet - Discuss>
Note: One way to look at the various ways is to consider Hamlet’s most identifiable traits
along a continuum of interpretation. Many characters refer to him as “mad”. Does
“mad” mean mentally ill, insane, crazy? Or does it mean some degree of anger? And to what
degree? In each of the clips we viewed, we saw each actor interpret the answers very differently.

9. Hamlet in relation to other
characters
FOILS
Characters who contrast with other characters in order to
highlight particular personality traits and qualities.
[Note: As directors view the character of Hamlet differently along the continuu
interpretation seen on previous slides, the characterization of Hamlet’s foils w
change also, not only with him, but with other characters as well. This is one
reason why each production of Hamlet is different.]

10. The Ghost
Elizabethans had three views on ghosts:
• Catholics believed they were spirits released from Purgatory for a
specific purpose — to bring a message or a warning.
• Protestants held that they were devils or demons to lure people to
their destruction.
• Sceptics thought them to be illusions of melancholy minds.
This is Hamlet’s dilemma – Is the ghost who he says he is?
“Be thou a spirit of health or a goblin damned? Bring with thee airs of
heaven or blasts from hell? Be thy intents wicked or charitable? Thou
com’st in such a questionable shape/That I will speak to thee.”
His solution? “The play’s the thing, wherein I’ll catch the conscience of
the king.”

11. The Ghost
So…how should the ghost be enacted?
• Is it real or imagined?
• Is it a good presence to be heeded? Or a
demon that will lead one to hell?
• Does it speak the truth? If, indeed, it is the
truth, do we, as audience, feel sympathetic or
fearful? <Play Clip #3 – Branaugh vs. Gibson version

12. Tracing Motifs in Branaugh
• Disease and body blemish
• Rot (foods and plants)
• Poison
• Clothes, cosmetics, makeup, etc.
• Acting
• War/Violence
• Condition of the world
• Spying
• Frailty

13. Next Week
• Act II – Read and/or watch Tennant version
• The Question of Character – continued,
focusing on Gertrude, Polonius, and Ophelia
• Optional: Read article I emailed this morning
on “To Sell or not to Sell? How would you sum
up Hamlet?”