In Class:To deepen our understanding of subtext and motivation -- we will investigate the "nunnery" scene several times through objectives and other actor-ish type stuff.
By objective we mean goal -- like, what does a character want in a particular scene.
For example -- let's say there's a raging Uno Competition and you want to stay out until 2:00am on a school night. Your Objective is to convince your parents to stay out. How you go about accomplishing that Objective (or Goal) is called a "Tactic." Perhaps you first ask Mom, who says no -- then you change tactics -- and ask Dad -- then change tactics and plan to sneak out the window, etc. until you accomplish your objective
We may say that in the beginning of 3.1 -- Claudius's objective is to find out exactly what Hamlet is up to - is his "confusion" real or feigned? Acting on this objective - Claudius tries a few "Tactics" -- first he questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Then he and Polonius prepare to spy on the meeting of Hamlet and Ophelia.
Task:
Three groups will prepare three different variations of the scene between Hamlet and Ophelia:
Group A -- Subtext: Hamlet knows from the beginning of the scene that Polinius and Claudius are watching him.
Group B -- Subtext: Hamlet does not know until later in the scene that he is being watched. The group decides when, based on the script.
Group C -- Subtext: Hamlet never knows that he is being watched.
IMAGINE THAT YOUR GROUP IS THE DIRECTOR
As a group decide --
- What is Hamlet's objective (what is his goal / what does he want)?
- What specific gestures, inflections, movements or pauses could the DIRECTOR suggest to the actors in the scene use to (for Ophelia -- and for Hamlet to show this objective)?
- How does Hamlet's objective affect the subtext?
Be sure to mark up your script in order to point to evidence to support the choices you make. What textual clues are within the script to support your interpretations?
Presentation:
- Q. How does each version affect the interpretation of Hamlet's character?
HW
Read Hamlet 3.2
