Lesson 16 - "An Act That Blurs the Grace" – The Closet Scene

Consider:

What boy hasn't had a fight with Mom (or any other parental configuration)?

What do you know about Sigmund Freud – or the “Oedipus Complex”?

DISCUSS: Looking at 3.4 --

- What is going on?

- What state is Hamlet in?

- What state is Gertrude in?

- What state is Polonius in?

- How would you present the Ghost?

- How violent would you make Hamlet?

- What would you use for the arras Polonius hides behind?

(Sometimes it is rich, like velvet. A 1989 London production starring Oscar-winner Daniel Day “My Left Lincoln Foot” Lewis used a sheer white curtain that was rigged with special effects drenched with blood at the appropriate time!)

View the following and decide which one would Sigmund Freud like the best? (Sorry to make it uncomfortable, but I shouldn't have to suffer alone with a case of the ick)

Lesson 13 - "Miching Mallecho" - Acting the Mouse Trap

CONSIDER
The scene today is jarring. We see Hamlet harassing Ophelia with nasty cracks, taunting his mother about her hasty marriage and manipulating the play to catch the murderer.


VIEW PERFORMANCE

Questions
- What rude remarks does Hamlet say to Ophelia?
- How rude are they?
- Does Hamlet insult anyone else? How?
- At this point in the play - what is driving Hamlet?
- How much of a risk is he taking with the play experiment?
- What are the results and who verifies them?
- What important information does Hamlet have in his grasp at the end of the scene?
- To whom can he report this? Is there anyone who can straighten out this situation?
- What are his options?

HW
Re-read Hamlet 3.2. 419- end and Read 3.3-1-101

Lesson 12 - "Get Thee to a Nunnery" -- Film Viewing

In Class:
The history of the nunnery scene is notable for its diversity. Directors have set it in rooms both private and public. The pace fast or slow. Hamlet is violent or tender.

One of many questions all directors have to settle -- is Ophelia chaste? Is she a good girl, innocent? Could she be pregnant by Hamlet? Could she be sexually experienced?

Imagine this scene in Ophelia's bedroom with Claudius and Polonius, her father, hiding - listening, watching - while Hamlet seduces her. Awkward.

Whole Class:
View the following scenes and take notes on what you observe.


SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION (Be Ready to Share)
Using the Nunnery Scene (viewed and read) as evidence of Hamlet and Ophelia's romance – make some inferences:
- How did it start?
- How long has it gone on?
- What does Ophelia like about Hamlet?
- What does Hamlet like about Ophelia?
- How do they see each other?
- What do they do together?
- How much sexual attraction is there between them?
- What do they fight about?
- How does Ophelia see their future?
- How does Hamlet see their future?
-- What aspects of the acting, directing, and filming helped to form your opinion?


HW

- Re-Read Hamlet 3.2.96-317

Lesson 11 - "Ha, Ha, Are You Honest?" - The Nunnery Scene

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

3/19/2014

Please Do Not Make Me ask this angry baby to come and get you...

So - Read Hamlet - ACT 3 SC 2

Lesson 10 -- "To Be or Not To Be" - Voicing the Argument

We look at another of Hamlet's major soliloquies to see that they are debates, arguments, discussions and/or discoveries "between self."

HOME WORK
Explore the soliloquy for Antithesis.
- Q. How does the use of Antithesis demonstrate Hamlet's state of mind.
- Q. Determine -- What is Hamlet's inner argument and does he resolve it?

View the Clips below and jot down notes to the questions posed in each version

Re-read - Hamlet 3.1

Lesson 9 - "The Motive and the Cue for Passion" -- The "O, What a Rogue" Sol.

IN CLASS
Read – Round Robin the “O, what a rogue and peasant slave” Soliloquy

-          Note unfamiliar words

(Questions)

It is obvious to the audience (or reader) that Hamlet is alone onstage. What else, then, could he mean when he begins, “Now I am alone”?

Why is the Prince calling himself a “rogue” and a “peasant slave”?

Hamlet compares himself to the player. What does this comparison reveal about Hamlet’s self-perception?

Throughout Hamlet, much violence is done to the ears. How does Hamlet’s “cleave the general ear” relate to the other “ear” references? (Shakespeare uses the word ear 27 times in this play.)

Hamlet uses a lot of theatrical terminology in his speech. Find some examples and decide why might Hamlet be thinking in theatrical terms?

What lines or phrases explain why Hamlet thinks himself a coward? Do you think he is a coward, or is he acting cautiously by looking for external evidence to prove Claudius’s guilt?

VIEWING

What does a visual element add to our understanding of the speech?

Does it help to see an actor deliver the soliloquy? Explain.

Does the setting affect your understanding?

How does being able to hear the words add to understanding?

HW

Read 3.1 – pay attention to the “To Be…” soliloquy