Productions

Question 1

1948 Olivier film- state of mind

Answer 1

Court of Elsinore represented as a shadow labyrinth representing Hamlets state of mind

Question 2

1948 Olivier Film: Oedipus

Answer 2

After Hamlet says ‘I must be cruel to be kind’ in the bedroom scene, Hamlet and Gertrude go into a passionate kiss and embrace= Oedipus complex

Question 3

Olivier 1948- sea

Answer 3

When Hamlet talks about ending his ‘sea of troubles’, he holds up a dagger to himself whilst on a cliff above the sea- the sea physically symbolising the depth of his troubled mind

Question 4

Pimlott 2001- Ophelia

Answer 4

Ophelia is played by a 19 yr old= vulnerable and easily misled. She is pushed around/ spat on

Question 5

1996 Brannagh: Laertes and Ophelia

Answer 5

When Laertes is ordering Ophelia that ‘his will is not his own’ (1.3) , Ophelia parts her lips as though to speak… this is her way of subtly resisting his authority

Question 6

Godwin 2015: clothes

Answer 6

Hamlet is initially all dressed in black, but then he changes into a white suit splattered with paint to represent his antic disposition

Question 7

1996 Brannagh: mirrors

Answer 7

During the get thee to a nunnery scene, Claudius and Polonius are looking through mirrors at Hamlet and Ophelia. they can surveillance whilst not being seen. This is the ultimate device for deception.Also, the mirrors enable Hamlet to constantly examine himself internally and externally

Question 8

Dorah 2009 film: skull

Answer 8

During the Yorick skull scene(5.1), Hanlet holds up the skull and stares into its eye pits

Question 9

Dorah 2009 film: fortinbras

Answer 9

The audience never see Fortinbras until the very end of the play. This removes the cathartic sense of ‘something rotten’ being purged as the audience do not feel the intended restoration of balance

Question 10

1996 Brannagh: praying

Answer 10

Claudius is in a confession box when he prays= precursor that he is going to spill his sins

Question 11

Lyubimov 1989-grave

Answer 11

Had a grave present on stage the entire time, emphasising death/ fatality as a running theme

Question 12

Sarah Bernhardt hamlets femininity

Answer 12

Plays of Hamlet as a women in multiple productions

Question 13

Frankcom 2014

Answer 13

Hamlet uses a gun to control Gertrude in the closet scene

Question 14

Pimlott 2001: suicide

Answer 14

During Hamlets first soliloquy ,unweeded garden, Hamlet has a gun held up to his head

Question 15

Dorah 2009- mirror

Answer 15

Hamlet gives soliloquy in front of a mirror

Question 16

Elizabethan audiences on death

Answer 16

Naturalistic description of Ophelia ‘mermaid like’ death epitomises how Elizabethan audiences will hv viewed female deaths as more ethereal and even weak compared to their male counterparts eg polonius