The art of Theatre is filled with different ways to reach all types of audiences. For instance in Ancient Rome, Dumbshows were used so poor dumb citizens, or “groundlings” would understand the play. Instead of dialogue, a dumbshow uses pantomime style or over exaggerated movements to tell a story. Although dumbshow has a slight negative connotation because it assumed the people sitting in the front were stupid. They assumed these citizens were incapable of understanding a play without these actions. However, creating a dumbshow was very entertaining and allowed us to learn things about our fellow students.
After discussing the history of dumbshows, we were numbered like cows and led to our slaughter; or at least that was the initial reaction. An online class is much different from an “on campus class.” You don’t build relationships with other students as well as if you were physically attending class. You aren’t sure who is there to learn and who is there to do the bare minimum for credit. So to work with people you don’t know, you just have to hope for the best. I was very lucky to have been assigned to such a great group. All of my cohorts were willing to work and had valuable input for our dumbshow. We went through the act as a team; we discussed what we felt were progression of incidents in our scenes and how we would act them out. As we started to act out our dumbshow, our team dynamic changed slightly. I became the director, while my group members gave input on how these movements looked. Both team dynamics really worked for us and the team seemed pleased with the way our dumbshow turned out.
Turning “Hamlet” into a dumbshow reinforced my concept of the play and helped remove the mist of confusion that the old English text...
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...interesting to see how others worked as a team and what they felt were progression of incidents. I also learned that you will take the time to make sure we understand the play and will make students redo their work if it’s not done properly. I feel this is special because most professors would just knock a couple of points off their grade and move on. However, you stopped to explained things and made sure my cohorts understood why certain incidents were more important than others. As for myself, I learned no matter how much I try not to “take over” things, I always end up the leader of the group. Which I have yet to decide if it’s a blessing or a curse, in this case it seemed to be beneficial.
I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise and working with my fellow cohorts. This exercise gave us the chance to get to know one another as more than just a name with an avatar.
Everyone knows the story of Hamlet: Hamlet’s father is killed, Hamlet’s mother marries the evil Uncle, everyone thinks Hamlet has gone mad, and almost everyone dies at the end. In David Tennant’s version of Hamlet, the use of the characters’ physical antics, interactions with each other, the stark similarities between the characters, and the way they dress, changes how the audience interprets each character’s actions and contribution to the play as a whole, which then determines how successful this version of Hamlet is.
Hamlet is a masterpiece not because it conforms to a set of conventions but because it takes those conventions and transmutes them into the pure gold of vital, relevant meaning. Hamlet’s feigned madness, for instance, becomes the touchstone for an illumination of the mysterious nature of sanity itself (44-45).
Granville-Barker, Harley. “Place and Time in Hamlet.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Prefaces to Shakespeare. vol.1. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University P., 1946.
James, D.G. “The New Doubt.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Hamlet. Ed. David Bevington. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
In Hamlet’s speech, Shakespeare’s efforts to target his Elizabethan audience develop the theme of the frailty of man. Shakespeare conveys this underlying theme of the play by subt...
Findlay, Alison. "Hamlet: A Document in Madness." New Essays on Hamlet. Ed. Mark Thornton Burnett and John Manning. New York: AMS Press, 1994. 189-205.
...s, Melanie Anne, and Chris Huntley. "Hamlet Comprehensive Storyform." Dramatica® The Next Chapter in Story Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .
understanding of the play. The messages and themes prevail in Hamlet because of his strong textual
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, protagonist Hamlet, experiences many rises and falls throughout the play that have a major impact on his mentality decline. The way in which readers interpret the character, Hamlet, can vary in many ways. For instance, Hamlet delivers many soliloquies throughout the work, giving readers a better insight of his state of mind. Additionally, two significant soliloquies in both Acts II and III show a clear view of Hamlet’s mental and emotional state.
For being considered one of the greatest English plays ever written, very little action actually occurs in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is, instead, more focused on the progressing psychological state of its protagonist, after whom the play is name, and his consequent inaction. It is because of this masterpiece of a character that this play is so widely discussed and debated. Hamlet’s generality, his vagueness, his supposed madness, his passion, his hesitation, and his contradictions have puzzled readers, scholars, and actors for centuries. In this paper I will attempt to dissect this beautiful enigma of a character to show that Hamlet is much more self-aware than many people give him credit for and that he recognizes that he is an actor in the theatre of life. He understands and accepts the role he is given, he studies it carefully and thoughtfully, he rehearses and even converses with fellow actors, and he gives one final performance.
Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat, and Ken Roy. Hamlet. 2nd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 2003. Print.
This is only my third class in the Wilkes Instructional Media Program but I can say with certainty that it was the hardest. The class is about Project Based Learning so it only makes sense that part of it would be doing a project. But doing so on the computer with people you have not met and probably never will meet makes it hard. Add to that the fact you’re all teaching in different grade levels and you’re starting with two strikes against you before you even start. At least, that’s how I felt.
Corum, Richard. Understanding Hamlet: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. Print.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s behavior and actions cause readers to question his sanity. Hamlet’s character can be interpreted in many different ways. It could be said that he is indeed insane, or it can be disputed that he, as he made known, is simply putting on a good act. The complexity of knowing Hamlet’s true character derives from the fact that we, as readers, are unable to read Shakespeare’s or Hamlet’s minds. Therefore, judgments could be made solely by reading and interpreting his behavior and coming up with a satisfactory conclusion. Taking into consideration incidents such as Polonius’ murder and Hamlet’s contemplating suicide, it is natural for individuals who perform such acts to be categorized as crazy. Ignoring Hamlet’s actual actions, and paying keen attention to what altered his character, one can debate that Hamlet is not at all insane. It is important to consider the situations which triggered Hamlet’s different actions. By giving discreet thought to Hamlet’s position and what he endures, one will realize that he is not demented, but he is actually an angry, betrayed and emotionally devastated fatherless son.
Through the elements of technique portrayed in this essay, it is clear to see that Shakespeare is able to influence the reader through soliloquies, imagery, and dual understanding. This overall influence being both the communication of a deeper meaning, and a more complex understanding of the events and statements within Hamlet.