Ive Been Going Insane About Hamlet Recently. So Ive Been A Comprehensive List Of Everything In This Play

i’ve been going insane about Hamlet recently. so I’ve been a comprehensive list of everything in this play that makes me absolutely lose my mind, and here’s the list for Act 1.

- The play starting and ending with Horatio. Hamlet is the protagonist, the prince, the titular character, but it’s Horatio’s story to tell. Horatio is the one charged with recounting the occurents which have solicited, and as such he’s the first and the last of the main characters that we see. Love a good bookend.

- Hamlet’s first line (first two lines really) being a bit of wordplay. Much of this list will touch on his extensive need to pun about, and there’s no more fitting way to introduce such a character. I love his silly little lines so much

- The complete normality of the Royal Court in the first scenes. Given what this play becomes and where most of them end up before it’s over (six feet under), it’s so important to me to be able to see, as an audience, the tail end of what once was, especially given that we never get to see Hamlet prior to his grieving state. There are so many subtleties in this play that hint at the world the characters lived in before the events that happened did, and I think about them far too often.

- Hamlet asking to go back to Wittenberg, being asked by his mother to stay, and complying. God, this little moment on so many levels. If Hamlet had gone back to Wittenberg, he would’ve likely been able to grieve and move on in a healthier manner, likely being surrounded by a greater support system (than one that tells him to get over it) or at the very least a place of comfort, where he is free to express himself and pursue what he specifically likes. By staying in Elsinore, he is putting his individuality in that sense aside for the duty he owes his country (or the one he will owe the Ghost, which is still to his country in a manner, avenging treason). And of course, by staying in Elsinore, the events of the play are allowed to transpire. Also Hamlet’s relationship with Gertrude is so important to me and so often under-acknowledged, and this brief moment is again, one of the subtle few where we can draw larger conclusions about their relationship prior to the play’s events.

- The religious stuff in this text and especially surrounding Hamlet’s character and motives is also something I like looking into, and this moment where Hamlet considers that he would kill himself if it weren’t for the notion of divine punishment is also so. In less than a page, we’ve been presented with two alternate ways that the events of the play could’ve been avoided- Hamlet’s return to Wittenberg, which would’ve likely allowed him to heal and move on, and Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts, which although the worse option by far, still technically would’ve worked as a preventative measure: lives would’ve been saved. Either way, it’s just another tragic facet of his character, and the first of what will be many cries for help from this character over the course of the play.

- Hamlet and Horatio’s reunion, of course, but specifically the moment when Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost. OUgh. Shoutout to that person who wondered if post-play Horatio ever lay awake in night, wishing he hadn’t told Hamlet about the ghost at all because I think of that every single time I read it. Horatio’s closeness to Hamlet increases greatly due to the events that occur as a result of this one line, and their relationship is just so. interesting to me from a comparative standpoint. between the events of the play and what might’ve been. but we’ll get into that later. and also Hamlet, once again, taking every opportunity to be a little sassier will always be funny to be. who said this wasn’t a tragicomedy?

- and Hamlet’s reaction to hearing that he may be able to see his father again

- Ophelia from the very beginning being told what to do by the men in her life, having her femininity and body reduced to a sexual object, being the victim of that good ol’ fashioned misogyny right out of the gate and it hits. I love Ophelia’s character so much, and it really just does set the bar straight away what we’re to expect. She’s talked over, told what to do, held to unreasonable standards by men who wouldn’t meet them himselves. It’s early days again, and I’ll get into this more later, but wow.

- Again, Hamlet’s reaction to the ghost on the roof, and specifically his threat to ‘make a ghost’ of Horatio or Marcellus should they try to stop him. It’s a grim little nod to what’s to come, and it’s an interesting little setup to both the desperation and the dedication explored regarding Hamlet and his father. Followed shortly thereafter by the ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’, and you’ve got yourself the equivalent of your hair standing up on end in anticipation of the lighting strike that sets the play in motion.

- ‘If thou didst ever thy dear father love (O God!) Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.’

- ‘Murder?’

- this whole scene. goodness. Every time I’ve recounted this play to some poor soul who couldn’t escape my segues into it, I’ve always gotten a reaction when Hamlet Sr reveals that the snake that poisoned him is the same one that now wears his crown. And that’s also why the previous normalcy is so important, because Claudius hasn’t explicitly come off as like that bad a guy yet. Maybe a bit of a douche for slipping into the sheets of his brother’s queen, but he’s at the very least acted onstage with nothing less than a formal and respectable air to him. But now we’ve passed the point of no return at the same time as the prince, and we can’t let the villain get away with this. Because that’s what he is, right? A villain. A murderer. And everything Hamlet’s been worried about or concerned with or thinking about prior is wiped away, trivial, unimportant, and there is no normal to return to.

- also, absolutely insane move to tell your depressed (and possibly manic?? i’ve been trying to look into the modern psychology side of things someone please help me out) son that he has to kill a guy to restore heavenly vengeance. this can’t go wrong. surely

- Horatio and Marcellus swearing their secrecy and dare I say involvement by complicity (oh, Horatio) and Hamlet deciding that the logical course of action is to. naturally. fake madness. put on an antic disposition. his decision-making process in this play is something I’d like to put under a microscope and study

I’ll update with the following acts over the next few days, and reply if I think of anything I forgot to intitially add. feel free to add thoughts :D

this day I’ve found out that a production of hamlet was staged in gta of all places and

https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/6/17/22538361/hamlet-gta-online-rustic-mascara-lobby - source

ok so for those of you who were unaware, I’m directing a part of Hamlet Act 3 Scene 2 (specifically the whole Mousetrap play-within-a-play bit) for a competition. Does anyone have any advice, thoughts, or suggestions on how I could take this scene? As it stands I’m playing it pretty traditionally close to the book (line for line but also because it’s gotta be 10 minutes minimum) but open to fun interpretations as well if they’d work. any fellow hamlosers down to help me out

Roasted chicken, ginger, daikon, shiitake mushroom soup with lime, cilantro, broccoli sprouts, and rice noodles

i think i’m onto something here. something tells me that between these two there’s an absolute hell of an AU waiting to happen but unfortunately i don’t know enough about dp personally so i am simply the mouthpiece for the divine, a messenger spreading the word from something larger than myself, waiting for someone else to take the reins and run