The Characters Emotions In Hamlet

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Shannon Briese Aissen Dr. Barbara Graham Cooper English 11 November 2014 Hamlet, The Prince of Denmark and Hamlet 2000: The Characters’ Emotions in the Modern Setting William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark scene IV in Act III is a scene depicting a confrontation between Hamlet and the Queen, his mother Gertrude. Prior to this scene, Hamlet organizes a play designed by Hamlet as a test to ascertain the King’s involvement with his father’s death. The King reacted in a way that implicated him in the murder, and this for Hamlet, is evidence that Claudius is guilty. This is new information for Hamlet as he visits his mother’s chamber after Polonius summons him. Initially, Gertrude confronts Hamlet, telling him that he has offended…show more content…
In Almereyda’s film adaption of the play, Hamlet 2000, Gertrude beckons Hamlet to her bedroom. Like the play, Hamlet is convinced of the King’s guilt after he screens a movie with the King and Queen. With this new knowledge, Hamlet is seething. He rejects Gertrude’s statements that he has offended the King. In this scene in the film, like the play, Hamlet quickly takes control of the conversation. He is angry and expresses it in an unrestrained manner; he accuses the Queen betraying his father. Initially, Gertrude reacts violently; she slaps Hamlet when he confronts her with the words, “would it were not so, you are my mother” (III.iv.16). In the movie as well as the play, Hamlet kills Polonius when he mistakes him for the King. The intense emotion escalates further as a result of the killing. Hamlet is violent and the Queen is extremely emotional. The modern setting demands this due to current cultural norms and standards; Gertrude’s character in the modern setting would most likely not be emotionally passive or subdued. The same words are spoken, but the film depicts an uncontrollable Hamlet and a more aggressive and hyper-sexualized Queen, also a storytelling device due to the modern
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