Hamlet observations

[elaby]

In the last three days, I have:

- read the manga version of Hamlet (courtesy of dakegra)
- watched the Kenneth Branagh Hamlet
- read the play, in the No Fear Shakespeare version (the original next next to a "translation" into modern English, mostly quite good but occasionally full of crap*)
- written Hamlet fanfic

Ahahahaha one can never have too much Hamlet.

But I had this observation when I watched the movie the other night, specifically the scene where the queen tells of Ophelia's death:

WTF, Gertrude, were you WATCHING?

Okay, I know, narrative device. It's a play, so if somebody doesn't tell you, you won't know it happened. But seriously, woman. These are minute details noticed over a long span of time. Maybe if you had enough time to enumerate what kind of flowers she was weaving into garlands and the precise lack of distress on her face, you could have, you know, stopped her from drowning herself or something.

I think my revelation was due mostly to the chilling nonchalance with which Julie Christie delivers this scene. She tells Laertes about his sister drowning with about as much regret as she might say "Oh, I know you had your heart set on having roast beef for lunch, but all we have is ham. Sorry about that."


*The first offense I noticed in the "translation" of the No Fear Shakespeare Hamlet is that when Horatio first comes in and Hamlet says "Horatio! -- Or I do forget myself." it's translated as "Horatio? That is your name, right?"

*sputters*

You do realize, right, that Horatio is the only person Hamlet trusts out of everyone he knows? Generally you don't forget someone's name when you sign letters to them "he that thou knowest thine." Not to mention the whole "wearing you in my heart's core" business. I far prefer Kenneth Branagh's interpretation, which I took as "I'd be more likely to forget who I am than who you are!"

In other news, caitirin has sucked me into playing in an anime trading card LJ with her ^_^ I'm collecting cards of the Count from The Count of Monte Cristo. Hakushakuuuu! *swoon*

Comments

[materia-indigo.livejournal.com]

"Horatio! -- Or I do forget myself."

To me it sounds more like Hamlet is expressing concern about the possible impropriety of implying familiarity by addressing someone by his given name (rather than by his title or something more distant).

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ooooh ^_^ That could be too! My Bevington edition doesn't have a footnote for that, so I couldn't see whether my interpretation was correct. But your idea makes a lot of sense to me!