Three Fact/Discussion Questions (Act Three)

Three Fact Questions:
1. What was Juliet's reaction when she heard Romeo was banished?
2. Who starts the fight that kills Tybalt and Mercutio?
3. What is the Nurse's opinion about Juliet marrying Paris?

Discussion/ Thinking Questions:
1. Discuss the difference in Romeo before/during the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt and when Mercutio dies. What does this tell the audience about Romeo?
2. How does Juliet keep her grief of Romeo's banishment away from her parents when Tybalt dies? How does she use Tybalt's death to her advantage?

Act Two Quiz: Question Six

I think that I would stage this scene as a split stage. On one side, Romeo would be at his desk, and on the other side, Juliet might be on her bed or out on her balcony. There would be a spotlight on each of them but very little lightning otherwise to show that they are separate, and not in the same place. Romeo and Juliet would be writing their entries in their respective places and they would look up in thought toward the other person’s direction but not look at them, maybe look above their head or something like that. This shows the audience that the pair is thinking about each other but they are still separate.  

Romeo:

Today I met the love of my life. At a Capulet ball, of all places. I would never have thought that I could look at a Capulet and feel anything but contempt. But Juliet? She is something else. When I see her, I can’t look away and when she smiles, I can’t help but smile too. Going to her balcony was a great idea. Now I know she feels the same way about me as I feel about her. I need to tell Friar Lawerence about all this. He will know how to get us married as soon as possible. I cannot wait till we are wed! Forget our families: All we need is each other.

Juliet:

Romeo. Romeo. Romeo. I cannot stop smiling when I think about him. There’s something about him that I cannot resist. His dimpled smile, his confident laugh, there’s nothing that I do not like about him. Oh, wait. . . His darned last name. Why did he have to be a Montague? Why couldn’t he be of any other family name? I cannot imagine what Father would say if he heard about him, but when I look into his eyes, everything else melts away. I feel so safe in his arms. I will send Nurse to him tomorrow morning, that way she will be able to meet him. I pray to the gods that this will all work out because I do not know if I would choose my family over Romeo.

Comparing Balcony Scenes

The four balcony scenes that I watched was the one with Leonardo DiCaprio, the Zeffinelli version (1968), the one acted by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Gnomeo and Juliet version. Out of all four adaptations, I think that the one starring Leonardo DiCaprio and the Zeffirelli versions were the two more effective scenes. These two versions stayed very close to the original script which was very effective. This allowed the audience to see the play come to life through the actors and sets. The sets in these two versions, because they were movie sets, were very detailed and more life-like. For example, in Zeffinelli’s version, although Romeo and Juliet never came into physical contact with each other, the space between them was apparent. The audience could see the distance between the balcony and the ground. This could symbolize the wrongness of their love, but through the intense eye contact between the pair, the distance did not seem as far. At one point, Romeo even started hugging a branch, to show how much emotion he had for Juliet that he could not express. Similarly, the pool in DiCaprio’s version was an important set piece as well. The couple was often found in the pool, touching, swimming, floating, or even kissing each other. It really became ‘their’ spot, despite the fact that it was in Juliet’s backyard. This also shows the sense of the forbidden love element because of the location of the pool in the Capulet mansion.

The other two versions, Royal Shakespeare Company and Gnomeo and Juliet, were not very effective for me, personally. The one acted by the Shakespeare Company was very different because it was shot on a stage with very minimal props or set. This left a lot to the audience’s interpretation which I was not a fan of. The costuming in this version was also a little confusing because Romeo was wearing a hoodie with a collared shirt, while Juliet was wearing a black dress. This made me wonder if the play took place in modern society or back in Shakespeare’s time. Juliet’s dress also made me question her character a little bit; was she timid young woman that many other adaption portray her as or is she more independent in this one? Lastly, the Gnomeo and Juliet version, although being the most understandable and comedic, was not very effective for me. Juliet said her modified line about the name problem very quickly and then Gnomeo suddenly arrived to startle her. This did not allow any time for the audience to process Juliet’s feelings.  

Six Opinions on the Fuch Essays

Fuchs Essay

Three Things I Found to be Interesting:
1. The metaphor about squinting to see the whole play
2. Looking at all parts of the setting
3. Finding the 'pattern' of a character

Three Things I Would to Talk More About:
1. Looking at characters last
2. The figure in the middle of the essay (the globe drawing)
3. Figuring your role in the play (as an actor, or audience member)

Just a Good Daughter

The actions of a character are very important to the development of the plot and to the development of the character itself. Characters have to act a certain way to show the readers who they are, and in many cases what their motives are. In Scene 1 of Act 3, Ophelia has a very specific goal. In this scene, Polonius and Claudius want to find out what is making Hamlet act the way that he is. Their hypothesis is that is is because of Ophelia not responding to his intense love for her. They decide to have Ophelia talk to Hamlet, with them hidden in the background, to see if it will reveal anything. I think that Ophelia is a little overwhelmed because she is not usually asked to do anything like this. She usually is the one who watches from the background or told after the event happens, if it is even relevant to her. Ophelia wants to be helpful and keep a conversation going with Hamlet so everyone can find out what is wrong with him.

The scene starts with Hamlet saying his famous soliloquy that starts with the words, “To be or not to be/ That is the question.” The monologue is very insightful for the characters and the readers as well. Hamlet is telling his thoughts in a disguised yet open way. He is trying to decide whether or not he should kill himself but he does not say so outright. He talks in a way so unless you know what he is talking about, it just sounds crazy. I think that Hamlet was trying to reason it out aloud; to see if talking would help. He starts addressing Ophelia only at the end of his soliloquy which makes me believe that he either may not have seen Ophelia or chose to ignore her. Ophelia starts to make small talk with Hamlet, asking him how he is. When she asks about the gifts he gave her that she wanted to give back, that is when Hamlet starts to get riled up. I think Ophelia is only trying to get Hamlet to talk. For example, when Hamlet says, “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so/ inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved/ you not” (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 116-8), Ophelia only replies with, “I was more deceived” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 119). Throughout this scene, Ophelia responds to Hamlet with a question or a very short phrase. This forces Hamlet to continue talking and explain himself to her. This allows Claudius and Polonius to hear of Hamlet’s words to try to explain.

Ophelia’s goals change over the course of the play. In the beginning, I think that she liked having the attention of the prince. He treated her well, with gifts and attention, but she listens to her family when they tell her to stay away from Hamlet. Her overall goal is to be a good daughter. She wants her family to approve of her, so she does whatever they want. This corresponds to the values of the time period. Women had very little power when compared to men. They were expected to follow the directions of men so they could find nice husbands and lives for them in the long term. Talking to Hamlet for her father, allows Ophelia to show to him that she is a good daughter.  

The Final Scene.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, I think that the most interesting scene in the play is the very last scene of the entire play; Scene 2 of Act 5. In this scene, all the main characters are watching a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet so Laertes can avenge his father. The pretense of the match allows other unexpected things to happen. For example, Laertes and Hamlet are supposed to fence, but one of the swords is poisoned by Laertes and the king in an effort to kill Hamlet. During the fight, Hamlet ends up with the poisoned sword and stabs Laertes with it. This is ironic because the only reason Laertes dies was because of the sword that he poisoned. That is one reason why this scene was so interesting; the plot twists allowed the readers to not know what will happen and created excitement. Another example is when the king poisons the wine that Hamlet was supposed to drink. The queen ends up drinking it, but Claudius’s reaction is not what I would have expected. Because he does not do something drastic to try and save Gertrude, it leads me to believe that he did not really care for her; that maybe he was only using her as a means to get to the throne. This example shows how, in this scene, the real motives of the characters are revealed. After I first read this scene, I felt a sense of incompleteness because it did not feel as if any of the problems were solved. By the end of the scene, the majority of characters just die: nothing is resolved. It also made me feel regret because the characters never got a chance to do anything about the information that they found out before they died. For example, I think that Gertrude probably realized that her new husband was the one poisoned the cup meant for her son while she was dying. But she never had to chance to confront him about his actions. I think that this is the main reasons why Hamlet is considered a tragedy; none the problems are solved, but all the characters still die.

What? Hamlet Can Be Relatable?

          I think that the fact that the famous line appears in a soliloquy rather than in conversation makes the line much more dramatic and does allow the audience to empathize with him. I think that if the line were to appear in conversation, it would not hold as much meaning with the readers; it might just become another passing phrase that the next character reacts to. But, because the line appears at the beginning of the soliloquy, it allows Hamlet to explain himself a little further. The rest of the monologue continues to describe Hamlet’s mindset and what he is thinking in this scene. Because of this, the reader gets to understand why Hamlet might be saying what he is and why he is doing it in such a way.
          I personally do empathize with Hamlet although I do think he is being a little too dramatic. The main idea of the monologue is that Hamlet is trying to decide what he should do next. Should he keep his thoughts about killing the king inside of him and deal with it or should he act on them and possibly be severely punished for his actions? He has to make this very big decision that will probably affect the rest of his life. It is obvious that he is quite distraught and I think that can be seen through the language that the writer uses. For example, Hamlet says, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ And, by opposing, end them. .” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 56-9). This shows that Hamlet cannot answer the questions that he is posing to himself. We as readers and audience members can relate to this when we reason things out aloud instead of in out heads or write our thoughts down on paper to help organize them. Similarly, Hamlet is speaking his thoughts aloud to see if saying them aloud might help him make a decision.
          I think that this speech is very important because we can see Hamlet as a human who has difficulties with his problems just as we do. It shows to the audience an aspect of Hamlet that we may not have seen before. In much of the book, Hamlet is shown as the guy needs to avenge his father by killing his evil uncle and save his mother from his uncle’s hands, all while getting the girl as well. It shows that Hamlet does not always have his whole life organized.