Directions: Choose a small selection of dialogue from a movie/play and pair it with a scene from Hamlet. Compare and contrast the ideas in the passage. Think about movies that present a father and son relationship. You may need to post your responses in two, due the length. Look at the example below as a guide in your exploration. You may use YouTube links in place or in addition to dialogue.
I look forward to your responses!!!!
Mr. Pellerin's Super Cool Example
From Star Wars: Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Darth Vader
There is no escape! Don’t make me destroy you. Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You’ve only begun to discover your power! Join me, and I will complete your training! With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict, and bring order to the galaxy.
Luke Skywalker
I’ll never join you!
Vader
If only you knew the power of the Dark Side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.
Luke
He told me enough! He told me you killed him!
Vader
No, I am your father.
Luke
No. No! That’s not true! That’s impossible!
Vader
Search your feelings; you know it to be true!
Luke
No!
Parallel Scene from Hamlet, Act I, Scene v by William Shakespeare
Ghost
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.
Exit
Hamlet
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?
And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,--meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'
I have sworn 't.
My Analysis
In the case of Star Wars, Luke was under the impression that his father was a great Jedi. This is true, but he did know that his father is alive in the form of Darth Vader. In Return of the Jedi, Obi-wan Ken-obi will explain that they are two separate entities. When Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, “The good man who was your father was gone.” It is Luke’s destiny to confront his father and kill him.
Similarly, Hamlet is confronted with the ghost of his father. While Vader is seen as evil, King Hamlet is seen as a hero. Both fathers are placing a great deal on the shoulders of their respective sons. Like Hamlet, Luke initially does not believe he should comply with his destiny. Hamlet is also unsure and will put on a play to "catch the conscious of the king" (II.ii.1680).
Ultimately, Luke confronts Vader and saves him by allowing his humanity to come through. Vader kills the Emperor to save Luke’s life. His spirit is seen alongside Yoda and Obi-wan at the end of Jedi. Will Hamlet be able to confront his uncle? Will Hamlet’s father return to aid his son, or is Hamlet on his own from this point further? While Luke had Yoda, Leia, Han, C-3P0, R2 and a host of others, Hamlet only has Horatio.
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.
Exit
Hamlet
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?
And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,--meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'
I have sworn 't.
My Analysis
In the case of Star Wars, Luke was under the impression that his father was a great Jedi. This is true, but he did know that his father is alive in the form of Darth Vader. In Return of the Jedi, Obi-wan Ken-obi will explain that they are two separate entities. When Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, “The good man who was your father was gone.” It is Luke’s destiny to confront his father and kill him.
Similarly, Hamlet is confronted with the ghost of his father. While Vader is seen as evil, King Hamlet is seen as a hero. Both fathers are placing a great deal on the shoulders of their respective sons. Like Hamlet, Luke initially does not believe he should comply with his destiny. Hamlet is also unsure and will put on a play to "catch the conscious of the king" (II.ii.1680).
Ultimately, Luke confronts Vader and saves him by allowing his humanity to come through. Vader kills the Emperor to save Luke’s life. His spirit is seen alongside Yoda and Obi-wan at the end of Jedi. Will Hamlet be able to confront his uncle? Will Hamlet’s father return to aid his son, or is Hamlet on his own from this point further? While Luke had Yoda, Leia, Han, C-3P0, R2 and a host of others, Hamlet only has Horatio.
And now for something even goofier from Spaceballs;
ReplyDeleteDark Helmet: Before you die, there is something you must know about us, Lone Starr.
Lone Starr: What's that?
Dark Helmet: I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.
Lone Starr: and what's that make us?
Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing, which is what you are about to become!
Enough said, now back to what Master Luke and Prince Hamlet didn't know about their fathers.
DeleteHamlet might need to enlist help in secret.
DeleteAnd now, let's see what other parallels we can draw between Hamlet and other stuff.
DeletePolonius: I would fain prove so. But you might think, When I had seen this hot love on the wing-as I perceived it, I must tell you that, before my daughter told me-what might you, or my dear majesty your Queen here, think, if I had play'd the desk or table-book, muted and dumb, or look'd upon this love with idle sight; What might you think? No, I went round to work, and my young mistress thus I did bespeak: "Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star. This must not be."
DeleteAnd then I prescripts gave her, that she should lock herself from his resort, admit no messengers, receive no tokens. Which done, she took the fruits of my advice; and he, repulsed-a short tale to make-fell into a sadness, then into a fast, thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, thence into a lightness, and by this declension into the madness wherein now he raves and all we mourn for.
DeleteKing: Do you think 'tis this?
Queen: It may be; very like.(140-162) So, Hamlet has been torn away from Ophelia, and he's not tolerating it. This sort of reminds me of how the Phantom of the Opera would not tolerate being separated from Christine Daae, and would go to all sorts of extremes to stay with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t75STnoaR1w The Phantom's reaction to Raoul trying to win over Christine.🤬
DeletePhantom: You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!
DeleteLion King Scene:
ReplyDeleteMufasa's Ghost: Simba, you have forgotten me.
Simba: No, how could I?
Mufasa: You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.
Simba: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.
Mufasa: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true King.
Hamlet Scene:
Ghost
I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
HAMLET
O my prophetic soul! My uncle!
Ghost
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!--won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:
O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage.
But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man
That swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigour doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd:
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.
Exit
HAMLET
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?
And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,--meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
Writing
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'
I have sworn 't.
Analysis :
DeleteIn the movie the Lion King and the play Hamlet, both share a similar scene in which the spirit of the father comes back to guide their son in a path. Both sons are reintroduced to their father by a side character, in the Lion King it was Rafiki, and in Hamlet it was Horatio and Marcellus. Mufasa and King Hamlet both try to lead their son’s into the “fate” they were destined to have which ultimately ends with them on the throne. When Mufasa tells Simba to reclaim the throne, he is sad because Simba has forgotten him. Likewise, at the end of King Hamlet’s speech to Hamlet, he says to his son to remember him as if he was afraid Hamlet would try to run from his past. Even though the two speeches are somewhat similar, there are also differences too. One that sticks out particularly is that the reason why Mufasa wants Simba to reclaim the throne is because this is his destiny; to be a part of the Circle of Life and oversee the kingdom. In Hamlet’s case, his father wants him to take back the throne by avenging him (killing his uncle who killed King Hamlet). Will the sons listen to their fathers or will they decide to choose their own destiny? Or will only one of them follow their father’s decision and how will that turn out for them? For the worse, or for the better?
- Minh-Quan Bach
Exactly
DeleteI have a feeling that like Simba, Hamlet will eventually grant his father's wishes.
DeleteThe parallels between The Godfather and Hamlet.
ReplyDeleteThe Godfather
Don Corleone:
I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize - that's my life - but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael. It wasn't enough time.
Michael:
We'll get there, pop. We'll get there.
Hamlet
HAMLET
Nay, but swear ’t.
HORATIO
In faith, my lord, not I.
MARCELLUS
Nor I, my lord, in faith.
HAMLET
Upon my sword.
MARCELLUS
We have sworn, my lord, already.
HAMLET
150
Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.
GHOST
(cries under the stage) Swear
One of the parallels between The Godfather and Hamlet are the father and son relationships. In Hamlet, his father wants him to avenge his death by killing his uncle. I feel that Hamlets father is forcing Hamlet to commit murder by yelling “swear!” At him, and Hamlets father must know that if Hamlet does succeed in killing his uncle, it will only end poorly for Hamlet because he will have to kill a king, and even though they are related it would still probably be a crime and end poorly for Hamlet. In The Godfather, Michaels dad never wanted his to join the life of crime. He wanted him to be a governor or something better than a criminal. The difference between the fathers seems that Micheals father is almost disappointed in Micheal becoming the mob boss, but in Hamlet, Hamlets father seems like he wants his son to become a criminal by killing a king. - CJ
Cinderella (1950) Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOUC6bQUzw
ReplyDeleteCinderella: Wait! Please, wait for me! Isn't it loveIy? Do you like it? Do you think it will do?
Drizella: Cinderella!
Anastasia: Mother, she can't!
Drizella: You wouldn't--
Anastasia: Oh, no!
Drizella: You can't let her!
Stepmother: Girls, please! After all, we did make a bargain. Didn't we, Cinderella? And I never go back on my word. How very clever, these beads. They give it just the right touch. Don't you think so, Drizella?
Drizella: No, I don't! I think she's-- Why you little thief! They're my beads! Give them here!
Cinderella: Oh, no!
Anastasia: Oh, and look, that's my sash! Wearing my sash! She can't!
Cinderella: Oh, don't! Please, stop!
Anastasia: My ribbon!
Drizella: Why, you thief!
Anastasia: Kitchen wench!
Drizella: You ungrateful Little--
Stepmother: Girls, girls. That's quite enough. Hurry along now, both of you. I wont have you upsetting yourselves. Good night.
Hamlet Scene:
KING CLAUDIUS:'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,
To give these mourning duties to your father:
But, you must know, your father lost a father;
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound
In filial obligation for some term
To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever
In obstinate condolement is a course
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief;
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven,
A heart unfortified, a mind impatient,
An understanding simple and unschool'd:
For what we know must be and is as common
As any the most vulgar thing to sense,
Why should we in our peevish opposition
Take it to heart? Fie! 'tis a fault to heaven,
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature,
To reason most absurd: whose common theme
Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried,
From the first corse till he that died to-day,
'This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and think of us
As of a father: for let the world take note,
You are the most immediate to our throne;
And with no less nobility of love
Than that which dearest father bears his son,
Do I impart toward you. For your intent
In going back to school in Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our desire:
And we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.
QUEEN GERTRUDE:Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet:
I pray thee, stay with us; go not to Wittenberg.
HAMLET: I shall in all my best obey you, madam.
KING CLAUDIUS: Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply:
Be as yourself in Denmark. Madam, come;
This gentle and unforced accord of Hamlet
Sits smiling to my heart: in grace whereof,
No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day,
But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell,
And the king's rouse the heavens all bruit again,
Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come away.
Analysis:
DeleteThroughout the entirety of both Hamlet and Cinderella, I see much similarity between Hamlet’s stepfather, King Claudius, and Cinderella’s stepmother. In the Cinderella scene, Cinderella is attempting to join her stepmother and stepsisters in attending the kingdom-wide ball. The three do not want Cinderella to go, especially the stepmother. She is passive aggressive while pretending to have Cinderellas’ best interest in mind when she causes the girls to sabotage Cinderella’s entire outfit. She ends up not being able to go, for she always must obey the three of them. They are evil and not even her real family, yet feel as though they have the power to control Cinderella. This reminds me a lot of King Claudius, especially in this scene. Hamlet wants to leave for Wittenberg, yet Claudius and Gertrude do not think that is best for him. While his mother may have his best interest at heart, his stepfather is certainly not looking out for him. He speaks passively and tricks gertrude in thinking he has good intentions. Hamlet, for his mother’s sake, must obey and stay.
Fun fact: Cinderella's real name is Ash-Wallower. (Aschenputtel) This was one of the stories collected by the Grimm Brothers.
DeleteDuke Hammond: You must rest.
ReplyDeleteSnow White: We have rested long enough.
[as she’s talking to the Duke a crowd has gathered in the courtyard of the Duke’s castle, Snow turns to the crowd and whispers]
Snow White: Frost to fire, to fire to frost.
[Snow addresses the crowd]
Snow White: Iron will melt, but it will writhe inside of itself! All these years, all I’ve known is darkness. But I have never seen a brighter light than when my eyes just opened. And I know that light burns in all of you! Those embers must turn to flame. Iron into sword! I will become your weapon! Forged with a fierce fire that I know is in your hearts! For I have seen what she sees, I know what she knows. I can kill her. And I’d rather die today than live another day of this death! And who will ride with me? Who will be my brother?
[the crowd shouts ‘I’ simultaneously and kneel before her, with the Huntsman joining them]
[after Snow White and her army set off to attack Ravenna, we see Ravenna back at her castle, looking beautiful and powerful again after sucking every last woman in the castle dry]
HAMLET
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?
And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,--meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
Writing
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me.'
I have sworn 't.
MARCELLUS HORATIO
[Within] My lord, my lord,--
MARCELLUS
[Within] Lord Hamlet,--
HORATIO
[Within] Heaven secure him!
There are many similarities between Hamlet and Snow White. In both cases the main character Hamlet and Snow White had parents who remarried rather quickly after one of their parents had died. The King in Snow White married the evil Queen Ravenna, while Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, married his uncle Claudius. In Snow White and the Huntsman Queen Ravenna is responsible for killing Snow White's father, as she stabs him and takes his throne. Similarly, Claudius is responsible for the death of Hamlet's father, as he had poured poison into the King Hamlet's ear. In both stories the main characters are tasked with killing their parents’ murderers, despite the fact that killing is not in their nature. They are both forced to plan and plot in order to vanquish the evil doer currently sitting on their thrones. Lastly, like Hamlet, Snow White only has one true friend, William, who tries to help when Ravenna is hunting her.
The similarities between these two stories show the influence that Shakespear and his ideas still have on the modern world and the importance of classic literature, like Hamlet, in understanding literature, and people today.
Snow White (Sneewittchen) was also collected by the Grimm Brothers.
DeleteSimilarities exist between Hamlet and Night of the Soul Stealer. (Last Apprentice series) The similarity has to do with a plot connection between them. In Hamlet of course, his father dies and Hamlet is horrified at how quickly his mother remarries. This is a very broad connection so specific text I dont think is necessary, but in the night of soul stealer the main character Tom Ward, experiences something very similar. Tom's father dies in this book which is book 3 of the series so we have an idea of what their relationship was like. They have a very loving and connected relationship so it deeply affects Tom to learn of the news. He also learns of the news amid a big adventure in which he is an apprentice for someone else. Obviously Hamlet is not an apprentice, but he wants to take action about his circumstances whereas Tom can do nothing about his current predicament.
ReplyDeleteLION KING
ReplyDeleteMufasa: {Quietly at first} Simba . . .
Simba: Father?
Mufasa: Simba, you have forgotten me.
Simba: No. How could I?
Mufasa: You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.
Simba: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.
Mufasa: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king.
{Close up of Simba's face, bathed in the golden light, showing a mixture of awe, fear, and sadness. The image of Mufasa starts to fade.}
Mufasa: Remember who you are.
{Mufasa is disappearing rapidly into clouds. Simba runs into the fields trying to keep up with the image.}
Simba: No. Please! Don't leave me.
Mufasa: Remember...
Simba: Father!
Mufasa: Remember...
Simba: Don't leave me.
Mufasa: Remember . . .
HAMLET
O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?
And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven!
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,--meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark:
The Lion King is often compared to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. With so many similarities between plot and character, it’s hard to deny that the Lion King was not influenced by Hamlet. With this knowledge, there is a chance that certain scenes were directly inspired by Hamlet. At face value, the scene in which Simba meets his father’s ghost seems to be ripped off Hamlet. However, this is not the case. In the Lion King, Simba incessantly, “don’t leave me,” as Mufasa slowly disappears. This scene illustrates Simba’s sorrow after losing his father. This directly contradicts Hamlet’s feelings towards his father. Rather than grieve, Hamlet lacked the emotion and tears after losing his father. In addition, Musfasa does not directly tell Simba to take revenge. He only tells Simba to retake the throne and oversee the kingdom. Although the Lion King was inspired by Hamlet, Disney’s retelling of the tragedy certainly suits children more and as a result, there are fewer similarities than it may seem.
DeleteChris
The Lion King has Hamlet written all over it.
DeleteYogurt: (Voice-over) Use the Schwartz, Lone Starr. Use the Schwartz!
DeleteLone Starr: I can't, I lost the ring!
Yogurt: Forget the ring. The ring is irrelevant. I found it in a Cracker Jack box. The Schwartz is in you, Lone Starr, it's in you.
From Spaceballs
DeleteURL to video: https://youtu.be/r2jbK6dGLGc
ReplyDeleteGladiator lines:
Commodus: There are many forms of courage. Devotion- to my family to you. But none of my virtues were on your list. It was almost as if you didn’t want me as your son.
King: Oh Commodus, you go too far.
Commodus: I search the faces of Gods. For ways to please you, to make you proud. One kind word. One full hug. Where you pressed me to your chest and held me tight. Would have been like the sun of my heart for a thousand years. What is in me that you hate so much? All I ever wanted was to live up to you, Caesar. Father.
King: Commodus. Your faults as a son, is my failure as a father. [pause]. Come
Commodus: Father. I would butcher the whole world if only you would love me.
Hamlet lines:
Ghost
I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
HAMLET
O my prophetic soul! My uncle!
Ghost
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!--won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:
O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage.
But, soft! methinks I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man
That swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigour doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd:
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.
....
HAMLET
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come;
Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
To put an antic disposition on,
That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or this headshake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could, an if we would,'
Or 'If we list to speak,' or 'There be, an if they might,'
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note
That you know aught of me: this not to do,
So grace and mercy at your most need help you, Swear.
Analysis:
ReplyDeleteIt’s pretty clear that these are two very different characters put in a somewhat similar situation. For those who don’t know, in the movie, Gladiator, basically the king names his favorite general as the next in line for the throne, resulting in Commodus having to wait his turn to be king. This leads into the video where he kills the king out of frustration and then he goes on to demote that general down to a gladiator. In both Hamlet and Gladiator, the sons were both getting put into frustrating situations, albeit slightly different ones. Hamlet has to kill the king, which may be seen by others as treacherous while Commodus was being stripped of the throne. However we can see two different approaches being made here. While Commodus took action as soon as he heard about it, and killed the king, Hamlet is dilly dallying and trying to put off the murder as long as he can. In the scene above, you can see how vividly the Ghost describes the murder passionately as “Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust” (I, V, page 25) and continues “Let not the royal bed of Denmark be // A couch for luxury and damned incest”. (I, V, page 25) (I couldn’t find line numbers). Clearly, Hamlet understands the situation as the Ghost describes it and yet he continues to put it off longer and longer. But this may be due to the fact that he has a similar dislike, bordered on hatred, for his father as Commodus since his motivation to complete this plan started to die off at the end of the scene. In other words, Hamlet lost his motivation about 30 minutes into his plan. Like seriously, what is wrong with Hamlet?
The comparison between the Lion King and Hamlet has been done to death at this point, but that's not going to stop me from adding to it. you can easily see the inspiration between the two works: they both have evil uncles, their father is dead and came back to talk with them, and even Horatio is comparable to the animal friends Simba makes along his journey. I will use the example of their ghost fathers talking to them , as I feel like that most pretains to the earlier acts the most.
ReplyDeleteGHOST: Now, Hamlet, hear:
'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
HAMLET: O my prophetic soul! My uncle!
Ghost
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,--
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!--won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen:
O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage.
MUFASA: Simba, you have forgotten me.
SIMBA: No, how could I?
MUFASA: You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.
SIMBA: How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be.
MUFASA: Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true King.
We can see here the similarities are uncanny. the general Idea is the father comes back from the dead to give their son a final message, warning them about the dangers ahead and telling them what their duty entails. this shows how influential Hamlet was over time, as this is definitely not the only modern example, but maybe the most famous.
The Jungle Book has many similarities to Hamlet. Mowgli lost his father by the tiger Sher Khan killing him. He was devastated just like Hamlet, he wanted to get revenge by killing Sher Khan. Hamlet decided to honor his father's word of killing Claudius. They were both to be the next people to hold the throne and were very loyal to their father's.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it, son?
ReplyDeleteQUILL
My friends.
EGO
That's the mortal in you, Peter.
QUILL
Yes. I don't need that.
EGO
What are we?
QUILL
Forever.
EGO
What are they?
QUILL
Temporary.
EGO
You think you love them. But love
is merely an evolutionary trick in
the service of reproduction. We are
beyond such things.
QUILL
Yes.
EGO
NOW -
QUILL
But my mother.
Ego looks at him, questioningly.
QUILL (CONT'D)
You said you loved my mother.
EGO
That I did. My river lily, who knew
the words to every song that came
on the radio. I returned to earth
to see her three times. I knew if I
came back a fourth, I'd never
leave.
(MORE)
96
EGO (CONT'D)
The expansion, the reason for my
very existence would be over. So I
did what I had to do. But it broke
my heart to put that tumor in her
head.
QUILL
Wh- what?
ZOLLY IN ON QUILL as the cosmos disappear from his eyes.
Tears stream down his face.
97
I am thy father’s spirit,
DeleteDoomed for a certain term to walk the night
And for the day confined to fast in fires
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres,
Thy knotted and combinèd locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand an end,
Like quills upon the fearful porpentine.
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love—
HAMLET O God!
GHOST
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET Murder?
GHOST
Murder most foul, as in the best it is,
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
HAMLET
Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
GHOST I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear.
’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forgèd process of my death
Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown.
Both Hamlet and Guardians of the Galaxy focus on the relationship between father and son. In both movies the sons are originally excited to see their fathers. Hamlet has spent the last two months missing his father and refuses to let his friends keep him from speaking to his father even if it’s dangerous. Quill has spent his whole life not knowing who his father is. In Guardians of the Galaxy Ego reveals to Quill his godly form, speaking of a world beyond Quill’s recognition, a world that he can access as a god. The king also speaks of another world to Hamlet. The afterlife which the king can access as a ghost. This establishes the father characters as more knowing and powerful than the son characters. Quill then asks ego to help him take over the galaxy and reveals that he had killed Quills mother and many innocent people. The King asks Hamlet to kill his uncle, and reveals that it was his uncle who had killed him. This is a turning point in both conversations. It changes both Hamlets and Quills perception of how their parent had died. It also changes their and the audience's perception of the King and Ego. If they were good fathers would they have asked their children to kill? Although Hamlet agrees to help his father and believes what he is saying he is conflicted and does not seem to actually want to commit a murder. Quill shoots his father repeatedly then blows up his father's planet so he can’t complete his plan. In both these scenes the father’s go from being characters who the audience doesn’t know much about outside of the son’s perception of them, which is overwhelmingly positive. As the fathers reveal more information about their pasts and ask their children to murder, the audience can form a fuller opinion of the characters.
Delete-Solace Lockheardt
"He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your Papa."
Delete-Capt. Yondu Udonta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1bNC_I6l9s
DeleteHamlet and the Prodigy share a lot of similarities as both of the families in the stories are in troubling times and as the story progresses both of the sons speak to spirits foreboding them of their journey ahead. There is a serial killer who impregnates one of his victims as she ends up escaping his capture, the woman decides to keep the child and it grows up with the family The child Miles is a super genius child and when his parents bring him to a very intelligent child school he realizes that once his father died his spirit transferred to his body. he talks with it and it eventually takes over his body. This relates to Hamlet as hamlet talks with his dead father but instead of hamlet taking over his sons' body to fill out his quest he just requests for hamlet to murder his uncle,
ReplyDeleteI am thy father’s spirit,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night
And for the day confined to fast in fires
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres.
-Aidan Foley
DeleteFrom the Lion King (1994)
ReplyDelete*Mufasa spirit appears before Simba*
Mufasa
Simba!
Simba
Father?
*ghost of Mufasa appears*
Mufasa
Simba. You have forgotten me.
Simba
No! How could I?
Mufasa
You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.
Simba
How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be.
Mufasa
Remember who you are; you are my son and the one true king
*starts to fades into the clouds*
Mufasa
Remember who you are
Simba
No! Please! Don't leave me!
Mufasa
Remember...
Simba
Father!
Mufasa
Remember...
Simba
Don't leave me
Mufasa
Remember….
Parallel Scene from Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5 (Hamlet meets the ghost of his father)
GHOST I am thy father’s spirit,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night
And for the day confined to fast in fires
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres,
Thy knotted and combinèd locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand an end,
Like quills upon the fearful porpentine.
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love—
HAMLET O God!
GHOST
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET Murder?
GHOST
Murder most foul, as in the best it is,
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
HAMLET
Haste me to know ’t, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
GHOST I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear.
’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forgèd process of my death
Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown.
HAMLET O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!
GHOST
ReplyDeleteAy, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts—
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!—won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen.
O Hamlet, what a falling off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine.
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So, lust, though to a radiant angel linked,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed
And prey on garbage.
But soft, methinks I scent the morning air.
Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursèd hebona in a vial
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leprous distilment, whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man
That swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigor it doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine,
And a most instant tetter barked about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust
All my smooth body.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched,
Cut off, even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled,
No reck’ning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head.
O horrible, O horrible, most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not.
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damnèd incest.
But, howsomever thou pursues this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once.
The glowworm shows the matin to be near
And ’gins to pale his uneffectual fire.
Adieu, adieu, adieu. Remember me.He exits.
In comparing the two scenes, they have many similarities but they also have their differences. For both scenes, Simba’s and Hamlet’s deceased fathers come into the form of a spirit or ghost. When they appear in front of their sons , their father’s spirit tell them to fulfill a request in honor of them but both of their request are different yet similar. In the Lion King, Mufasa tells Simba to not forget who he is and where his place is in the “Circle of Life”, but he doesn’t tell him to kill Scar and instead, he tells to take back his place on Pride Rock from Scar. Whereas in Hamlet, the ghost of the late king tells him to kill his uncle and to cause no harm to those around him. Also, I wanted to make the comparison that Hamlet didn’t know how his father initially died and just thought he had died of old age and then later finds out that his uncle killed his father by the ghost of his father. But in the Lion King, young Simba witnesses the death of his father and the lion who planned to kill Mufasa by having a herd of wildebeest stomp on him. One similarity I found crucial with both of them is that they both have the concept of remembrance being playing out in each scene. So when Mufasa is about to leave Simba, he tells him to remember his place and the in Hamlet, the ghost tells him to remember him and honor him by killing his uncle. So although they tell their sons to remember, the difference is just what they are told to remember.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is very similar to Hamlet because Star Lord finally meets his father and he is brought closer to him even though he brings forth many challenges and responsibilities. Star Lords father tells him to do many different things and it brings a lot of conflict to the group as well as Star Lord himself. By the end of the movie the Guardians kill Star Lords father and they fly away.
ReplyDeleteThe book "Death of a salesman"'s main character Willy Loman has a similar depressed set of emotions to Hamlet when he is contemplating suicide. Willy Loman wants to kill himself because he views himself as a failure because he is unable to support his family financially and constantly compares himself to his rich neighbor. Hamlet is also contemplating suicide because of his mother quickly marrying his uncle when his father died.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie interstellar there are many connections to Hamlet. In Hamlet, Hamlet is greeted by his father after he has died and sure he will never see him again, they share the father son bond even after death. In Interstellar by Christopher Nolan, Matthew Mconaghay goes on a space journey to save mankind by going through a blackhole, after spending decades of human years in a black hole where time doesn't move. He comes back to earth as the same age, but everyone else on earth has aged. He meets his daughter on a space station as she on her last leg of life. Even then, completely different ages, they still share the father daughter connection similar to the ghost scenes in Hamlet. - Troy Kennedy
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcH0sg1a9sI
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWowe2F_-m4
The movie The Lion King closely resembles Hamlet. In The Lion King Simba shares a very strong bond with his father and goes into exile when he believes that he was the cause of his fathers death. But in fact it was his evil uncles fault, as he planned to kill Mufasa and guilt Simba. Towards the middle of the movie Simba hears his father from the heavens, who tells him that his uncle was behind his death and tells him to seek revenge. This is almost identical to the play Hamlet, Hamlet's father also comes back from the dead to tell his son about how his own brother killed him and that he has to seek revenge on uncle.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqQ2mQV5b0w
The Lion King has the same basic structure as Hamlet.
DeleteIn death of a salesman the main charcter Willy Loman is a salesman. His son doesn't want to take the same path as his father but throughout the book Willy makes many attempts to pressure his son into going into business. This puts lots of pressure on his son just like in hamlet when his dad basically tells him he has to kill his uncle and take the throne.
ReplyDeleteBen Ashworth^
ReplyDeleteSons of Anarchy
ReplyDeleteG:Clay Morrow killed your father. Stole that seat away from this family. Gunned down your father's best friend. And he tried to kill your wife. He's a murderous traitor. And there's only one thing to do now, Jackson. For your father, your family and your club. It's in you. It's who you are. Clay has to die. Read 'em. See him in your father's own hand. And then you kill him, Jax. You kill Clay before he's on his feet and strikes first. And when it's done... you take your place at the head of this table... where a Teller belongs. Where you belong.
I thought this scene was very similar to the scene in Hamlet where the ghost of his father tells him his brother Claudius killed him. In Sons of Anarchy there are letters from Jax Tellers deceased father John Teller who says his best friend and wife are getting closer and closer. He then writes that he suspects Clay his best friend would kill him. This comes true. Gemma who was John Teller's wife marries Clay. Clay becomes president of the motorcycle club John Teller started. Gemma Teller tells Jax that he has to kill him, and take his place as president, kill the man who killed your father. I think these two scenes are very similar to each other. Unlike Hamlet, Jax learns about his fathers death from his mother finding letters written by his dead father. Also unlike Hamlet, Clay is president of a motorcycle club and not a kingdom.
Christine R