"Hamlet" and "The Glass House"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the parallels in character, plot, and theme that can be drawn between the suspense film, "The Glass House," and Shakespeare's famous play, "Hamlet." The paper points out the parallels that can be seen in terms of the privileged status of the characters of both stories, the discovery of the truth by the main characters, and their feelings of revenge. The paper then goes on to discuss whether the parallels to Hamlet that are seen in "The Glass House" enhance or detract from the film.

From the Paper:

"Although Shakespeare's play does have a prominent part in the film itself and in the parallels of the plot, the film's connection to the play itself is fairly loose. Not everybody in the film dies, for example. Things turn out well when Ruby and her brother end up as charges of the uncle, whereas in "Hamlet" the uncle is the villain. Furthermore, both of Ruby's parents are murdered, whereas Hamlet's father alone is murdered at the beginning of the play. And of course the most important point of tension is the absence of anything ghostly in the film. Ruby does not see her parents' ghosts, but is left to discover the guilt of her guardians by herself. The violence of the revenge however matches the end of Hamlet, where a sword fight culminates in the death of both villain and hero."

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