'Hamlet'

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the contrast of the female characters in "Hamlet", as portrayed in two 20th century film productions: Lawrence Olivier's 1948 production and Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version.

From the Paper:

"Shortly after this sequence, Hamlet bursts into his first soliloquy, and through this "textual transposition," placing the Ophelia scene immediately after the first soliloquy...a direct link is created between Hamlet's sense of sexual betrayal in Gertrude's "dexterous posting" between "incestuous sheets" with his uncle Claudius and Ophelia's refusal of him as a chaste or sexual lover. (Dawson 178; "Hamlet" I.2) The former seems likely, given that the actress who plays Ophelia seems so innocent, blond and docile to her father and brother's wishes, in contrast to the young, sensual brunette Gertrude. Oliver's Gertrude hardly seems old enough to have a mature son, although she also seems anything but innocent in the caressing way she behaves towards Oliver, even at the outset of the film."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dashille, Chris. "Hamlet." 1999. Cinescene. [26 Nov 2006]< http://www.cinescene.com/dash/flicks101999.html>
• Dawson, Andrew. Hamlet. Shakespeare in Performance Series. General Editors JR. Mulryne and J.C. Bulman. New York: Manchester University Press, 1995.
• "Hamlet." Directed by Lawrence Oliver. 1948.
• "Hamlet." Directed by Kenneth Branagh. 1996.
• Pennington, Michael. Hamlet: A User's Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.

More papers on 'Hamlet':

• Analytical Essay # 5961 : "Hamlet"
• Analytical Essay # 4431 : "Hamlet": Act III Scene II"
• Analytical Essay # 3438 : "Reading Hamlet as a Murder Mystery"
• Analytical Essay # 2086 : "The Other Type Of Hero: The Tragedy of Hamlet"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: