Hamlet is defined as a play of tragedy that was written by William Shakespeare between an uncertain date of 1599 and 1602. The play on tragedy of Hamlet is set in Denmark Kingdom and dramatizes revenge. The revenge is of Prince Hamlet who aims at enacting revenge on his uncle, Claudius. In the play Hamlet, Claudius had involved himself in the murder of his own brother, King Hamlet who is Hamlet’s father and later seized the throne. Further, Claudius engaged in marrying the widow of his deceased brother, Gertrude who is Hamlet’s mother. The play Hamlet is seen as one of the most popular works of Shakespeare and is presently ranked as one of the plays that are performed most. This research paper aims at identifying a moment from the play of Hamlet and for the purpose of this paper I have decided to choose scene one of act one. The scene will be exploited to answer questions that pertain to the play.
This act shows tension and fear because in a castle maximum security is expected. The fear and reactions of the watchman and the officer is significant to the play as it shows that however much the castle is protected, security was still not maximum. With fear of the ghosts that had appeared in the late nights, the watchmen fear so much and only ensure that they speak with fellow humans. This scene is a turning point of the play because it is the time strange things begin to happen and the guards fear for their lives. For the plot that states that the King’s son was to kill his uncle, appearance of the ghost was turning point and for sure the King’s brother was not safe. However much the ghost in this scene did not symbolize the person who would be affected, Horatio is still mentioned to think of an impending misfortune.
It is an important moment for the guards, Hamlet the late King, his son and Claudius. Scene one finds the guards on duty when the ghost appears and this makes them important in the scene. The ghost did not appear to the King’s son or even his brother and any relative but only the guards and the officer. The moment gives the workers importance because the ghost was only passing some message through them but not anybody else. The guards Horatio, Bernado, Marcellus and others had important moments during their duties and it was their role to either disclose what they saw or not. Hamlet the King also has an important moment because it is in this scene that a ghost appeared in his own image. The dead King was resembled by the ghost and the ghost had even put on the King’s armor that he wore during his battles. It is the moment of The Late King Hamlet and he could as well be passing some information in the form of a ghost. Having in mind that the King had been murdered by his own brother, his ghost appearance could symbolize revenge unto the castle. Hamlet the King’s son had a moment because the guards wanted to tell him what they had seen thus he could be consulted about his father’s ghost. Being that Claudius was the murderer of King Hamlet, he has greatest significance at this moment. The ghost appeared armed with the weapons and dressing that the late King used for war and most probably the King had come for revenge unto his murderer. Having in mind that the brother to the King was the murderer the theme discloses that another person would die out of revenge. It is just that the ghost did not disclose whoever would die and whoever was going to commit the murder thus the theme of Claudius plot to be killed is disclosed.
Research gives production of Hamlet’s play in different years thus the identified productions are chronologically arranged. The identified three separate productions are ranked in the twenty first century, nineteenth century and twentieth century. The nineteenth century productions occurred in the early Victorian eras. It is in this era of production that Shakespearean performances had the highest quality. This production era attracted actors from London and they included; Cooke, Brutus, Kean, Macready and Kemble. Actor Edmund Kean became the first Hamlet who abandoned regal finery in the role of plain costume and went to play Hamlet as a serious introspective. During the nineteenth century productions, the story of the play became intelligible (Mategrano et al, 65). This took quite the attention of the audience at times from the principal actors. The play that was performed by Forbes-Robertson gained praises as the performance ended with a sideswipe. Hamlet became assimilated in to the culture of Germans and a spawn from Ferdinand stated that “Germany is Hamlet”. Hamlet did not only get to the cultures of many but also had transformation to folk dances and several songs. The productions of Hamlet during the nineteenth century thus attracted many characters, praises and modifications into more fun and presentations. The nineteenth century presentations also had western troupes visit for more entertainment.
The productions of twentieth century gave Hamlet its first performance that was professional. The first professional performance was done at Japan and was called “Otojiro Kawakami”. Shoyo Tsubouch had Hamlet translated and produced another performance called Shingeki with new styles called Kubuki for presentations purposes. It is in this period that Hemlet acquired a hybrid genre that reached the play’s height in Fukuda Tsuneari. This century marked a production of an acclaimed version of the Hamlet with a style of Noh and was taken to London (Platt et al, 56). Production of the play had its history in the Moscow Art Theatre. It is in this theatre that production that theatre practitioners, Gordon Craig and Stanislavski collaborated to come up with further better productions and performances. For this production, its every aspect would undergo subjugation to the protagonist of the play. Archetypal and symbolic figures like murder and madness were presented on stage in every scene and this period was just an advancement of the play, Hamlet.
The twenty first century mentions production of many titles developed and roles. Jude Law had the title role and was joined by Ron Cook and many other actors. Further productions about the play ran at the Ellsinore Castle of Denmark. Previews of the most recent production ran for about a month and the most cast that was original moved with the production to New York in the late moments of 2009. Changes in the play were incorporated and included in the final production. Ross Armstrong was among the new to be incorporated into the play and they were later featured in the productions ( Wilcock et al, 90).
The first scene of act one is staged by addition of actors as the play moves on. Actors who initially open the play are Bernado and Francisco. Later, Horatio and Marcellus emerge then the play begins to increase in number of actors. Appearances of the ghost are also a representation of increase of actors as the story continues. It is evident that the actors were only staged when their role was in action. When an actor’s role was inactive the actor could not be staged and this is evident when Bernado replaces Francisco then Francisco ceases to be heard or seen.
The scene stages its play in a mood of war and revenge. The ghost that appeared to the guards symbolized war with the clothing of the late King. The guard Horatio answered Marcellus by saying the Danish army was preparing for an invasion by Fortinbras. There seems to be lack of peace in the staging and everyone is thinking of what might happen, either war or death. Specific time and weather is also staged in the presentation. It is said in this first scene that it was at night that these things happened and the ghost appeared. No other time is mentioned whether morning came or evening. For the weather, it is said to have been very cold and even made the first guard Francisco get to bed after replacement by Bernado. No other condition is stated in this scene and it is impossible to know whether the weather became warm, hot or even colder later.
In concluding, the most successful production was the one of twentieth century. The production of this century was professional and translated for better understanding. For plays, translation is important because the audiences differ and plays can get across continents yet they are expected to entertain every audience irrespective of the language. The productions of the twentieth century solved the issue of language barrier in entertainment. Playa can as well be presented at different times and ages thus they should never be fixed but modified to fit the ages of performance. In a professional age with professional audiences, plays should as well be professional. In a period of a particular or an upcoming language, plays should as well be flexible to fit the audience. New styles for presentation purposes came up in the twentieth century and for plays, styles are important in entertaining the audience and most when each style matches the audience. Presentation of symbolic figures like death and war came up. It is not easy to have such sensitive symbols but since the Hamlet play involved such actions of death, they were developed. It is in the twentieth century that figures of symbols like ghosts to represent death were established and fro sure this was the most successful production of the play, Hamlet.
As the frame talks about a scene of Hamlet and several productions of the play, the entire first scene is analyzed into details. The play is analyzed using the actors over time and many productions relating to the play with different modifications including the professional modifications. Actors like Coon and Kemble are mentioned to be among the first actors in the production of Hamlet play with an origin of London. The directors became numerous depending with the period and one includes Gordon Craig.
Works Cited
Platt, Peter G. Shakespeare and the Culture of Paradox. Farnham, England: Ashgate, 2009. Internet resource.
Mategrano, Terri, and Sidney Lamb. Shakespeare's Hamlet. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc, 2000. Internet resource.
Wilcock, Mike. Hamlet--the Shakespearean Director. Dublin: Carysfort Press, 2002. Print.
