ENGL 339: Shakespeare Dr. Debora B. Schwartz English Department, California Polytechnic State University   Hamlet: Video Questions All video assignments are to be typed and brought with you to class.  For each assigned video, you will provide eight numbered responses. Each of four questions is to be answered TWICE: once for yourself, prior to seeing the video, based upon your informed understanding of the play; a second time after screening the video, when you will answer the same questions about the video (in this case, Laurence Olivier's 1948 production of Hamlet).  Type up your responses and bring them with you to class. They will be collected and graded periodically and at the end of the quarter.  Remember that you must answer the two general questions for any Shakespeare video AND the two specific questions for this play TWICE:  once based on your OWN informed understanding of the text, PRIOR to seeing the video.  Then ask yourself the SAME questions about the REQUIRED screening of Laurence Olivier's 1948 production of Hamlet (145 min.; see it in library 202 at scheduled screening times or on your own before last class devoted to Hamlet).  The second time, answer the questions as you believe Olivier would, based upon your attentive viewing of the video and informed knowledge of the text. Type up your answers, CLEARLY NUMBERED, and bring them with you to class on the day of the video discussion (see class calendar).  There are two ways you can organize this assignment:  Write two separate sections of four questions each, the first on YOUR understanding of the play prior to seeing the video (clearly labelling the questions 1-4) and the second on the DIRECTOR'S understanding of the play, based on the video screened (answer the same four questions, labelling them 5-8 or II.1, II.2 II.3 II.4).  In this case, the organization of your paper will be section I (My Interpretation) with questions I.1, I.2, I.3, I.4; and section II. (The Director's Interpretation) with questions II.1 (or 5), II.2 (or 6), II.3 (or 7), II.4 (or 8).  BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE ANSWERED AND CLEARLY LABELLED ALL 8 QUESTIONS! Organize the paper in four separate sections, one for each question.  In each section, you will include at least two paragraphs, the first giving YOUR answer prior to screening the video (numbered 1a, 2a, 3a, or 4a) and the second trying to give the DIRECTORS's answers to the same four questions, based on the videos screened (label them 1b, 2b, 3b, and 4b).  In this case, the organization of your paper will be: 1a, 1b; 2a, 2b; 3a, 3b; 4a, 4b.  The "a" answers are YOUR responses prior to seeing the video, based upon your OWN informed understanding of the text.  The "b" answers are how you think the director of the video screened might have answered the same questions, based upon your attentive viewing of the video. State your interpretation clearly (it is your thesis) and support it textually (cite specific textual passages with act, scene and line numbers). For the video, cite both text and specific non-textual details from the video screened.      General Questions to answer prior to screening ANY Shakespeare video:  1) What is the central issue in this play? (What is it really about?) Upon what speeches/textual passages is my (or is the director's) understanding of this issue and its central importance based? (In the case of Olivier's Hamlet, pay attention to the voiceover after the opening sequence and credits,  "this is the story of. . . ",  which explicitly states one of the things Olivier considers Hamlet to be "about":  2) What non-textual details would I use (or are used in the video) to get this message across? Consider the contributions of director, actors, set and lighting designers, costumers, choreographers, musicians, cinematographers, etc. -- NOT elements common to ANY production of the play (such as plot lines or speeches that are in the script regardless of the director's interpretation).  Specific questions for Hamlet: 3)  "Method in their madness?"  Is Hamlet really sane throughout, or does he teeter on the edge of madness?  In watching the video, note Olivier's use of voiceover (speeches which we hear on the soundtrack, but which the character does not say aloud).  When there is a mixture of voiceover and direct speech, consider how Hamlet would appear to another character in the film, who does NOT hear the voiceover.  What must Gertrude think when he sees the ghost for the second time?  Note also Ophelia's behavior in the mad scene immediately before her drowning.  Does she know what she is doing?  Is her drowning a tragic accident or a deliberate choice?  4) Repressed sexuality.  What are Hamlet's feelings for Gertrude? How do you explain his intense interest in her sexuality?  Does Hamlet truly love Ophelia?  Why is he cruel to her?  For video, what image is "zeroed in on" as the camera descends through the castle (after the famous line "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," transposed from I.iv to the end of I.i), just before I. ii begins? Click here for Hamlet Study Questions Click here for information on Establishing the Text of Hamlet Click here for information on Revenge Tragedy Click here for information about Tragedy Click here for Macbeth Study Guide Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1996-2002  Return to ENGL 339 Home Page Return to Dr. Schwartz's Teaching Page Return to Dr. Schwartz's Home Page Send me mail!