BLOG 9
PROMPT 1.
“THERE’S A DIVINITY THAT SHAPES OUR ENDS”

Divinity is the will of god. Important matters are decided by a
divine force, however much humans try to plan their lives. An
individual has little power over what he / she will become.
Hamlet said these words and believes that we have no control
over our lives. We do not know what will happen to us. Hamlet
– a student studying in Wittenberg had a life full of joy when
suddenly his life changed after coming to know about his
father’s death. He even had not imagined his mother’s marriage
to his uncle. At that moment he was angered, full of sorrow, had
fear, and was disgusted at his mother’s behavior. His mother and
his uncle decided to get married after 2 months of his father
death.
Hamlet’s actions changed from the very moment when he saw his father’s ghost. He lost his mind and decided to kill Claudius, who was now wearing his father’s crown. I believe that one’s fate is not shaped by divinity but it’s in our own hands and in the actions we commit. In the whole play hamlet took so long to kill Claudius. At once he got really good opportunity to kill Claudius but then he did not want to kill him while he was praying. In Elizabethan period people believed that a person will not go to hell if he is killed while praying or after he has finished praying .but in the case of hamlet, he was so determined to send his uncle to hell but at that moment may be his luck did not favored on his side because Claudius was praying at that time. I really don’t understand that why hamlet had to think so much while killing Claudius? If we have so much hatred towards another person, we do not think of any circumstances, instead we just finish doing what we have intended to do. While killing Polonius, he did not even think once …..He just kept stabbing the person behind the curtain.

I certainly do not believe that “there’s a divinity that shapes our ends”. All we do is controlled by ourselves. Like in hamlet he decided his own fate. His actions and his behavior led to his dead in the end. He even lost the girl (Ophelia) who cared and loved him so much and that was because Ophelia was so much in grief of her father’s death, and after that ,all she wanted was love from hamlet. He was absorbed in his thought for most of the time, and couldn’t think properly what he wanted to do next. Hamlet’s action and his behavior ruined him and led to no where , lastly his conscious mind left in the death of so many innocent people.

HAMLET SILOLOQUY

BLOG 7
HAMLET ACT 1:

1). KENNETH BRANAGH: Of all the four soliloquies I enjoyed Branagh’s performance the most. He shows a sense of sadness when he wishes to die and commit a suicide. Then slowly he starts showing his anger towards his mother and his uncle. He very well explains each line by his hand and face expressions. He stresses his words more when he recalls how passionately she had loved his father. Confusion, depression, anger describes Branagh’s performance.

2).KEVIN KLINE: He has a deep sadness in his tone. His getting down on his knees gave a little extra touch on his performance. His tears show how deeply he is disappointed with his mother being married to his uncle. Throughout his act he mostly stays in the same tone but there were only a couple of lines where he was recalling his dead father while comparing Hyperion to a Satyr.

3).NICOL WILLIAMS: In the beginning there is not much of anger or sadness in his voice it’s only at the end of soliloquy where he performs a little hand and face expressions. He does not show much of his emotions throughout his soliloquy. The mood that can describe Nicole’s performance may be sadness and grief.

4). MEL GIBSON: In my view I felt that Gibson’s performance was the weakest of all the four soliloquies. He does not show any sign of anger, frustration or sadness but he is not happy to see his mother getting married with his uncle. He has no change in his tone and more or less his face actions remain the same throughout his whole performance.
I found Kenneth Branagh’s performance to be the best above all the other four soliloquies. He mostly shows all emotions in his voice and actions such as anger , confusion , frustration, grief , disappointment and many more.