What Are The Major Dramatic Questions For Hamlet

Action Statement: In Hamlet, many complicated relationships involving a possibly crazy prince Hamlet and outrageous behaviors by all mistakenly leads to the death of the entire royal family.
Major Dramatic Question: I believe the major dramatic question of this play is: Should Hamlet avenge his father’s death? The possible answers to this question would alter the entirety of the play. When the ghost first told Hamlet this in Act I Scene V, Hamlet proclaimed, “Murder!...Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge.” Once Hamlet’s play revealed that Claudius really did murder his father, Hamlet could have kept his hatred inside instead of acting on it. However, that is not what
Hamlet planned to do. Hamlet channeled all of his bitterness and ended up getting the entire royal family killed—even his own mother who he loved despite the fact he basically called her a whore. The major dramatic question involves “vengeance” because Hamlet could have stabbed Claudius when he was praying but he wanted Claudius to go to Hell because of how evil killing King Hamlet was, so Hamlet waited until a latter time in order to attend vengeance.
Knots: Hamlet is a very complex and complicated play. It would be easy as an audience member to feel lost, especially when there are actors on stage speaking Shakespearean with names like Laertes and Ophelia. Some lines could be misunderstood and alter the audience’s view on the play. However, I think it would be fun to direct the scenes, especially at the end of the play when a poisonous cup and a poisonous sword is involved.
Major Topics/Themes/Ideas: One theme that is present throughout this play is the fact that the audience members are left to think their own opinions or think what is true rather than having a clear understanding or certainty of things. An example of this is the Ghost. The audience doesn’t know if this really is the ghost of King Hamlet or if it is a crazy person. We also don’t know if the ghost is telling the truth that Claudius killed him by poisoning his ear to take the kingdom and his wife until later when Hamlet has to create his own play to test and see Claudius’ reaction. Another theme is death. The play starts with the questionable death of Hamlet’s father and ends with the entire royal family dying. Hamlet is suicidal but doesn’t know what happens in the afterlife so he chooses against it. He wants to kill Claudia when he sees him praying after the play but decides against it because he doesn’t want him to go to Heaven. Hamlet’s love Ophelia drowns and the rest die from a stabbing, poison, or both.
Focus of the Play: Personally, I think this play is about love.
It shows it in a twisted, messed up way, but the motivation behind all of the actions is love. Hamlet wants to kill Claudius because he loved his father and believes he deserved more respect than to be poisoned then have his widowed wife sleep with the villain. When Laertes leaves for France, he wants his sister to be happy but he warns her against falling for Hamlet. In Act I Scene III, Laertes says: …Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will: but you must fear, His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own… Much later, Polonius hides behind the curtain while Hamlet talks to Gertrude because Polonius loves Ophelia as well, whom Hamlet was still interested in pursuing. Also, Gertrude may have been called a whore but she was just upset about her husband dying and wanted to feel loved again by a man. I think this play was cynical and full of hatred, but behind his hatred was
love.
Important Quotes or Moments:
1. King Hamlet was indeed murdered. I believe this was one of the most important moments because at this part Hamlet is heavily considering killing his evil uncle.
2. Hamlet kills Polonius through the curtain. At this part there was no way of avoiding confronting King Claudius.
3. “To be or not to be” speech. This was an important moment because Hamlet is contemplating suicide, and if he did commit suicide, the fate of the royal family would be different in the end.
4.
Hamlet is sent away to die in England but pirates attack the boat and he escapes. I think this is a very important moment because it reinforces the theme of death. Many times throughout the play Hamlet is either thinking about killing himself or someone wants to kill him, but he lasts just as long as the rest of the family.
5. The fencing match. This is when the death of the royal family occurs which changes the entire future of the kingdom because now Horatio randomly is the new King.
My Production: If I directed this play, I would have Hamlet be played by an actor who is convincingly depressed and is a very deep, melancholic person. Hamlet is obviously the main character and the play would not be as strong with a poor actor as Hamlet. I would have a very pretty, young, innocent-looking actress play Ophelia. Ophelia is the most innocent character in this play, which may be a reason why Hamlet is attracted to her in the first place. I would probably have the actors not speak Shakespearean in order for the audience to fully understand. I think this is a very powerful play and confusion is bound to happen, especially with all the deaths occurring and people wondering why every person is dying, so 21st century English would help diminish some confusion. Kinesthetically, I would have the actors move around and use up the entire stage. I find that movement helps keep my attention when I am watching a play. I would have the actors over exaggerate their actions, especially during
the fencing match in the end in order for the audience to see who is dying and who is killing who. When everybody is dying, it is hard to understand who killed whom and if it was on purpose or simply on accident