Hamlet: Gossip Girl Style

            I think that it would be very fun to imagine what the play Hamlet would be like if it took place in a Gossip Girl setting. There are many similar themes, characters, and ideas that relate Hamlet to Gossip Girl which would be fun to explore. I think that they could relate because in the play Hamlet, he and his family have a very high social status because they are royal which is much like some of the characters in Gossip Girl. Denmark is like the equivalent of the New York in Gossip Girl. The people with a high status are the ones living in the Upper East Side. Hamlet would be a part of the Upper East Side and live an extremely privileged life. He and his family would have a very high status, which relates to their royal status in the play. Hamlet would be Chuck Bass and King Hamlet would be like a better version of Bart Bass. They are in general a very successful family with an extremely high status.  After Bart’s death, Jack Bass (Bart’s brother) wants to take over Bass Industries and goes to many extreme measures to get what he wants. King Claudius would be similar to a character like Jack Bass.

            If I were to stage Act 3, Scene 2 of Hamlet in a Gossip Girl and modern New York setting, I would have Hamlet be a privileged kid living a rich and fortunate life. He would be focusing on his education, and his father would be in control of a large company, which is why their family is so wealthy. Suddenly his father dies, and he is left to take over the company, but his uncle wants to take over the company as well. His uncle goes to many extremes to try to take over the company and sees Hamlet as a threat. Hamlet finds out that his uncle killed his father with the intentions of taking over the company and tries to get revenge on his uncle. 

            In the actual scene, Hamlet comes up with a plan to put on a play to try to get Claudius to feel so guilty about what he has done that he has to confess. I would keep the intentions of Hamlet’s plan, but change it to something more modern. I would make this more like sabotage and more of a take down by having Hamlet anonymously spread and leek (onto the internet) what his uncle has done to try to cause controversy and make sure that his uncle cannot take over the company.

           

"To Be or Not To Be"

These are two different versions of Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy: 

Hamlet portrayed by Ethan Hawke:

Hamlet portrayed by Kenneth Branagh:

            In the first video, Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet. I think that this is a decent portrayal of Hamlet because it is very different than what is expected. This version was interesting because the soliloquy started off in his head, and during the middle, he began to actually speak. I think this was a unique choice because sometimes when we are talking to ourselves, the thoughts are in are heads. Other times, we talk to ourselves out loud. Even though I thought that it was very interesting to watch, I disagree with some of the choices that the director made. I think that it was strange for Hamlet to just be casually walking around and talking in a video store because the content in his soliloquy is a very serious topic. It seemed to me as if he doesn’t care as much as he should. “To be or not to be” is referring to whether or not he should kill himself, and in my opinion, it did not seem like he was taking the topic seriously.

            I preferred the second portrayal of Hamlet, and I think that Branagh did the soliloquy justice, especially in comparison to Hawke. I really liked how it was filmed with Hamlet in the mirror, and I thought that he did a better job in trying to show the severity of the situation and how Hamlet feels. Hamlet is going back and forth trying to decide whether to kill himself or not. Branagh does a great job showing how serious Hamlet is about the situation and how his thoughts about killing himself are an actual possibility. I thought that the ending of the soliloquy was great because he pulls out a dagger. I read this as a sign of how close he is to killing himself. He pulls out the dagger to show us how close to suicide he really is and how he does not want to deal with the pain and suffering that he is currently experiencing.

            I liked the second video more because I thought that Branagh did a better job emphasizing the point and key topic of the soliloquy. It was a more realistic and believable portrayal of Hamlet’s soliloquy than Hawke’s.