Audrey McAleer Professor Styrt ENGL 240: Introduction to Film & Fiction 19 February 2023 Comparative Adaptation Essay After engaging with William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and its subsequent film adaptations, I am interested in analyzing Act 1 Scene 5. During this scene of the original play, the supposed spirit of Hamlet’s father reappears and obliges Hamlet to seek revenge without any further explanation. At this point, the ghost specifically advises Hamlet to execute his plan for making things “right,” and similarly, this motif is seen in both of Hamlet’s adaptations. Diving deeper into the play, I will consider how the treatment of Brangh’s film and The Lion King draw connections to this scene in the original text.
Compared to Shakespeare's Hamlet, Disney's 1994 adaption into The Lion King was meant for a different audience and has a simplified and cutesy version of the problems that are seen in Hamlet. The intent was because Disney wanted to make a profit, and why not turn a classic like Shakespeare's Hamlet into capitalistic gain? Disney kept the vaguest, simplest plot of Hamlet, but nearly everything else was changed in order to accommodate the change in audience. The director chose to keep a skeleton of the major plot points while changing nearly everything about the play that was descriptive or filler. This was done in order to adapt the play into more of a child-friendly version.
Hamlet is one of the most remarkable tragedy plays in the world, thus there are many reproductions to create same sensation. Films of Hamlet are the most famous versions of these and there are so several films created. These include Branagh’s version released in 1996 and Tennant’s version released in 2009. Branagh 's film is four hours long movie trying to create the exact version of story Hamlet on the screen and Tennant’s is three hours long television film, famous because it is a modernized version of Hamlet. Although Branagh’s and Tennant’s versions films have vast differences, they are both be able to convey the play’s theme of madness in their films.
In the ever changing world of literature, one play stands the test and that is William Shakespeare's Hamlet. This dramatic, thrilling, tragic play tells the story of a “young prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who is seeking vengeance for his father’s murder.” () The storyline itself is able to grasp the reader, and take them alongside Hamlet as he slowly takes down his enemies and uncovers the secrets, betrayal, and scheming nature of his family. Aside from the storyline, what makes this play great is the monologues, as well as dialogues between characters. Shakespeare incorporates an array of vivid imagery, metaphors, and exquisite vocabulary to make known the passion and heart behind every single character.
It is no secret that the mothers mentioned in the story Hamlet by Shakespeare and the Disney movie The Lion King are not the most important characters. However, these women have an important yet subtle influence on the plot and their sons. They give love to their offspring, whether unconditionally or occasionally. Queen Gertrude and Queen Sarabi have very blatant similarities, like their reigning status and their sons, but they also have strong differences, like how they react in unfavorable situations, and how they take care of their responsibilities.
Olivia Lynch Mrs. Butterfield AP Lit 5/1/16 When you are ready to dive into the vast world of Shakespeare, you can begin by using what is known as a critical lens. The lens that may help you understand the background details of one of Shakespeare’s plays would be the Historical lens. Although there are many different lens that you can use to interpret a story, the Historical Lens is a great lens to dive into to find what really influenced the great ideas of William Shakespeare as he wrote Hamlet including the role gender plays, the comparison of Elizabeth Tudor, and the religious incorporation throughout the play. First, we can take the Historical Lens and dive into the idea of how gender roles were highly represented in Hamlet
In more ways than one the world of Disney has somewhat interacted in the world of Shakespeare. Hamlet and The Lion King ,all though years apart in the making, have been drafted to be almost similar with little to no differences. They are similar in the ways of the plot and the moral background, but different as far as the ending transition of Hamlet and Simba are combined. The plot of Hamlet and The Lion King alike are about an Uncle to the King, or a heir next in line to the throne trying to gain power. Thus including some of the main characters being the King, the Queen, the King and Queen’s son, the son’s first love, his first loves’ father, two of the son’s instigating friends, and of course the son’s one and only true friend.
The setting of the movie is the first obvious difference that can be seen. The movie was set in New York City, New York in 2000 while the play was set in Elsinore, Denmark in the late middle ages. This greatly affects the way the movie is viewed because it is essentially an entirely different world. In the movie there are video cameras, cars, phones and skyscrapers, all things that obviously weren’t around during Shakespeare’s time. Even if the movie and the play had been based in the same year, the story still would have been slightly different.
Have you ever wanted revenge so bad that you would do whatever it took to get it? From Hamlet to Gladiator, two men went through great struggles to avenge the death of ones they loved. Throughout these stories, each plot has major differences while keeping multiple similarities between the two. Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is a play that tells the story of a young man on a mission to get revenge for his father’s unjust death. Gladiator is a movie that follows the journey of Maximus who chooses the path of a gladiator to avenge his family 's death after the murder of his emperor.
It’s amazing how different directors can interpret the same exact scene in their production of Hamlet. The four scenes of Shakespeare’s Hamlet are unique in their own way with each director breathing life into their production of a classic Shakespeare play. The differences in each production whether subtle or extreme can make or break the film adaptation. The actors, costuming, music and set design also play a pivotal role in comprehending a production such as Hamlet. There are those who appreciate a more pared down simplistic version of Shakespeare’s work or, like myself, yearn for a complete visual masterpiece that not only seduces the eyes but also speaks to the mind as well as the heart.
There are many productions of Hamlet, but the two most popular are the 2009 film featuring David Tennant and the 1996 film featuring Kenneth Branagh. Overall, I believe that Hamlet was portrayed better in the movie with Kenneth Branagh, rather than the movie featuring David Tennant. One of the most significant scenes of the play is Act V Scene 2, where Claudius dies. In the Kenneth Branagh film, the costumes in this scene are very fitting of the time period of when Hamlet was alive. The men were mostly wearing tight pants with trousers and patterned jackets, while the women were all wearing colorful, poofy dresses.
Hamlet is a powerful story of love, life, revenge, and death. The themes within the play are written to live on for eternity. It is difficult to fully and accurately represent a play as great as this one. The movie that we watched in class did not wholly represent the wonders and the magnitude of the themes within Shakespeare’s work.
Shakespeare is one of the world's all-time greatest writers, famous for his tragedies. Many of his stories have been adapted and remade into different things, mainly for movies. One company that does this is Disney, which is known for its animated kids movies. One such instance was the making of The Lion King, which was based on one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Hamlet. The opening song, Circle of Life, has many nods to the original play, such as “There’s far too much to take in here”, representing Hamlet’s mental issues.
Compare and Contrast Lion King and Hamlet After reading the book hamlet and watching the movie Lion King I discovered there were many similarities and differences. Both come from royalty and both fathers are killed by thier uncles that reaper as ghost with helpful advice, although in hamlet the uncle gets the Queen in lion king the uncle does not, hamlet is a tragedy but lion king was a happy ending. First off. Hamlet is the prince of denmark and the son of the tragically murdered King Hamlet. Simba is the son of Mufasa the king of the lions.
In the line one to twenty-two Edmund is speaking on his own on stage, he is trying to understand why he is considered less than his brother. The fact that he is on his own on stage helps us to see how isolated and alone he feels. This shows the effective use of the stage by Shakespeare for his plays and how greatly it impacts the audience as a result. Edmund's pondering offers us insight into his unhappiness. Edmund feels that both brothers should share equality in his father's world.
