Hamlet Vs. Gregory Doran's Film

Costume designers play a crucial role in the film crew because they help further develop the characters feelings and allow the actors to portray a mood. When reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet the audience lacks a visual of wardrobe and only is made aware of what the characters are wearing through stage notes. This can affect the audience’s ability to make a clear decision on whether or not Hamlet’s senseless actions become authentic or are truly “mad with craft”. The costume choices made in Gregory Doran’s film adaptation of Hamlet accurately reflect the characters feelings as portrayed in the play version, while suggesting that Hamlet’s insanity becomes genuine as the film progresses. The character insight that the film’s costuming gives can be

Both Hamlet and his mother appear in a carefree apparel in this chaotic scene. Hamlet’s wrinkled and not completely buttoned white dress shirt and undone black bowtie can represent the ‘unraveling’ of his stability. Gertrude is dressed in a long black wrinkled robe and tossed around hair matching her heartbroken and darkened mood after finding out the truth of King Hamlet’s death. The motif of white and black clothing is seen again when Polonius’ body falls from behind the arras, showing him in a sharp black and white tux. This color choice symbolizes the contrast of light and dark, or good and evil, that is constantly used throughout the films costuming as well as scenery, props, and

In Act IV Scene V, Ophelia’s mental break after learning of her father’s death is suited with a revealing white slip dress scratched up and smeared in dirt from ripping up the dead flowers. Her smudged makeup and frizzy, tangled hair mirror Gertrude’s appearance after also finding out devastating news. Her scandalous stained white dress represent her ruined innocence, possibly at the fault of Hamlet, and serve as a contrast to the King, Queen and Laertes who are all dressed in neater, layered black clothing. Color, quality, and amount of fabric are all used in this scene to benefit the actors ability to portray the emotions of the