VCCS Litonline Introduction to Literature
English 112 (English Composition II)

The Hamlet Site

Study and Essay Questions

Objective for this Page: To analyze the staging elements in one scene.

5. Consider the staging of a crucial scene--Hamlet and Gertrude in the queen's bedroom. How do the staging elements make this scene plausible? It is during this scene when Hamlet turns Gertrude away from Claudius and makes her silent or neutral, if not an ally in his plan against Claudius. Explain how the music, props, costumes, scenery, camera work, blocking (actor's positions and actions, e.g. Hamlet on top of Gertrude and grabbing her medallion), sound effects or special effects (like the ghost), and uses of light, shadow, and color all contribute to making Hamlet's recruiting of Gertrude to his cause believable.

Gather evidence from any movie version to defend your answer to any of these. If no stage or movie version is available to you, pretend you are the stage director or the movie director and explain how you would stage one scene from the play, considering any of the appropriate staging topics.

5.1 Camera: Consider how camera angles mixed with lighting to make viewers aware of the emotions in the bedroom scene.

5.2 Gestures & Expressions: After Hamlet has killed Polonius, consider how Gibson's and Close's gestures and facial expressions show that Hamlet has not become distracted from his purpose--stated before this scene--to win Gertrude to his cause.

5.3 Props and Blocking: How does Hamlet use the contrasting medallions to win Gertrude over? [Glenn Close has said that she and Mel Gibson intended for this to be a very physical scene. Why would they want that? How does it help make Gertrude's shift of allegiance to Hamlet more plausible?]

5.4 Facial Expressions: Compare Gertrude's words and Glenn Close's facial expressions at the moment when Gertrude realizes her mistake.

5.5 Setting and Costumes: During the movie, and especially during this "closet" scene--Hamlet's confrontation with Gertrude in her bedroom--how do bold or bland colors of clothing and surroundings affect the mood of the scene and of the characters. [For instance, Hamlet's black suggests his grief and depression. What do Gertrude's various clothing colors suggest about her attitudes?]

5.6 Props: Trace the symbolism of sword and cup throughout the movie, but pay special attention to the "closet" scene. [Depending on how it's held the sword can be a weapon, a Freudian symbol of male sexuality or power, or a cross.]

5.7 Music: Note how background music may punctuate a character's words or actions--or how silence may--particularly in the "closet" (Gertrude’s bedroom) scene.

The URL for this page is: http://vccslitonline.cc.va.us/studygd5.htm