Analysis : Hamlet
In Marvin Rosenberg’s Masks of Hamlet, Rosenberg argues, “In every single scene in which Hamlet appears – and this also goes for the other characters – choices must be made. Almost always something crucial is at stake” (xi). Rosenberg discusses the possibilities for playing Hamlet which he describes in a dichotomy ranging from sweet to powerful, but he warns “Every distinguished actor in the role has reached toward both extremes, and has touched many notes in between” (92). He then goes on to describe how he categorizes each different Hamlet stating, “I have found that by regarding a Hamlet actor from one of the two perspectives, and by identifying him partly by how much he varies from it, I am helped most effectively to organize this discussion of how the multitude of stage Hamlets…have illuminated this character” (92). It is Rosenberg’s character analysis that has induced the creation of this site and its accompanying analysis of each actor.
Our analysis on will begin on the “sweet” end of the dichotomy. Rosenberg states that “A purely sweet Hamlet makes love to his audiences. He feeds on pathos: he is gentle, tender, soulful, a victim he must be driven to violence” (93). One “sweet” Hamlet that is mentioned in the database is that of Simon Russell Beale, who played the young Dane in a 2000 production by John Caird. Beale’s Hamlet is inherently sweet and is ultimately changed by the events happening around him. He is forced, by his father’s ghost, to avenge his death. The “sweet” Hamlet is one that’s downfall audiences can pity and thus makes the play a true tragedy.
Another frequent portrayal of Hamlet is the “revenge-hero” who is sparked into action after meeting with his father’s ghost and shows courage throughout his quest to avenge his father. Sarah Bernhardt’s Hamlet was a “revenge- hero” Hamlet. Bernhardt “endows Hamlet with a simple motive and so sees a purposeful character" (Wood 182). Rosenberg states that “the frequent elimination of his indecision – deliberate or rationalized – about killing Claudius at prayer…with the waverings gone. Hamlet could be so much more the revenge- hero” (94). The revenge- hero Hamlet is still one that the audience sides with, roots for, and mourns after his untimely death.
At the very basic entity of the play, you get a Prince whose line of succession is interrupted by his father’s untimely death and his mother’s hasty marriage. Some actors, and directors, choose to play upon this idea and create a “Princely” Hamlet who is usually also political. The Princely Hamlet “is clearly a favorite with the soldiers on guard, and with the mass of people… his stature will be a prince’s: he will bear himself nobly, his shoulders straighter, his head higher, than those of most other men” (Rosenberg 168). One man who played Hamlet in a Princely manner was James E. Murdoch in 1845. Murdoch was described as "a graceful and dignified Prince" citing his calculated and distinguished diction aiding him in this effect (Brown 92).
A characterization of Hamlet on the stage that has been very popular is playing up his witty remarks as well as his philosophical background to make him the intelligent Hamlet. Hamlet is a Wittenberg scholar, which is written into the text, and sometimes played upon by the actor/ director. With an intellectual Hamlet, “the brain is felt to be at work, the lines are crisp and clear-cut” (Rosenberg 136). Benedict Cumberbatch played an intelligent Hamlet in the 2015 production directed by Lyndsey Turner. Cumberbatch’s Hamlet created scheme’s during his soliloquies and carried them out in public through his feigned antic- disposition. Cumberbatch switches flawlessly between convincing the audience of his madness by spewing his lines out in fits and reassuring the audience of his sanity through his eloquent soliloquies.
Another characterization that Hamlet has been played as is depressed or melancholic (described by Rosenberg as “Psychic Entity” (179)). Instead of contemplating the meaning of human existence, like the intelligent Hamlet, the depressed Hamlet is really considering suicide. The melancholic Hamlet is usually very passive and is “able to achieve his revenge almost in spite of himself” (Rosenberg 179). In Michael Almereyda’s 2000 production of Hamlet featuring Ethan Hawke in the title role, the Danish prince fits the “depressed” architype perfectly. Hawke dons dark clothing throughout the entire film, his soliloquies are internalized and quiet, he is frequently seen lying in his bed surrounded by food wrappers, and “To be or not to be” is said while Hawke watches a video of himself holding a gun to his head.
When feigned madness bleeds over into Hamlet’s psyche we get to see a Hamlet that is irrational and ready to explode at any instance. A “mad” Hamlet is an unpredictable one and “the constant threat of outbreak can make him the most powerful and dangerous of Hamlets” (Rosenberg 151). In Mel Gibson’s portrayal of Hamlet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1991 production, Gibson’s Hamlet gradually breaks down into his maddened state. The culmination of Gibson’s mad Hamlet comes in Act III scene iv where Gibson lets out a guttural yell as he fights with his mother, Gertrude (Glenn Close).
And finally, the opposite end of Rosenberg’s spectrum, the “powerful” Hamlet. Rosenberg argues that, “the essential problem, as always with so powerful a Hamlet – unless…he can sublimate his power into meditation – is the mystery of his hesitation” (132). A powerful, manly Hamlet would surely not hesitate in exacting revenge on Claudius, which is why a little “sweet” Hamlet is usually found in the mix with a “powerful” Hamlet. Jude Law’s 2009 performance of Hamlet directed by Michael Grandage exhibited the qualities of a “powerful” Hamlet. Law’s Hamlet showed the harsh, raw energy that surrounds the powerful Hamlet. Law’s Hamlet was comprised of shouting and harsh, quick, exaggerated movements throughout the performance.
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