Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Black = Hamlet's Symbol

There is sometimes a color theme or a set of symbols for a story. I believe (from watching and reading along) that it would be appropriate to pair Hamlet with Black. In fact all the mentions of this were very interesting, because in each incidence this same color means something different. The movie also brought attention to this.
Black = Hamlet's Morning
At the very beginning Hamlet is morning his father's resent death, so he wears the traditional color.
In Act 1, sc. 2 this is described in many ways: nighted color, inky cloak, solemn black. And all these point to the "forms, moods, shapes of grief... the trappings and the suits of woe."
Black = Claudius' Damnation
King Claudius, in his soliloquy of remorse and repentance, sees at least in part the wickedness of his murder. In Act 3, sc. 3 he says, "Oh wretched state! Oh bosom black as death!"
Black = Gertrude's Realization
As Hamlet is trying to show his mother the faults of Claudius, she looks inward instead and sees her own part in wickedness. In Act 3, sc. 4 she says "Thou turn'st my eyes into my very soul, and there I see such black and grained spots as will not leave their tinct."
Black = Hamlet's Funeral 
I also loved the end of the movie. I found it ironic that Hamlet received the kind of funeral that he had wished for his father. It had all the army in striking black and a gun salute. It ended with a bang, but was it a good resolution? Hamlet didn't really get his revenge, all his "playing madness" was really what lead to his own downfall.

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