Hamlet Breakdown - Grade: A- PDF

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A breakdown of the play Hamlet with an outline on how to fill out the breakdown. O'Hara ...

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GROUP 10 RHEA BRADLEY, SUSAN HARRIS, KASSIDY HAYSLETT, CHLOE KINCADE, GRAEME MAHON, MARK MAXWELL, LEXI RAMIREZ, VICTOR ROSADO, LUIS SANCHEZ, SAVANNAH SEXTON, RILEY SIGLER, HANNAH WHITLEY, HALEY WILSON

FINAL DRAFT Major Characters: ● Ghost of Hamlet (Hamlet Sr.)- Hamlet’s father, the previous king of Denmark, brother to Claudius ● King Claudius- Uncle of Hamlet, married to Gertrude, new king of Denmark ● Queen Gertrude- Widow, second husband is Claudius, queen of Denmark ● Prince Hamlet- Son of Gertrude, next heir to throne ● Polonius- Father to Laertes and Ophelia, a lord ● Laertes- Brother of Ophelia ● Ophelia- The admirer of Hamlet, daughter to Polonius ● Fortinbras- Prince of Norway, father killed by Hamlet’s father, wishes to avenge his father’s death ● Horatio- Friend of Hamlet, lives to hear Hamlet’s apology Status Quo: Takes place in the 1600’s in Denmark. King Hamlet has passed away, his brother Claudius takes the throne and marries Queen Gertrude. Hamlet enters a deep depression because of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. Inciting Incident: Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and is told he has been murdered by his brother, Claudius. Major Actions: ● The ghost of King Hamlet reveals he has been murdered by Claudius and urges Hamlet to avenge his death. ● Hamlet confides in Horatio with his plan to act mad. ● Polonius confides in Gertrude and Claudius about Hamlet’s strange behavior which he believes stems from Hamlet’s love for Ophelia. ● Claudius, Polonius and Gertrude plan to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on Hamlet. ● Hamlet, still uneasy about murdering his uncle, decides to use the play as a way to see if Claudius is guilty. ● Hamlet discovers that Claudius is responsible for his father's death. ● Hamlet pleads to Gertrude that Claudius killed Hamlet Senior.

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Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Claudius and stabs him through the curtain. Claudius, fearing Hamlet, attempts to dispose of him. Claudius plans for Hamlet’s death at the hands of Laertes during the duel. Hamlet kills Laertes with his own sword during the duel. Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for his mother and father’s death and that he is poisoned and will die soon. ● Hamlet stabs and kills Claudius. ● Hamlet dies, but not before telling Horatio to clear his name and make Fortinbras king.

Logline: In the play Hamlet, Hamlet wants to avenge his father so that he can be put to rest. Themes/Subject: Revenge. Revenge outweighs family ties. Connections/Tone: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, written by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, revolves around a vengeful man looking to punish the man who exiled him to try to be with his wife. Sweeney Todd and Hamlet are similar characters in the sense that they are both looking to punish the people who have in some way ruined their lives. The part of the shows that we relate are in Hamlet Act II Scene IV when Hamlet kills Polonius through the tapestry after thinking that Claudius was behind the tapestry, to the final scene of Sweeney Todd, in which Todd kills his wife without realizing who she is because she is threatening to expose Todd as a murderer. The connection between these two shows will be portrayed through the set design. The Scream by Edvard Munch: According to artist Edvard Munch this piece of artwork is an outward expression of emotions he happened to be feeling around that time, with anxiety being a major one. The same can be said for Hamlet throughout the play. The specific part of the play that caused us to pair it with this specific piece of artwork happens during Act III Scene III of Hamlet. During this scene Hamlet walks in on King Claudius not only confessing that he killed Hamlet Sr., but also repenting for doing so. Hamlet, being anxious during Claudius’s entire soliloquy contemplates whether or not to end his life right then and there. This is the case because of what Hamlet says in the play “Now might I did it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now i’ll do ‘t. And so he goes to heaven. And so a, I revenged- That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. In the end Hamlet decides that that is not the right time to end Claudius’ life.

Synopsis: Hamlet loses his will to live after his father, the King, passes away. Neither Hamlet nor the ghost of his father can be put to rest before Hamlet has conquered the quest to avenge his father’s

death. He embarks on this quest by investigating within his family, aiming to expose his uncle Claudius for poisoning his father. Hamlet takes this to the extreme, putting on an entire play for the court mirroring the actions Hamlet expects Claudius to have taken against his father. Once he exposes Claudius for his crimes, Hamlet stabs Claudius. Hamlet has finally completed the task delegated to him by his father. Depleted by the immense weight of all the blood on his hands, Hamlet collapses and dies by the poisoned sword used in the duel between him and Laertes.

Production: Our production will have a minimalist set, a castle but with no extravagance. We will only use set pieces to suggest location on an empty stage because Hamlet has impermanence in the material world. The set will be built solely with grayscale and whites. The cast will be the only source of color onstage; the characters are the only valuable means to Hamlet’s end. The pictures created onstage act as a view into Hamlet’s mind: He no longer cares about his place in the world, he has tunnel vision honing in on his relationships with other characters and finding out who committed the crime against his father. We will use the color scheme from The Scream to provide a color scheme for the costumes in our production. This will help set the tone for our production overall. For costume design, we will have the Ghost in a bright color because as a manifestation of Hamlet’s late father, he is the only person that Hamlet cares about. Ophelia starts in bright colors and gets duller as she starts out as an important person to Hamlet, and then slowly becomes less of a driving force in his life. Gertrude will be wearing dull colors with small bright accents to show that she has betrayed Hamlet Sr. by remarrying so quickly but also to show that she is still somewhat important to Hamlet. The remaining characters will only wear dull colors, as Hamlet does not care for them that much. Hamlet starts in the colors of The Scream, but as the show progresses, more red and more red elements appear as he gets more blood on his hands. We will add imagery with blood like the red wine that Hamlet’s mother will be drinking when she gets poisoned. The blood imagery strengthens our production’s similarity to Sweeney Todd, and will help highlight the bloodier moments in the show, all points of strong action.

FIRST DRAFT Major Characters: ● Ghost of Hamlet-Hamlet’s father, the pass king of Denmark, brother to Claudius ● King Claudius- Uncle of Hamlet, married to Gertrude, new king of Denmark ● Queen Gertrude- Widow, second husband is Claudius, queen of Denmark ● Prince Hamlet-Son of Gertrude, next heir to thrown ● Polonius- Father to Laertes and Ophelia, a lord ● Laertes- Brother of Ophelia ● Ophelia- The admirer of Hamlet, daughter to Polonius ● Fortinbras- Prince of Norway, father killed by Hamlet’s father, wishes to avenge his father’s death ● Horatio- Friend of Hamlet, lives to hear Hamlet’s apology Status Quo: Takes place in the 1600’s in Denmark. Old King has passed away, his brother Claudius takes the throne and marries Queen Gertrude. Hamlet enters a deep depression because of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. Inciting Incident: Ghost of Hamlet confronts Prince Hamlet and tells him to avenge his death. Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and is told he was been murdered by by his brother, Claudius. Major Actions: ● The ghost of King Hamlet reveals he has been murdered by Claudius and urges Hamlet to avenge his death ● Hamlet confides in Horatio of his plan to act mad ● Polonius confides in Gertrude and Claudius of Hamlet’s strange behavior (that he believes stems from Hamlet’s love for Ophelia) ● Claudius, Polonius and Gertrude plan to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet ● Hamlet still uneasy about murdering his uncle decides to use the play as a way to see if Claudius is guilty ● Hamlet discovers that Claudius is responsible for his father's death ● Hamlet pleads to Gertrude that Claudius killed Hamlet Senior ● Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Claudius and stabs him through the curtain ● Claudius, fearing Hamlet, attempts to dispose of Hamlet ● Claudius plans for Hamlet’s death (through executed in England and Laertes to murder Hamlet during a duel) ● Hamlet Kills Laertes on his own sword during the duel

● Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for his mother and father’s death and that he is poisoned and will die soon ● Hamlet Stabs and kills Claudius ● Hamlet dies and tells Horatio to clear his name and make Fortinbra king. Logline: Hamlet’s tryna die but doesn’t wanna disappoint his dad. Change? Just a starting idea. Themes/Subject: vengeance? Wanting to die? Connections/Tone: Sweeney Todd because murder and revenge Jekyll and Hyde because everybody’s crazy The Scream by Edvard Munch because it’s a mood (also it’s spooky)

Synopsis: Hamlet is a guy who likes death. He wants to die but also he wants to help out his pal Hamlet Sr. because he got murdered. He goes on a quest to avenge his father’s death, aiming to expose claudius for poisoning his father through his theatrical acts. Once he achieves this revelation and Claudius dies, Hamlet has completed his task. Depleted by the immense weight of all the blood on his hands, Hamlet collapses and dies by the poisoned sword used in the duel between him and Laertes.

Production: Imagery with blood (red wine, red costumes) Hamlet starts in black and more red elements appear as he get more blood on his hands Hamlet but it’s Spongebob (underwater)

Minimalist set because Hamlet only wants to kill himself, a castle but with no extravagance Ghost in brights, Hamlet in brights because only the things in color are things he cares about (ophelia starts in brights and gets duller, Gertrude in some brights?)

SECOND DRAFT Major Characters:

● Ghost of Hamlet (Hamlet Sr.)- Hamlet’s father, the previous king of Denmark, brother to Claudius ● King Claudius- Uncle of Hamlet, married to Gertrude, new king of Denmark ● Queen Gertrude- Widow, second husband is Claudius, queen of Denmark ● Prince Hamlet- Son of Gertrude, next heir to throne ● Polonius- Father to Laertes and Ophelia, a lord ● Laertes- Brother of Ophelia ● Ophelia- The admirer of Hamlet, daughter to Polonius ● Fortinbras- Prince of Norway, father killed by Hamlet’s father, wishes to avenge his father’s death ● Horatio- Friend of Hamlet, lives to hear Hamlet’s apology Status Quo: Takes place in the 1600’s in Denmark. King Hamlet has passed away, his brother Claudius takes the throne and marries Queen Gertrude. Hamlet enters a deep depression because of his father’s death and his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. Inciting Incident: Ghost of Hamlet confronts Prince Hamlet and tells him to avenge his death. Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and is told he has been murdered by by his brother, Claudius. Major Actions: ● The ghost of King Hamlet reveals he has been murdered by Claudius and urges Hamlet to avenge his death. ● Hamlet confides in Horatio with his plan to act mad. ● Polonius confides in Gertrude and Claudius about Hamlet’s strange behavior which he believes stems from Hamlet’s love for Ophelia. ● Claudius, Polonius and Gertrude plan to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on Hamlet. ● Hamlet, still uneasy about murdering his uncle, decides to use the play as a way to see if Claudius is guilty. ● Hamlet discovers that Claudius is responsible for his father's death. ● Hamlet pleads to Gertrude that Claudius killed Hamlet Senior. ● Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Claudius and stabs him through the curtain. ● Claudius, fearing Hamlet, attempts to dispose of him. ● Claudius plans for Hamlet’s death at the hands of Laertes during the duel. ● Hamlet kills Laertes with his own sword during the duel. ● Laertes tells Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for his mother and father’s death and that he is poisoned and will die soon. ● Hamlet stabs and kills Claudius. ● Hamlet dies, but not before telling Horatio to clear his name and make Fortinbras king.

Logline: In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s tryna kill himself but doesn’t wanna disappoint his father by not avenging him. Themes/Subject: vengeance? Revenge? Sorrow? Remorse? Wanting to die? Connections/Tone: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, written by Hugh Wheeler with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, revolves around a vengeful man looking to punish the man who exiled him to try to be with his wife. Sweeney Todd and Hamlet are similar characters in the sense that they are both looking to punish the people who have in some way ruined their lives. The part of the shows that we relate are in Hamlet Act II Scene IV when Hamlet kills Polonius through the tapestry after thinking that Claudius was behind the tapestry, to the final scene of Sweeney Todd, in which Todd kills his wife without realizing who she is because she is threatening to expose Todd as a murderer. The connection between these two shows will be portrayed through the set design. The Scream by Edvard Munch: According to artist Edvard Munch this piece of artwork is an outward expression of emotions he happened to be feeling around that time, with anxiety being a major one. The same can be said for Hamlet throughout the play. The specific part of the play that caused us to pair it with this specific piece of artwork happens during Act III Scene III of Hamlet. During this scene Hamlet walks in on King Claudius not only confessing that he killed Hamlet Sr., but also repenting for doing so. Hamlet, being anxious during Claudius’s entire soliloquy contemplates whether or not to end his life right then and there. This is the case because of what Hamlet says in the play “Now might I did it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now i’ll do ‘t. And so he goes to heaven. And so a, I revenged- That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. In the end Hamlet decides that that is not the right time to end Claudius’ life.

Synopsis: Hamlet loses his will to live after his father, the King, passes away. Neither Hamlet nor the ghost of his father can be put to rest before Hamlet has conquered the quest to avenge his father’s death. He embarks on this quest by investigating within his family, aiming to expose his uncle Claudius for poisoning his father. Hamlet takes this to the extreme, putting on an entire play for the court mirroring the actions Hamlet expects Claudius to have taken against his father. Once he exposes Claudius for his crimes, Hamlet stabs Claudius. Hamlet has finally completed the task delegated to him by his father. Depleted by the immense weight of all the blood on his hands, Hamlet collapses and dies by the poisoned sword used in the duel between him and Laertes.

Production: Minimalist set because Hamlet only wants to kill himself, a castle but with no extravagance. The set will be built solely with grayscale and whites.The cast will be the only source of color onstage. This acts as a view into Hamlet’s mind: He no longer cares about his place in the world, he has tunnel vision honing in on his relationships with other characters and finding out who committed the crime against his father. We will use the color scheme from the scream to provide a color scheme for the costumes in our production. This will help set the tone for our production overall. For costume design, we will have the Ghost in brights, Hamlet in brights because only the things in color are things he cares about. (Ophelia starts in brights and gets duller, Gertrude in some brights?) but as the show progresses Hamlet ends up getting more red and more red elements appear as he gets more blood on his hands. We will add Imagery with blood like the red wine that Hamlet’s mother will be drinking when she gets poison....