Understanding Play Structure &Hamlet

Week2段馨君 副教授國立交通大學人文社會學系

Play Structure

• Virtually all plays are divided into what has come to be called three-act structure.

• Act 1 : exposition– having a lot of introductory element

• Act 2 : complication – usually be the darkest with the antagonists

having a greater encompass• Act 3 : resolution– the resolution and the protagonists

prevailing

Act 1

• Plays don't begin at the beginning.• Begin at a point just before the primary

conflict erupts out of the story.• Point of Attack-first thing the audience

will see or hear as the play begins.• High point- Act I has been heading for

from the moment the Inciting Incident has been introduced earlier.

• The Inciting Incident- introduces the major conflict of the play.

Act 2

• Climax• Peak of conflict and tension• Usually has to start at a lower

level of conflict than the end of Act I.

Act 3

• This is the final summing up of the Consequences of the events that triggered the Conflict and the play.

• The Resolution is the last image audiences carry away as they leave the theatre.

Five-act play

• Until the 18th century, most plays were divided into five acts

Act 1 : Exposition Act 2 : Complications Act 3 : The Climax of Action Act 4 : Falling Action Act 5 : Denouement

Five-act play• Act 1 : Exposition

– time and place are established. We learn about the antecedents of the story.

• Act 2 : Complications– The course of action becomes more complicated, the "tying of knots" takes

place. Interests clash, intrigues are spawned, events accelerate in a definite direction. Tension mounts, and momentum builds up.

• Act 3 : The Climax of Action– The development of conflict reaches its high point, the Hero stands at the

crossroads, leading to victory or defeat, crashing or soaring.

• Act 4 : Falling Action– Reversals. The consequences of Act 3 play out, momentum slows, and

tension is heightened by false hopes/fears. If it's a tragedy, it looks like the Hero can be saved. If not, then it looks like all may be lost.

• Act 5 : Denouement– The conflict is resolved, whether through a catastrophe, the downfall of the

hero, or through his victory and transfiguration.

Hamlet

About Hamlet

• Full title · The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

• Author · William Shakespeare• Genre · Tragedy, revenge tragedy• Setting time · The late medieval period,

though the play’s chronological setting is notoriously imprecise

• Settings place · Denmark• Tone · Dark, ironic, melancholy,

passionate, contemplative, desperate, violent

Background

• Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601.

Background

• Shakespeare's Hamlet was a remake of an already popular play, based in turn on an episode from the Dark Ages, the lawless, might-makes-right era that followed the collapse of Roman-era civilization.

Background

• Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. During Shakespeare's lifetime, the play was one of his most popular works.

Character

Hamlet Prince of Denmark, son

of Queen Gertrude and the late King Hamlet. He is believed to be mad following the death of his father.

CharacterKing Claudius Brother of the late King

Hamlet. He murdered his brother in order to gain his throne.

Queen Gertrude Mother of Prince

Hamlet, widow of King Hamlet.

Character

Polonius Father of Laertes and

Ophelia. Advisor to King Claudius. He believes that Hamlet's madness is caused by his love for Ophelia which he has ordered her not to requite.

Character

Ophelia Daughter of

Polonius and love interest of Hamlet. When Hamlet rejects her and eventually kills her father, Ophelia goes mad.

Character

Laertes Son of Polonius and

brother of Ophelia. He is sent to France but returns seeking vengeance after the murder of his father.

Character

Horatio Friend and confidant

of Hamlet. Hamlet shares with Horatio all of his experiences and misgivings in the situation involving his father.

Plot

• rising action · The ghost appears to Hamlet and tells Hamlet to revenge his murder; Hamlet feigns madness to his intentions; Hamlet stages the mousetrap play; Hamlet passes up the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying.

Plot

• climax · When Hamlet stabs Polonius through the arras in Act III, he commits himself to overtly violent action and brings himself into unavoidable conflict with the king. Another possible climax comes at the end of Act IV, when Hamlet resolves to commit himself fully to violent revenge.

• falling action · Hamlet is sent to England to be killed; Hamlet returns to Denmark and confronts Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral; the fencing match; the deaths of the royal family.

Plot

Film-DVD

• Director: Laurence Olivier• Leading actor: Laurence Olivier• Year: 1948• Showing Part: the dead king• From 28:41 to 39:00

Film-DVD

• Director: Kevin Kline• Leading actor: Kevin Kline, Dana

Ivey• Year: 1990• Showing Part: Polonius tests Hamlet• From 43:55 to 47:20

Film-DVD

• Director: Laurence Olivier• Leading actor: Laurence Olivier• Year: 1948• Showing Part: Ophelia and Hamlet • From 53:45 to 59:22

Film-DVD

• Director: Michael Almereyda• Leading actor: Ethan Hawke, Julia

Stiles• Year: 2000• Showing Part: Hamlet in

Blockbuster, searching for DVD• From 40:10 to 42:33

Film-DVD

• Director: Michael Almereyda• Leading actor: Ethan Hawke, Julia

Stiles• Year: 2000• Showing Part: Hamlet tests his

uncle in the movie theater• From 52:30 to 57:37

Film-clip

• Director: Richard Schechner• Leading actor: George Hannah • Year: 2000• Showing Part: The fight of Hamlet

and Laertes• From 02:18:00 to end• http://

hidvl.nyu.edu/video/000031307.html

Major Conflict

• Hamlet feels a responsibility to avenge his father’s murder by his uncle Claudius, but Claudius is now the king and thus well protected. Moreover, Hamlet struggles with his doubts about whether he can trust the ghost and whether killing Claudius is the appropriate thing to do.

Hamlet’s role in revenge

• one of Hamlet’s flaws is that he took revenge into his own hands and not resort to law.

• However, in Shakespeare’s time, Hamlet, the son of a murdered father, and more importantly, the son of an usurped king, was not only the legitimate revenger, it was his duty to take revenge and restore order to Denmark.

why doesn't Hamlet kill the King when he is praying?

• The King's praying, so he'll just go to Heaven if Hamlet kills him now.

• Hamlet can never make up his mind about anything.

• Hamlet thinks too much. • He's a wimp.

Themes

• The impossibility of certainty• the complexity of action• the mystery of death• the nation as a diseased body

Motifs

• Incest and incestuous desire• ears and hearing• death and suicide• darkness and the supernatural• misogyny

Symbols

• The ghost – the spiritual consequences of

death• Yorick’s skull – the physical consequences of

death

Many Hamlet

Laurence Olivier Mel Gibson, with Glenn Close as GertrudeRichard Burton

Kenneth Branagh

Many Hamlet

Campbell Scott Ethan Hawke, with Julia Stiles as Ophelia Kevin Kline, with Dana Ivey as

Gertrude

Ethan Hawke as Hamlet

Reference

• Play structurehttp://www.vcu.edu/arts/playwriting/shapediagram.htmlhttp://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~deis/fiveact.html• Hamlet Analysishttp://www.novelguide.com/hamlet/index.htmlhttp://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/hamlet/