Essay: Film Adaptation of Hamlet

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Essay: Film Adaptation of Hamlet
Crowl disclosed that Hamlet is a famous literary work by Shakespeare read by many people and was adapted into many different plays and films as years pass by. The play itself shows a heavy ambiance and is set in the sixteenth century where the idea of reformation was abundant (1). William Shakespeare who wrote this unparalleled novel was a famous writer during his prime years. Some of his works that focused on the comedic act of romance were Measure For Measure, All’s Well That Ends Well, and Troilus and Cressida. On the other hand, Hamlet was one of his works that opened a new window of creativity in the works of Shakespeare as it focused on revenge and tragedy (4). Additionally, his experience cannot also be overlooked as during the times he was writing the play Hamlet, he was experiencing the loss of his son and father (3). This paper will present the changes and differences of the play Hamlet when it was adapted into a film last 1990.
The story of Hamlet circulates about how the character Hamlet will take up his revenge for his dead father, who was the former king of Denmark. It was one night when the guards of the castle of Elsinore suspected to have seen a ghost that greatly resembles the father of Hamlet. Together with the guards and Horation, they told Hamlet about the rumored ghost and Hamlet wanted to see it himself. The ghost then showed himself to Hamlet and claimed that he was his late father and that his death was all the doing of Hamlet’s Uncle, Claudius. The story continues as Hamlet struggles for his life and continues to fight and find revenge for his late father. Many deaths happened during the play, just like the death of his companions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the death of a woman named Ophelia, his brother named Laertes, and even Hamlet himself at the end of the last act (Shakespeare).
Film Adaptations
According to Lhermitte, adaptation is an action where someone uses the idea of another as a basis for its work. Works under this action are free and illustrated with the help of many foundations as an inspiration to work. Although using other literary works as a basis, it still strives for it to be different. Modifying is also a function for adaptation which brings the adapted works into their uniqueness. Also, the film adaptation is the source of transformation of a product. Studying film adaptation is also considered as knowing how adaption is being used and its context (Cattrysse 58). Adaptation also brings the audience to a better way of understanding. As some directors and filmmakers tend to change the texts for the sake of their audience (Norman 10). Ryan stated that adapting literary novels and plays into films are made by having a great amount of loyalty to the text itself and is open for criticism after adaptation. This criticism could either be because of how the film structurally followed the story in the text or how the film changed the whole structure of the story but remained with the same message (220).
Erne also defined that film adaptation on Shakespeare’s novels is conditional as when it is defined, not only one meaning can be made since the continuous change of context it has....