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Original:
     Ultimately, the very old man with enormous wings is able to endure the winter, grow his feathers back, and fly away proving himself an angel. In the very last line, Peloya “kept watching him… and she kept watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an annoyance in her life.” Peloya is proven completely wrong when the very old man takes flight, instead of being regretful or ashamed in the way she had treated him she is glad to see him go because only then was he “no longer an annoyance in her life.” Marquez sets up this last opportunity for Peloya to prove that she is not heartless, but instead she is glad to see him go because he was no longer a burden. 

Revised:
     Peloya and Elisenda watch the very old man with enormous wings endure the winter and fly away, proving his supernatural abilities, which highlight Marquez’s the last irony; the contradicting opinions of the angel ultimately change nothing. In the very last line, Peloya “kept watching him… and she kept watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an annoyance in her life.” Instead of Marquez depicting Peloya as being regretful or ashamed in the way she had treated the angel, she is glad to see him go because only then was he “no longer an annoyance in her life.” Marquez sets up this last opportunity for Peloya to prove that she is not heartless, but instead she is glad to see him go because he was no longer a burden.

Expectations Vs. Reality?

As I was watching the director’s interpretation of what he thought he had portrayed in his scene, I expected there to be more emotion and reaction in the characters. Personally, I thought that both actors playing Hamlet and the Ghost of Hamlet’s father looked like they were staring wide eyed with shock, but expressionless and never changed throughout the entire scene. The Ghost of Hamlet’s father was just telling the story of his death like it was, but seemed to be talking through his son with no sense of recognition; while Hamlet simply stared at his father, paralyzed by fear.

Throughout the entire scene all we hear is the Ghost of Hamlet’s fathers voice, which took away from the scene because I was constantly reminded of Lord Voldemort’s voice right before he was resurrected in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In both the scene and the movie, I thought that the voice was supposed to show weakness and illustrate how close the characters were to death. But, when I read Act 1 Scene 5, I didn’t expect the ghost to sound any different than the way he had his entire life. The ghost’s narration of the scene also took away from the pain in his death. Shakespeare gives us all of these descriptive details of King Hamlet’s death, which weren’t fully developed on screen. This scene would better delivered the pain of dying better if we could actually hear him scream.

I would have been more empathetic towards the actors if they had shown more hard-hitting emotions through their facial expressions or flocculation in their voices. I expected Hamlet to see Hamlet’s wheels turning as he figures out the man who murdered his father was his uncle, and then grow more and more angry as he realizes the nature of his relationship with his mother. I also expected to really see the Ghost of Hamlet’s father break down as he reminisces over the love he and his wife had, and then see his wife in a lustful, incestuous, and adulterous relationship with his brother break his heart. 

 

King Claudius's Alternative Motives

Any man who marries his brother’s wife and then closes out his nephew, and new son from any escape, after the sudden death of King Hamlet: a brother, a husband, and a father, has alternative motives for his actions. King Claudius is a greedy, and power hungry brother who was constantly out-shown by his brother until he turned the tables on him.

King Claudius takes advantage of his brother’s passing to gain nothing but personal power. The only reason that someone would bypass the mourning of a family member is if it made things more convenient, or if they could gain something from their death. King Claudius marries queen Gertrude not only to secure his position as King, but also to prevent the thrown to be given to the prince, Hamlet. Very nonchalantly King Claudius says that Gertrude went from being “our sometime sister” to “our queen” (1.1.8) Within the month of King Hamlet’s death, Gertrude simply goes from being a sister to a wife, and from a widow, to a remarried woman almost as if it was some sort of business deal.

Shortly after King Hamlet died, Claudius just swoops in, marries Prince Hamlet’s mom, steals his place in the kingdom and holds Hamlet in the ruined family dynamic. Instead of banishing Hamlet from the kingdom because he is a potential threat to his thrown, he holds him hostage in the kingdom because he knows it is more painful for him. Claudius knows that he disapproves of his marriage, so he doesn’t let Hamlet return to school in Wittenberg. Hamlet believes that she “ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears/ had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes” (1.2.160). Hamlet believes that his mother should be mourning the death of her husband instead of moving on so quickly with her brother-in-law. He cannot come to terms with why he is mourning his father’s death and why his mother is not. Claudius forces Hamlet to endure his own living hell in his castle, and under his rule.