Questions.

Act 3
Fact questions.
What did Juliet give to Nurse that she wanted to let her give to Romeo?
Which day the Capulet finally decided to his daughter, Juliet to have the marriage with Paris?
After Juliet rejected the request of marriage with Paris, Capulet gave her two choice, simply describe them.

Discussion questions.
Why do you think Capulet is so angry about his daughter's rejection on the marriage? Only due to his daughter began to reject his request or what other effect influenced him?
Why do you think Nurse finally goes to Cell to find Romeo for Juliet even though she hates this man who killed Tybalt, and also in the beginning she said " shame come to Romeo." " will you speak well of him that killed your cousin."

Question 6

7. Imagine that after the balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet go somewhere and write in their diaries. Explain how you would stage this scene and write a 100 word diary entry for each of these two characters. Be sure that the entries are both creative and believable

First about staging. I would set these two characters in two sides of the stage in order to let audience clearly understand their emotion. But I would not let them start the soliloquy together because they would represent tow different characteristics, if they two both start soliloquy, audience would be confused. And I would set Romeo and Juliet to do not change their customs in order to represent two different personalities. And I would start Juliet at first because she's stayed in her room and Romeo needs to go back to his home. I can use light to show this part. When Juliet is writing about the diary, I would just light Juliet. After Juliet finish writing. I could play the light on Romeo's part. After they both finished, they will rise their heads and see each other.

Juliet: Oh, Romeo. That is his name, what a romantic but tragic name. Why God always gives me the hope but following with the tragedy. You are my lover but also you are my family's enemy! I could deny all things to be with you, however my father can't. He is the household. He always thinks about the family benefit. I had no choice to decide anything before I met you, because of you, Romeo, I have the encourage to decide my own thing and I trust you would not make me disappointed. I have decided to marry with you, you are the chosen one. I can not wait. Without our names, no one can separate us. Without name, my father may not be angry about our marriage.  After we got married, I would let my father accept you because I trust you and love you. Oh I needed to find Nurse, even though everyone opposes to us, I believe she won't because she accompanies with me for long time, longer than my mom does.

Romeo: This girl is so beautiful and attractive for me. Before I always thought Rosaline, I loved her but she did not love me. And I spent much time on her without any result. But this girl, Juliet, is so beautiful like an angel. Even though we just look at once, I thought I was falling in love and I wanted to marry with her as soon as possible. She gave me a different feeling with Rosaline. Even though I am a Montague but she is a Capulet, she did not care this thing, why cannt I. I am a man who deeply loves her. I can not wait tomorrow but unfortunately I can not tell this thing to anyone else expect Friar Lawerence, he ca help me to arrange the marriage. Even she's a Capulet I am a Montague, but I did not care. I would love this girl forever.

Balcony scenes analysis

Like: 1996 Director: Baz Luhrmann

Hate: 1976 Alvin Rakoff

I love the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet the best. Especially on the Balcony scenes. In 1996 Romeo and Juliet, Juliet did not know Romeo who went through many difficulties in order to see her just because of the first sight. Romeo felt he’s falling in love. But after he asked the servant about who is that beautiful lady, he knew that she is a Capulet. But after he considered a long time, he decided to go to find Juliet. In 1996 version, unlike other versions, Romeo just climbed next to Juliet’s window but he had not courage to ask Romeo. From his facial emotion, he was considering should he interrupt her or not. Then he just stayed quietly and listened to Juliet’s soliloquy. At the same time, Juliet went out. She dressed in white, that is one element I love this version, because in other versions, Juliet wore in different colors, even though they could show her noble and rich, those customs could not show her naive and innocent as a fourteen years old young girl. Then Romeo began to be excited and asked himself should he hear more or interpret. Also he spoke in a very deep voice, afraid that Juliet would listen to his soliloquy. In this part, Romeo did not change his custom, also its the black armor, however, the Juliet just wore the white dress, these two colors are opposite to each other which also reflect their fate.  At this part, Romeo’s facial emotion changed from worried to excited because he listened to Juliet’s explanation on the conflict between Capulet and Montague.  Also after he spoke that “ or shall I speak to this? “ In this sentence, he had several deep breaths even though no one could listen to this sentence in the scene. But it clearly shows to the audience about Romeo’s thinking and action toward Juliet. The director did not use the too much light effect in this scene because he may want the audience to feel the atmosphere like they are in the scene of Romeo and Juliet. I noticed one detail that makes me love this version of Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo and Juliet jumped in water pool due to Romeo’s interruption, under the water, they wanted to catch each others’ hands and they wanted to huge. However, due to the water’s repulsion, they had to leave the pool and breath the air. I think it is also like the repulsion from their families because they are opposite. So whatever how much love they love each other, their families would use a large force to separate them. I think the director just make a hint here in order to reflect Romeo and Juliet’s future fate. 

I do not like so much about 1976 version of Romeo and Juliet. The first reason is the soliloquy from Juliet. When I watch this version of Romeo and Juliet I felt like I am watching a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet, Romeo spoke loudly and seemed he wanted to be found out by Juliet. And Juliet, in 1976 version, she just sat there and began to say her soliloquy, when I watched her soliloquy, I would say that there’s no facial emotion or body language, she just stood there and looked into the distance. This thing was normal for a girl who met her Mr. Right, however, it can not be showed on a girl who knew her lover was her family enemy’s son, so in this time, rather than expecting and showing love on her facial emotion, I would prefer to see some worries and ask some questions to herself in order to let the audience understand her circumstance. 

Three understanding and three confusion

Three things I understood or interested in.
"We must make the assumption that in the world of play there are no accidents. Nothing occurs by chance. Nothing in the play is without significance. "In a play, every part in it must has their own meaning to the whole. Directors add each element into a play in order to show some meanings or want to make connections between part to part.  If you are actors, but in a show you accidentally move to the wrong place or do the wrong things. You cannot let the audiences figure out that is an accidence, you just need to continue acting.
 The stage would never obeys the same rules as ours, because  in its world, nothing else is possible besides what is there: no one else lives their. Actors need to action depend on the stage's situation, not depends on their own thinking.
To see this entire world, do this literally. Mold the play into a medium sized ball, set it before you in the middle distance. Make the ball small enough that you can see the entire planet, not so small that you lose serial, and not so large that detail overwhelms the whole. To adjust yourself in order to understand the whole planet in a open mind.
Three things I did not understand.
The puzzle may hold the key , be someone who arouse to meaning. I do not understand because is that means the questions always hold the answers inside.
There is a picture inside the article, but I did not get its meaning.
A play is not a flat work of literature, not a description in poetry of another world, but is in itself another world passing before you in time and space. Language is only one part of this world. Even though language is the part element of the show, but it is the most direct way to show to the audience about the characters' personalities. Then the author talked about some compositions of the planet, but those elements also need to be explained by the language. If language does not hold the most, which element composes the whole play.

The motivation

Yichen.Li
IB Liter&Perf
Jennifer Guarino
Sep. 11th. 2016

People are motivated to do something in order to achieve something. So is the Hamlet. After Hamlet knew his father’s death through the talking with his father’s ghost was due to the poison from his uncle, he was very angry. Also after his mom’s marriage with his uncle, he felt so disappointed toward his mom. But he wanted to revenge for his dad, he needed to do something to get the king’s position again. Now I would like to talk about the scene that happened in the show part when Hamlet invited all the people, include his mom and the uncle, to see a show that he described he read from an Italian book. This part was very interesting and it is Hamlet who acts in a specific scene to achieve a specific goal. There were two parts in it, and every part Hamlet acted differently in order to achieve different goals. In the first part, Hamlet was in the hall and met Ophelia, however, he knew that there must be someone looking at him. So he stood in front of the mirror and spoke about the most traditional sentence:To be or not to be, that is the question. He’s asking himself. And then in order to show the people who paid attention in the dark he was crazy, he caught Ophelia and began to talk about the loyalty. He was successful because after he went off, the new king and Polonius both thought that Hamlet was crazy and he needed a way to release himself. In this part, his motivation was his dad’s death, in general, all his action in the book was due to his father’s death, if his dad did not die, he can be a good student who studied in Germany. Also, the way he operated this plan was to imitate the craziness to the new king in order to let the new king do not pay attention to him then he could begin his revenge plan. The second part is about the show, Hamlet wanted to use this show to verify the fact that the ghost spoke to him and see his uncle’s reaction. He said to his follower that “ There is a play tonight before the king, one scene of it comes near the circumstance, which I have told of my father’s death. I pray when they see the actor’s action, they’ll feel guilty. Take care of my uncle’s emotion, and after that, we will both our judgment join in censure of his seeming. “ In this soliloquy, he clearly explains his way about how to verify the ghost’s words and how to test his uncle. But whatever he did in this show or before the show, his final mission was to kill his uncle in order to revenge his dad and to clear all the negativity in the world.In the big picture, he wanted the peaceful world and everyone should be loyal to their beliefs. His motivation was not only his father’s death but also it's the non-concerns and the indifference of this society brings to Hamlet, that is why he spoke to be or not to be, he was thinking about to revenge or just endure the pain.  These actions had the positive and also negative influence on Hamlet at the same time. The positive influence was that Hamlet successfully used his imitation to make his Polonius believed that Hamlet’s craziness was due to his daughter Ophelia, not about the old king. Through the show, Hamlet confirmed the ghost’s words and believed his uncle really killed his dad. However, there also had a negative influence, because Hamlet made a show in order to verify the reason how his father died, he was stayed in danger due to his uncle. His uncle was afraid of Hamlet because he can not imagine how could Hamlet knew the truth, so he decided to kill the Hamlet in order to keep the secret. 

Hamlet scene analysis

Yichen.Li
IB Liter&Perf SL
Sep.6th. 2016
Jennifer Guarino

In my view, the most interesting scene in the Hamlet is the scene in 1996 version when Hamlet killed the Polonius and began to teach his mom about loyalty. After he finished killing the man who behind the curtain, as soon as he sat down on the group, leaned back and exhaled. Under this motion, I realized that he thought he was been released because he avenged his father’s wrongs. And his talking was very relaxed, “He’s just a thief who occasionally gets the king’s position. That position should belong to me. “ (Sorry this part is too far ago I cannot remember clearly what did Hamlet say but I believed his emotion was very released. ) Then he took off the curtain and found out that the man behind the curtain was Polonius, no his uncle. Then his emotion became disappointed and angry, he just said: “Oh man you are so unlucky, but God let you die, I just followed his command.” From his words, I could know that Hamlet had no regret on the Polonius’s death, even he was the father of his lover. In Hamlet’s mind, he belonged this fault to the god.  I could guess that in that time Hamlet lost his mind because he wanted to revenge for his father quickly.  However, after killed the wrong person, Hamlet did not hide the death body first. Conversely, he turned to his mom and began to teach his mom about loyalty and virtue. He wanted his mom to listen to his advice, when his mom began to ask him, he immediately took his mom to the bed and took his father’s image with his uncle’s image to make a comparison. Through Hamlet’s words, he described his father as the kindest and brave man in this world, such the loser ( his uncle) can not compare with his dad.  So I remember this scene the most not only due to the plot that Hamlet killed the Polonius and turned to teach his mom about loyalty, but also it’s due to the actors’ emotion and action. In this scene, I see Hamlet changed his emotion several times, from angry to be released then turned to be disappointed. And his thinking that even he killed one person, but it’s the god’s command he just followed and also his mom needed to stay on the same side with him. That is why I think this scene is very memorable.

Hamlet interview feedback

Yichen.Li

IB Lit&Perf

Jennifer Guarino

Sep.5th. 2016

I agree with Benedict Cumberbatch’s speech about the soliloquy of Hamlet that Shakespeare gave him. I do empathize with Hamlet because according to Benedict Cumberbath’s speech, from his point, he believed that the reason why Shakespeare gave this solo monolog is to make the audience and readers have more listening and more involvement with the man. However, even though I agree Benedict Cumberbath’s opinion, I have a different view. Hamlet was born in a royal family and he should enjoy the happiness that his father gave him. Unfortunately his uncle used poison to kill his father in order to become the king, and also married his mom. The uncle deprived anything that Hamlet should have. So at that time Shakespeare used many solo monologue on Hamlet in order to reflect Hamlet’s sadness under the circumstance of acting such important mission that he wanted to kill his uncle in order to get heritage of his father’s kingdom and also he’s very lonely, there’s no friend or partner around him. His mom married with his uncle immediately after his father dead, his lover, Ophelia , also became crazy because Hamlet occasionally killed his dad. So I wanted to describe Hamlet as a hopeless person.  This thinking also verified at when hen he found out that his dad’s death was due to his uncle, he found out that he could not speak this secret to anyone because no one he can trust. Also, Hamlet was in a confusion, he was thinking between enduring the suffrage or standing out to against his uncle, to face the challenges. There’s no right or wrong answer.  In his mind, the latter one seems better because the death could put an end to all sorrows and misfortunes. He wanted to use his death to end up all the things. But after he thought a lot, he began to find out that death was not the end, death was a mysterious thing, and he was afraid of unknown things. So from my view, this soliloquy from Hamlet pointed out that his cowardice because he was confused about releasing and surviving, however, he thought about afterlife. Because if he had afterlife he would still stay in the pain and struggling, so he was afraid of suicide and he had no encourage to do it.

In his soliloquy, he said that to “ To be or not to be: that is the question: whether the nobler in the mid to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles. “ From this part, I could clearly know that from Hamlet’s mind, the world contained all the slings and arrows, and the world was just a sea of troubles. Shakespeare was a great author because he created a good character under his writing, Hamlet had many ideas of saving and spread hopes for people, however, he lived in a dark and harsh reality. He stood in the middle of his positive dreams the harsh realities. The importance of the sentence: “ To be or not to be, that is a question” , like the accusation to the reality that why treated him so harshly. Hamlet was angry about his dad’s death, was confused about his mom’s marriage, was very sad toward on his lover’s death. All the things came to a guy who grew up in a hotbed and had no ability to bear them. Before these things happened, Hamlet acted like a child, but after these things, he began to ask himself, what should he do: To be or not to be.That is a question. He was questioning himself about should he stand out or just endure. After I read these sentence several times, I began to find out that these questions would also appear in my life. I may face the desperation on certain days. find out the truth and began to become contradicted. I remember before I read the Hamlet, I saw a sentence on the internet that “There are one thousand Hamlet in one thousand people’s thinking.” At that time I was confused because I did not understand why everyone’s view would be totally different towards to an unreal character. However, after I finish reading I knew my answer that was wrong,  Hamlet does exist in everyone’s heart independently, this soliloquy does make me feel empathy with Hamlet. Every decision I make may also affect my future life, but I should not regret them and accept them because these decisions are unique and are followed by my heart.