Re:Hamlet as Shakespeare’s greatest villain
by jfengel on Thursday October 15, 2020 @09:11AM
(#24788221)
I'm talking about it through the lens of an actor called on to play the character. As an actor I'm not here to judge the character, but I look at the moments that strike me as problematic and ask what brought him to that mind-set.
So I'm talking here about jumping-off point, the beginning of a process, not the end of it. The process would take weeks or months of rehearsal.
It's a tragedy, and he's the protagonist of a tragedy, not a hero. His becoming obsessed with the unjust death of his father and fucking everything up is the whole point. Saying he's acting like an ass is both obvious and a distraction from the main event, which is to see a great man brought low by his flaws, and to contemplate fate, the human condition, or whatever else you can take away from the play.