Hamlet And Theatre Adaptation

Despotism in Hamlet

Hamlet himself affirmed that the theatre holds “the mirror up to nature” (III. II. 22) [1] And that is exactly what we can appreciate from observing different kinds of modern performances of Hamlet today.
Performances keep similarities with aspects of the reality and they can even become a way of complaining or demanding something.
This essay will consist on analysingaspects shown in a performance of Hamlet directed by Ximo Flores, which remind us of features of totalitarian states that have had place throughout History.
The first thing that catches the spectator’s attention is that there is an environment charged with characteristics of fascist regimes such as the settings, costumes and music, etc…
From the very beginning we can understand the course of theplay by observing the elements of the staging from an objective point of view, for example, costumes are highly associated to totalitarian regimes, characters appear dressed from head to toe with hats, military outfits, black boots and badges on their arms as emblems of a fascist ideology.
Moreover, two unexpected roles appear on scene, they are Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern whoperform as if they were Dobermans protecting their owners (the King and the Queen) and growling to those who do not appeal to them. It appears there is a correspondence between these German dogs and the two friends in the play, these characters appear as real loyal subjects in both play and performance, they are even prepared to lie to the prince in order to satisfy the king´s desires, of coursethey obey any kind of command he would ask them for, as for instance, when the king orders them to talk to Hamlet after he has murdered Polonius : “Friends both, go join you with some further aid: Hamlet […] hath Polonius slain[…] Go seek him out, speak fair and bring the body.” (IV. I. 33- 36). Apparently they become little by little his henchmen who also are going to be the ones who carry out the“dirty jobs” for the king.
Obviously, we can see here that Flores has given them the degree of two lapdogs (in a more literal concept) who are manipulated by the king.

[1] Idea extracted from Thompson, Ann and Taylor, Neil. Page 27

On the other hand, we can realise these aspects by the behavior of the characters, for example, the way they have to salute to their superiors.In the performance we can see the postures that Polonius and Laertes adopt to salute the king (Hamlet: retrato de familia. 15-20 min.), these salutations remind us to those in a militia context or even in a dictatorial situation as for instance: the Nazi regime.
We can appreciate both in the play and in the performance the way Laertes has to speak to his father, while there is aslight distance between them marked by the respect Laertes feels for his father, the relation between the king and Hamlet is rather different. We are aware that the prince does not feel neither respect nor love for the king, au contraire, we can see that there is a latent struggle from the deep insides of Hamlet that makes the spectator consider the rejection Hamlet feels for the king and hisfollowers, as Ann Thopmson and Neil Taylor quote from an idea extracted from Foakes’s “Hamlet” versus “Lear”, is the development of “Hamletism, a sort of philosophical stance embodying political impotence, frustration, futility, and failure” [1] From this point of view, we could regard this “Hamletism” as a movement against the king, something that even will lead Hamlet to the idea of murdering him.Hamlet’s outfit is also deciding; He seems to wear his own “uniform” composed by predominant dark colors. He wears a Nirvana’s band t- shirt, something that may be an indirect way to claim young people’s attention since “Smells like teen spirit” was the most well-known single of the band and considered a call to rebellion, this way, he represents teenage who often feel oppressed by family and...