Some years ago I watched Freaky Friday ( not the version with Jodie Foster, the one with Lindsay Lohan) and in one of the scenes of it, Ana (Lindsay Lohan) was asked to answer the 3 central conflicts in Hamlet. After hearing Ana's observation, I found myself in accord with her, because she was very specific and clear.
Ana mentions that the main conflicts in the play are Political, Oedipical, and the concept of Madness.
Political because Claudius kills his brother (Hamlet's father) by poisoning him and the marrying his wife, in order to obtain the throne of Denmark.
Oedipical because of the relationship with his mother based on anger and pain due to the fact that Gertrude got married to Claudius, changing the view on love that Hamlet because his mother changed his mind too quickly. She not only betrayed her husband, but also the purity of love and marriage.
Finally, the concept of madness is considered because of the fact that Hamlet saw his father's ghost claiming revenge. The thing is that Hamlet was really seeing his father's ghost or was he mad? It is said that Hamlet used to play with this concept of madness just to confuse people (antic disposition).
I hope Lindsay helps you to undertand better....who would have thought about it ._.
Some day ago I watched the movie but I didn't realize that Hamlet was mentioned there. As you mentioned, I also agree with the 3 conflicts mentioned in the movie, but I never thought about the second one, the Oedipical theme, as a central one, and now that you explain it a little bit more, I couldn't agree more! In a way, Gertrude made up her mind so quickly that even it is possible to think about a conspiracy against King Hamlet.
ResponderEliminarI've never seen this movie and I can't really imagine Lindsay playing a character who talks deeply about Shakespeare's Hamlet... That makes me think of the powerful influence of stereotypes movies imprint on us -I'm thinking of Mean Grils, btw.
ResponderEliminarGoing back to the central concepts in Hamlet, I actually agree with María Josefa because I never thought of the concept of Oedipical as being so important within the play before.
In fact I always regarded Sygmund Freud's Oedipus complex as the (sexual) desire for the mother, so maybe this limited conception prevented me of seeing beyond. I do agree with you when you say that Hamlet's love for her mother changed when Gertrude married her dead husband's brother. In consequence, Hamlet went from unconditionally loving her mother, to have sentiments of hatred towards her.
Your post was very interesting, by the way!