A Brief Study of Hamlet and a Review of Ophelia Starring Daisy Riley
Matteo Sedazzari
Publisher (ZANI) - Author - Tales from The Foxes of Foxham and more
Ophelia is the tragic female lead role in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, (written by the bard between 1599 and 1601) commonly known as Hamlet.
The male lead Hamlet is perhaps one of the most sought-after parts for any actor. In fact not to play the Prince, for an actor, could be deemed as a failure in their career, as cited by Richard Griffith as Uncle Monty in Withnail and I (1987), ‘It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when one morning he awakes and quite reasonably says to himself: 'I shall never play the Dane.’ Yet many young men have awoken in delight, knowing that they have played the Dane, such as Laurence Olivier, Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Derek Jacobi, Jonathan Pryce, former Dr Who David Tennant, Mad Max himself Mel Gibson and many more across the stage and screen. Hamlet is the original angry young man as he is cynical, subversive, possibly insane yet creative, thoughtful, and intelligent. A complex and weighty role that any thespian will enjoy.
Like Hamlet, Ophelia is a multifaceted role, the beautiful, naïve, and pure soul, who men try to control, which often results in misplaced loyalty for her. In addition, to play Ophelia is often seen as the pinnacle of any actress’ career, and many great names have played her. Julia Stiles, Kate Winslet, Marianne Faithfull, Helena Bonham Carter, who was Ophelia to Mel Gibson’s Hamlet, to name a few. In addition, in-between fighting the dark side with her lightsaber, Daisy Ridley, known globally as Rey in the recent Star Wars trilogy, portrays Ophelia in an original 2018 film, named after the female lead. Directed by Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City, Cross Life) and based on American author Lisa Klein’s 2005 novel, which tells the story of Hamlet from Ophelia’s viewpoint.
The plot of Hamlet is simple yet effective and has influenced many plots for plays, novels, films, and TV series ever since. Hamlet is a dashing young man, who leaves the castle Elsinore and the kingdom of Denmark to study in a university overseas, only to return to find that his father the king, has died and that his mother, Gertrude, has remarried his uncle Claudius, who is now not only his stepfather but the king of Denmark. Hamlet falls into depression, then seeks revenge after he sees and speaks to the ghost of his father, who informs him that he was murdered by the villain of the play, Claudius. Hamlet turns his despair into resentment and insanity as he seeks retribution for his father’s murder. The innocent man returning home, and who changes his personality due to family and social circumstances, is similar to Michael Corleone in The Godfather who didn’t wish to become a Don, or the man seeking revenge for his father’s murder is on a par to Sean Wallace (Joe Cole: Peaky Blinders, Pure) from Sky’s Gangs of London. Yet neither are a plagiarism of Hamlet, just inspired by key elements of the plot.