Monet Edmundson's Blog - Posts Tagged "hamlet"
The Shakespeare Revival
As of now, it’s Day Five of Shakespeare Week and I can’t help imagining what the Bard would think about all this commotion. I mean, how many people get a whole week to celebrate themselves? Yet to see such enthusiasm for a writer that has been dead for centuries is hopeful. It’s hopeful that readers will continue to show such loyalty to an author’s works, even after that author can no long create new masterpieces.
For Friday, it’s worth exploring the impact William Shakespeare has made on the world today. He’s influenced popular culture in too many ways to count, and if I did list all the examples here, the blog post would be too long and no one would want to read it. So I thought I’d first focus on the most recognizable modern references to Shakespeare, some which have become classics themselves. I’ll be diving into “Favorite References Part 1.”
Movie: "The Lion King"
Song: "Ophelia" by The Lumineers
Book: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Musical: "West Side Story"
Side Note: I realize now that three of these references are for Hamlet alone, but the storyline from this play is used all the time anyway, and it’s created some singular works.
Disney basing the plot of "The Lion King" around Hamlet is easy to realize once you notice the similarities. I like this example, as I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if Prince Hamlet had got a happy ending. The song “Ophelia,” besides sharing the name of a Shakespearean character, also has some remarkable resemblances to the plot of the play encased in its lyrics. Pay close attention to the line about Ophelia in the “flood,” the singer’s regret about losing her. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was recommended to me and it’s on my to-read list, so hopefully I will get to it soon. As for "West Side Story," I was forced to watch this musical for a music class I had in middle school. I’m not much of a musician, so these classes always bored me. Nothing personal against the teacher, just as a writer, I would have rather been writing than studying music. However, learning about the history of music and watching Story made this specific class stand out. For someone who’s not a Romeo and Juliet fan, I found myself rooting for the young couple while watching the musical.
There are unlimited sources of information to pull from for a blog post on Shakespearean references in popular/modern culture. However, I tried to include all I could in today’s post, which is why I split this topic into two parts. Tomorrow I will conclude this topic, and my Shakespeare-themed blog posts, with “Favorite References Part 2.” That’s not all, though, that will be included in the post, there will be some surprises as well.
In the meantime, here are the links for all my previous posts for Shakespeare week.
April 18th post all about heroines:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 19th post with Macbeth manipulations:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 20th post where fairies and donkeys take over a forest:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 21st post for why Shakespeare is a sonnet master:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
For Friday, it’s worth exploring the impact William Shakespeare has made on the world today. He’s influenced popular culture in too many ways to count, and if I did list all the examples here, the blog post would be too long and no one would want to read it. So I thought I’d first focus on the most recognizable modern references to Shakespeare, some which have become classics themselves. I’ll be diving into “Favorite References Part 1.”
Movie: "The Lion King"
Song: "Ophelia" by The Lumineers
Book: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
Musical: "West Side Story"
Side Note: I realize now that three of these references are for Hamlet alone, but the storyline from this play is used all the time anyway, and it’s created some singular works.
Disney basing the plot of "The Lion King" around Hamlet is easy to realize once you notice the similarities. I like this example, as I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if Prince Hamlet had got a happy ending. The song “Ophelia,” besides sharing the name of a Shakespearean character, also has some remarkable resemblances to the plot of the play encased in its lyrics. Pay close attention to the line about Ophelia in the “flood,” the singer’s regret about losing her. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was recommended to me and it’s on my to-read list, so hopefully I will get to it soon. As for "West Side Story," I was forced to watch this musical for a music class I had in middle school. I’m not much of a musician, so these classes always bored me. Nothing personal against the teacher, just as a writer, I would have rather been writing than studying music. However, learning about the history of music and watching Story made this specific class stand out. For someone who’s not a Romeo and Juliet fan, I found myself rooting for the young couple while watching the musical.
There are unlimited sources of information to pull from for a blog post on Shakespearean references in popular/modern culture. However, I tried to include all I could in today’s post, which is why I split this topic into two parts. Tomorrow I will conclude this topic, and my Shakespeare-themed blog posts, with “Favorite References Part 2.” That’s not all, though, that will be included in the post, there will be some surprises as well.
In the meantime, here are the links for all my previous posts for Shakespeare week.
April 18th post all about heroines:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 19th post with Macbeth manipulations:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 20th post where fairies and donkeys take over a forest:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
April 21st post for why Shakespeare is a sonnet master:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
