ROMEO AND JULIET
Both versions of the final death scenes in Romeo and Juliet use the language in which it was written. They are both very dramatic and saddening to watch, my eyes watered with both clips. In the most recent version, it is made evident that Juliet is awakening from her sleep as Romeo puts his ring on her finger, before killing himself. In fact, Juliet wakes up before he dies and they have one final moment together.
The 1968 version is more dramatic, whereas the 1996 version adds a little bit of romance to the deaths by having her see him one last time. Also, her suicide in the older movie is done with a dagger and in the newer version, she shoots herself. I cannot say, however, which is more effective. They both are. In the older video they wanted to remain true to the story, and in the ’96 version they wanted to give it a modern twist.
HAMLET
A clear example of tragedy may be in Act I, Scene V. This is where Hamlet talks to his father’s ghost and learns that he was killed by his uncle Claudius, who has now been crowned King of Denmark and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude.
Greek tragedies were made up of incestuous relationships, treason, death, sorrow … This scene has a little bit of everything in it.
I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love--
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
I am your father’s spirit
Doomed for some time to come back during the nights
And during the day I starve in hell
Until the crimes committed in my reign
are forgiven. But I can’t
talk about hell,
I could tell you stories
that would surprise and amaze you,
make your eyes pop out of their sockets,
knock your socks off,
make all your hairs stand on end
like a porcupine;
But these awful stories
Cannot be told to those who are still alive. But listen,
if you ever loved your father,
…
Have his killer pay
