Week 8: (Phenomenology and Reader-Response Theory Reflection) Hamlet as a Multifaceted Character

        The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, can be considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest masterpieces.  It has been adapted into numerous films throughout time which depict multiple interpretations of this tragic play.  Actors such as Mel Gibson, Laurence Olivier, Ethan Hawke, Kenneth Branagh, and yes, even Arnold Schwarzenegger have portrayed their own interpretations of Hamlet’s complexity and brilliance.  In Wolfgang Iser’s, “Interaction Between Text and Reader” we can conclude that all of these films convey an interaction between the actors and the audience.  Iser states, “Central to the reading of every literary work is the interaction between its structure and its recipient” (1524).  One reason that there are so many films about this play is because it appeals to a variety of people.  These actors attract a variety of viewers because they have established a connection with their audience.  Iser also states, “From this we may conclude that the literary work has two poles, which we might call the artistic and the aesthetic” (1524).  He compares the artistic pole to the author’s text whereas the aesthetic is “the realization accomplished by the reader” (1524).  The aesthetic is the reader’s interpretation of the author’s text.  Therefore, the reason these films exist is because in this case, the viewers have their own interpretations of what they believe the film will portray.  Some viewers enjoy the Mel Gibson version because he illustrates Freud’s idea of how Hamlet is experiencing an Oedipal Complex towards his mother.  Branagah takes a more conventional approach by making his film similar to that of the actual literary text.  The directors of these films have created a virtual dimension because they have combined both the text and their imaginations.  Iser also illustrates how the work is more than the text because the text only takes on life when it is realized.  He also demonstrates how the text and the reader are two inseparable entities.  These films would not exist if the audience members did not pay money to watch them.  This is true because it is impossible for a text to be meaningful if it does not have an audience to receive that meaning.  Overall, both the text and reader must be in contact with one another so they will be able to interpret and understand the meaning of the text.