At the beginning and end of the week in English this week, we discussed Hamlet Act 1 scene 3 , more specifically Polonius' advice to his daughter Ophelia. In our discussion, it was revealed that Polonius is not truly the "loving" father that he initially seemed to be. Instead, he is a conniving, reputation obsessed older man who is using his children as a means to gain fame and respect. He does not show the genuine affection fathers are known for to either of his children, but instead uses them as pawns for achieving success. His lack of affection and obsession with improving his status is evident in Act 2 scene 1, when Ophelia tells him about Hamlet's erratic behavior during their last meeting. Instead of consoling his daughter, Polonius blames his daughter for Hamlet's bizarre behavior "What, have you given him any hard words of late? (pg 81 l.119). Before he checks to see if his daughter is alright, he decides to run excitedly to tell King Claudius of Hamlet's strange behavior: "Come, go we to the King. This must be known.." (pg. 81 l. 130-131) His daughter Ophelia, however, fails to recognize her father's reputation obsessed nature and chooses to follow his every command.
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The relationship between Polonius and Ophelia reminded me of Olivia Pope and her father Rowan Pope on Scandal. Both fathers, Polonius and Rowan attempt to keep their daughters out of a relationship with a man they do not approve of. However, in Rowan's case his daughter is in a relationship with the President of the United States. Both fathers are also very powerful: Polonius with his job as an advisor to King Claudius and Rowan as the now former head of B613 a covert government agency. Another parallel is "the lack of true love" or affection in both relationships. Rowan just like Polonius fails to show his daughter any genuine signs of affection and uses typical father-daughter bonding moments, like going to Sunday dinner as a place to warn her about her affair and the corruption of the government. Neither men ever tell their daughters that they love them and fail to show their daughters the love that they truly desire. For Ophelia, it causes her to go out of her way to try to please her father and win his love, while Olivia puts up a wall between herself and her father. One interesting parallel between Ophelia and Olivia are their names, though it may be a bit of a stretch; their names begin with the same letter and have a very similar flow! I wonder if the creator of Scandal, thought about Ophelia as she created Olivia Pope. What do you think about the connection between Scandal and Hamlet? Have you noticed any more connections between Hamlet and some modern television shows or movies?
Oh my goodness Ranelle I love this. The comparison is perfect! Although I do not watch Scandal , from what I have heard I can see the connection.
ReplyDeleteA connection from Hamlet can be made with my favorite TV show Reign which comes on the exact same time as scandal ! This connection doesn't contain a father though. On the show Reign ,Mary's mother does not approve of Sebastian being legitimized in order to marry Mary. Her mother does everything in her power to persuade Mary to go back to his brother Francis and it works but now it has backfired and Francis might die. I don't want to spoil Hamlet for those of you that do not know Ophelia's fate but .....let's just say things are not going to be the best for her.
Great Job Ranelle
I don't watch Scandal but this is an amazing connection!
ReplyDeleteLove the connection!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI watch Scandal religiously, I think Shonda Rhimes created the perfect soapy drama, that being said, I LOVE this connection. I think the parallels are crazy, and modern tv does play off of works from the past. One of my favorite TV shows Sons of Anarchy is modeled after Hamlet, the creator of the show made it to end just like Hamlet does. I think that Rowan Pope is very similar to Polonius, but my gladiator self likes to believe that deep down he truly cares for his daughter, Olivia. Both fathers are very controlling and prominent figures in their daughters lives. Not emotionally supportive but politically cunning men. Why have daughters, if they're simply chess pieces in a political game, this happens throughout History. It's interesting to see that play out. Great Job Ranelle!
ReplyDeleteThink is an amazing connection!!! It is true because Olivia Pope's only cares about himself and not the happiness and well being of his daughter.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone for your compliments! Alyssa thank you for your connection with Reign I love that Shakespeare is still being used in modern television! Genesis thanks for your connection with Sons of Anarchy, and I do believe that Rowan cares for Olivia but like you said they are not emotionally supportive.
ReplyDeleteI love the connection! I can definitely see the similarities between the play and the show. Both father's seem to only care about reputation and want their only daughters to follow their every command! I also agree with Alyssa on the comparison to Reign. She used that exact same connection I was going to use! The only difference is that it is a woman lying and manipulating her daughter to marry someone who will have a higher status.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great connection. I do not watch Scandal but I see the similarities between Ophelia and Olivia and both their fathers. What I also like is the little difference between Olivia and Ophelia; Olivia rebels behind her father's back and sleeps around with the president. Olivia could fool around with Hamlet if she really wanted to since Polonius is basically giving her away, but she follows what is expected of a good Elizabethan woman instead. So I think it is safe to say that they are kind of like foils; they have a lot of similarities, but they take different paths and make different decisions that can effect how they are perceived by the audience.
ReplyDeleteOphelia* could fool around with Hamlet... (sorry typo)
DeleteRanelle, this is an amazing connection! I started to watch Scandal and I have never thought of it this way. It is true that both fathers really only care about their reputation. They are constantly commanding their daughter's to make sure they do not do things that harm their reputation. I love this Great Job!
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