The Imprisoned Hamlet

Prisons are like hospitals: they help cure patients to give them a second chance in life (although some might take longer than others). Just like our former president said, "America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life." Prisons should be seen less as punishment and more as nourishment. That's why the acting of Hamlet in the prison was not only a great idea to help educate prisoners, but also a great way to reflect and learn from their mistakes by identifying with the characters of the play.

People would expect prisoners to be uneducated, illiterate murderers who are not willing to learn from their mistakes. Well, they could see us as privileged, ignorant people who are not willing to trust in them to be better people. That is our first problem in helping the prisoners. That's why the acting of Hamlet was brilliant. most of the actors were uneducated and there may have been a few problems in understanding the happenings of the play. But who knows, in the end, the prisoners might have understood better than others since they could have actually related Hamlet's (or any other character's) actions with their own. Their personal experiences were shown on stage.

One key concept of Hamlet is if the end justifies the means. Acting out the play, the prisoners were able to see the insanity of Hamlet bringing about tragic events and all the consequences for them. Like a domino effect, one tragic event causes another, and that one causes yet a worse one. Because of all the anxiety, anger and frustration builds up, Hamlet is unable to kill himself even if he wants to because he doesn't want to end up being like the unsatisfied spirit of his father that roams around Earth. Just like Hamlet's constraint, the prisoners are trapped in prison. And just like Hamlet growing insane and crazy, many people in prison could also lose sense of control over themselves. But, the third-person view of themselves through the play allowed the prisoners to realize many things that they hadn't realized before.

Just because someone is locked up in a prison doesn't mean that he/she is not a human. In fact, everyone lives in a sort of prison, just that some are bigger than others. Many people spend their whole lives living only in their own country, or even only in their own city. Prisoners spend their lives in prison. The only difference between the two is that one knows his/her limits while the other doesn't. Prisoners still have thoughts and feelings. They can still learn and educate their minds like us.

Fear of Being Fearful

Ghosts are like trials: they are innocent until proven guilty. And, once proven “guilty”, there is no going back. They are non-existent (innocent) until seen with one’s own eyes (guilty). Once they are seen, they cannot be unseen.

People have a tendency to pretend and even convince themselves to not believe in superstition. They are afraid that ghosts might actually exist. But, Hamlet views this aspect in a very different angle. When he sees the ghost of his dead father, he doesn't show any fear. At least, not the one that most people would feel. Instead of avoiding it and running away for sweet life, he runs towards it and starts to have a dialogue with it. It asks him to avenge his father's death by killing the murder, his uncle. Acting like the spirit's sycophant, Hamlet obsequiously tries to obey its orders. We can clearly see some kind of fear towards the spirit through his actions, but it's not because of the fear of death like normal people. He acts pretty normal about the existence of the ghost. In fact, he wants to voluntarily kill himself to have "freedom from the world" according to Northrop Frye. Frye believes that this strange fear for the ghost that Hamlet develops is actually "the fear that he might become just another such ghost." He's not afraid of the actual ghost, but of the possibility of becoming one once he is dead.

Whether you're Hamlet or an ordinary person portrayed in a typical Hollywood horror/ghost movie, the only conclusion I can come up with is that the appearances of ghosts, or any other supernatural event, will one way or another make you crazy and insane.