Poetry Forum

Hamlet is allowed to be
boy or girl, black or white,
to play within a play
wearing sandals, stockings
or Doc Martens.

Amy must appear to be
exactly as we remember her.
She never reached that stage
where she could kick off
her fuck me pumps.

Excellent Ray.

Who is Amy?

Amy Winehouse. A film about her recently came out. The commonest comment I've heard is that the actress playing her part looks and sounds very much like her. It seems people feel that's important. Whereas Hamlet gets played by all sorts. Just an observation. Signifying nothing.

Thank you, Ray. I understand the poem better now.

At first blush, it seemed to me that you were making a point about the greater latitude that men have to play the characters they want to play, but that message is muddied when you say you have seen a girl play Hamlet. (Seriously?)

So now I'm thinking that you are making a point about sexual stereotypes, that the sexual stereotype of the Amy character must not be disturbed, whereas the sexual stereotype of Hamlet can be changed. If that's the case, I'm not sure what the significance is.

For me the message of the poem isn't entirely clear.

Thanks Phil and Caleb. I've seen Hamlet played by a black male and by a white female, not yet by a black female but I keep a lookout. I am just making an observation, not a point. Maybe it's just that Hamlet's greater fame draws more interpretations or is it its universality?

I suppose they is a difference between a fictional person and one who most of us remember.

Cheers,

Tristan

Firebird wrote: ↑

Fri May 10, 2024 5:41 pm

I suppose they is a difference between a fictional person and one who most of us remember.

Cheers,

Tristan

Yeah, and I guess we don't know exactly how Hamlet was meant to look, except he was a white male. I wonder why Cate Blanchett played the part of Bob Dylan.

Well, this is a new one, you need to have a 'disability' to play Richard III

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/artic ... ichard-iii