csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 1:11:02 GMT 1
Name: Hamlet
DOB: Uncertain, Hamlet is a young man, perhaps in his 30s
Birthplace: Elsinore, Denmark
Parents: His politician father is dead, a victim of assassination. His mother is very much alive, but is estranged from her son.
Education: Degrees in Philosophy and Forensics
Hobbies: Literature, fencing, and digging around in graveyards.
Character: Clever and thoughtful. He thinks too much... He's not a doer so much as a ponderer, but he has moments of frenzied activity
Can be both charming and rude. Is rather highly strung. Is very moralistic, but passionate as well.
He doesn't believe in violence, but that doesn't necessarily prevent him from using it...
His sanity is questionable...
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 1:30:17 GMT 1
you made yours exactly like the play's Hamlet? That's new. Cool idea though
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 1:55:37 GMT 1
Yes, just call me the Prince of Denmark, my character is simply straight from Shakespeare. But the idea isn't so novel to CSI as you might think...
H.
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 2:01:51 GMT 1
Really? Wel I've heard Nick quote the overquoted "a rose by any other name" line, but I've never seen a similarity between a CSI character and a Shakespeare character. Mind explaining?
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Fabian
Former RPG Moderator
RPG character: Luke Versteeg
Posts: 1,085
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Post by Fabian on May 31, 2006 11:01:42 GMT 1
What a fascinating character! You really should join our next case, but unfortunately you do have to wait until Case 5 is over.
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 14:16:33 GMT 1
Fabian, I don't mind waiting for the next case.
Anyway, Montana, you asked a question, about the links between CSI and Shakespeare's Hamlet...
Grissom, I imagine, *is* Hamlet to some degree. And CSI is Hamlet the play more loosely. CSI is, after all, about investigating and prosecuting (revenging) murders in rather grisly and spooky circumstances, much like Shakespeare's Hamlet.
But back to Grissom... He is indeed always quoting Shakespeare. Hamlet is in fact his favourite play. He is hearing impaired, and in Hamlet prince Hamlet's father is murdered by having poison poured in his ear. (Ears and hearing is an important motif in the play more generally). Like Hamlet's, Grissom's father is dead, and his mother is alive, from whom, of course, Grissom inherits his hearing impairment.
There are a lot of basic character traits shared by Grissom and Hamlet too, such as his tendency to think too much, and then there is the "dark side" of Grissom, only hinted at in CSI, but more obvious in Hamlet.
As for other characters...
Sara Sidle is clearly Ophelia, Hamlet's love interest. There is a very famous Pre-Raphaelite painting of Ophelia by Millais, and the model for that is one Elizabeth Sidal no less.
Warrick, is maybe Yorick. Grissom does say to Warrick "Alas, poor Warrick" in one of the episodes, I don't remember which, so don't ask. ;-) Although Shakespeare also came from Warwickshire.
I haven't noticed anything specific in any of the other Las Vegas characters. But Miami...
Have you ever thought "Horatio" Caine is a funny name? Well, "Horatio" was Hamlet's best friend in Shakespeare, and significantly, Horatio is the only major character left alive at the end of the play. So it figures that he is the character that becomes the lead player in CSI's first spin-off show.
These are I think all the main points I've noticed. Perhaps there are more that I have missed...
H.
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scorpii
RPG Moderator
You KNOW the world is all mine.
Posts: 1,584
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Post by scorpii on May 31, 2006 16:29:57 GMT 1
Yes I did know Hamlet's best friend's called Horatio... though Horatio [Caine] (or actually the writers ofcourse) claim Horatio's mum called him Horatio after an writer or something called Horatio Alger. I myself found out (well... at least I got the idea of it) that Livius, that ancient Roman writer, wrote about some guy that killed his sister for grieving over the enemy, and that guy was called Horatius. The dativus (so 'to' or 'for' Horatius) is Horatio. And in 'Dead Woman Walking, Belle King referred to Hamlet, by saying Horatio was the first CSI. And by saying Hamlet asked Horatio to tell the world who'd done it. By the way, I like your idea of creating a character  |
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 16:59:23 GMT 1
Yes, I heard Horatio Caine claim he was named after someone other than Hamlet's Horatio, but I'm not convinced. ;-) Red herring, hehehe. Though yes, strictly speaking, perhaps, Horatio has a better claim to being the first CSI.
Shakespeare's Hamlet was indeed itself derivative of other plays and classic literature. Certainly the character names are taken from the classics. In fact, Laurence Olivier's film takes the Oedipus interpretation, not an interpretation I sympathise with incidently... Shakespeare knew the classics much better than we do today.
H.
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 18:31:15 GMT 1
wow. I've never read that much into the show. I've heard Grissom quote Shakespeare on several occasions and there was one episode that at first looked annoyingly like Romeo and Juliet (not that I don't love the play, but it can be overdone.) But it turns out it was nothing like that so I was satisfied. Yeah, you should definitely join the next case
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 19:14:53 GMT 1
Was that "Romeo and Juliet" episode the one with the exploding toilet and the body snatching? I LOVED that episode, it was totally hilarious. I've seen that ep. more than once, and I think Grissom did indeed quote R&J at the beginning. I've never read R&J, but I suspect it wouldn't be my favourite Shakespeare play either...
Anyway, as for reading things into the show, all fiction is surely derivative, and I think some of the best fiction/literature simply acknowledges that by putting "hints" into the text for the observant. CSI obviously isn't just based on Hamlet though of course, it is based on other films, literature, and real life forensics cases.
H.
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 20:26:28 GMT 1
no, it was the one where they found the boy and girl dead side by side. I thought it was going to be another R&J, but after the first commercial break I saw that it wouldn't be. The guy was a sleeze and a jock. Not exactly the Romeo type.
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 21:24:08 GMT 1
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 21:37:01 GMT 1
yeah that's it. Sorry, I just didn't remember the exploding toilet
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csihamlet
Alas, Poor Warrick... er.... Yorick
Posts: 89
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Post by csihamlet on May 31, 2006 22:07:10 GMT 1
Well, I *have* watched that ep. more than once, and I'm a sad CSI geek, so I have an excuse for knowing everything about the show. ;-)
(Actually, I *don't* know everything, there are many episodes I haven't even seen. So please no spoilers...)
H.
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Post by Montana on May 31, 2006 22:09:56 GMT 1
Yeah I'm a sad CSI geek too I guess but more with New York. Like I really want to watch the rerun tonight and mom won't let me because she has some stupid movie coming on! Grrr.
I think it's actually one I haven't seen. The episode is Stuck on You. Fairly popular eppy from what i've heard but I've never seen it
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