Blog Assignment #4

The "To Be, Or Not To Be" soliloquy is perhaps the most famous in the entire play. In the excerpt, Hamlet is weighing the pros and cons of life and whether or not he wishes to perish. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," (3.1.58-59). Hamlet uses imagery in his speech to discuss what death would be like, saying "To die. . .to say we end the heart ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd," (3.1.61-65). "The whips and scorns of time" and the "weary life" are words spoken by a man who clearly feels defeated and simply wishes to give up. Being a man of great emotion, Hamlet mainly uses pathos to get across his point to the viewer. "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil," (3.1.72-73). The tone of these words "weary" and "scorn" suggest that Hamlet is in a very depressed state. The diction is further used to confirm this tone with words used such as "despised" and "calamity".

The two most common literary devices Hamlet uses are personification and metaphors. Hamlet is constantly personifying death as a "sleep of death what dreams may come"(3.1.67). Throughout the speech, Hamlet is opposing whether or not he should die. He asks himself how "the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes,"(3.1.74-75). He takes life to be unfair to those who most deserve a good life. He claims that "no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills have than fly to others we know not of?" (3.1.81-83). While he at times finds reasons he does not wish to die, Hamlet gets across to the reader his hate of life in general, brought about by the cruel murder of his father.With many different visual representations of how this soliliquy plays out, we will analyze just four of them.

We first watched the version done by Branagh. There was no non diegetic sound present in the scene to bring further emphasis to only the voice of Hamlet as he spoke. Hamlet is dressed fully in black to show his depressed state. For props, Hamlet wields a knife and holds it to his face as he talks about death, further giving the viewer the idea that Hamlet wishes to end his own life. The setting is the large white court room where Claudius often receives his guests. Hamlet is talking into a mirror to show the idea of self reflection. When it comes to camera angles, the camera zooms in closely on the figure of Hamlet in the mirror, not directly on the man himself. This close angle is meant to amplify the emotion that the main character is putting into his speech. Focusing only on the mirror image represents Hamlet looking within himself internally. Lastly, Ophelia comes in directly after his speech in this version in order to act as reality bringing Hamlet back down to Earth.

Next we watched the version performed by Lawrence Olivier. Unlike the Branagh version, this version of the solilquy was partly done with non diegetic sound, including a voice over done through parts of the speech. Once again, hamlet is dressed in black garments, directly representing the mood in which he is in at this time. Hamlet gives this speech as he is on the edge of a cliff. Down below, water crashes on the pointy rocks jutting out from the sea. Once again, Hamlet is wielding a knife. The knife coupled with the cliff setting further portray the fact that Hamlet is very much wishing to end his life at this moment. It is very windy and cloudy out to represent the main character's unpredictable future. At the end of his speech, this is also confirmed, as Hamlet walks away into a cloudy smoke. Antic music is blasting in the background at the beginning of the speech to show the non logical fashion in which Hamlet is thinking. Camera angle wise, the camera shifts around a lot at the beginning of the clip, causing the viewer to feel the same anxiety as the main character. Like the Mel Gibson version I will discuss, the image of winding steps was used to perhaps illustrate the confusion in young Hamlet's mind.

The third version that was watched was the version done by Mel Gibson. Like the Branagh version, there is no non diegetic voice over. Compared to the first two versions that were watched, Mel Gibson talked in a louder voice, showing more confidence in what he was saying. This scene takes place in a dark dungeon, the darkest setting out of any of the four versions. With Hamlet wearing his black robes and in the dark dungeon, a sense of hopelessness is portrayed to the viewer. Unlike the first two versions, no dagger or weapon or threat of death was shown in this scene. The most important part of this Mel Gibson scene was most definitely the camera angles. Similar to Branagh version, this scene utilized a close up on the main character's face to enhance the pathos of the speech. Gibson is pictured pacing back and forth as the camera follows him around the dungeon, bringing more chaos to the scene in general. The angle shifts around the dark cavern, often highlighting the dark, blank walls, bringing a depressed tone to the scene. Lastly, like in the Olivier version, steps are utilized. These steps lead down into the darkness and at the end of the scene, Hamlet is pictured walking back up them towards the light. This may allude to the fact that Hamlet has come up with a personal resolution.

The last version that was watched was the Ethan Hawke version. The scene incorporates partial non diegetic voiceover done through the first portion of Hamlet's speech. The rest is spoken visibly by the main character. There is no background music of any kind, in order for the viewer's full attention to be on Hamlet. In stark contrast to the other versions, Hawke is portrayed as walking through the aisles of a Blockbuster store. This modern approach is used to appeal to a more contemporary audience. Being in a much more modern time period, Hamlet is not carrying a knife, seeing as that would get him successfully kicked out of Blockbuster. He is specifically walking through the action aisle of Blockbuster, in order to portray to the viewer that the character is in a time period of great chaos. To further bring about the modernistic approach, Hamlet is dressed in jeans, a t shirt, and a beanie, which is in stark contrast to the other versions. The colors of his clothing are all very bleak, suggesting the character's depression. The camera, for the most part, is zoomed in very closely on Hawke to capture his emotion as the solilquy is delivered. The pacing, like in the Gibson version, is followed by the camera, further portraying Hamlet's feelings of insecurity and anxiety. The anxiety is also shown as this version showed Hamlet finishing his speech in a much quicker fashion than the other three versions.

After watching these four versions of the soliloquy, I believe the version done by Branagh is by far the most effective. The garb of my Lord Hamlet goes a long way to portray just how decrepit his state is right now. The inclusion of Hamlet looking into the mirror shows the idea of self reflection which we all strive for. My Lord is going through an internal struggle at the moment, and I feel like by looking into the mirror, he is attempting to examine his soul to find a resolution. I remember the room being quiet as I took in his speech, allowing me to focus all of my attention on what it was he was saying. I was however fearful that my liege was seriously considering ending his own life with the dagger he was holding in his hand. While I was taking this in in secrecy, I would have sprung out at the hint of Hamlet taking his own glorious life. Lastly, the zoom in on Lord Hamlet's face captured the angst and depression which is currently going through my master's head. Gosh, how I do hope he has found his peace of mind. Ms.Ophelia came in directly after his speech, seemingly bringing my Lord back down to Earth.
Horatio

Unlike the Hawke version, I would not have set the Hamlet speech in modern times. I prefer the traditional black robes portrayed in the other versions to show Hamlet's depression and confusion. In the Gibson and Olivier versions, I did not like the inclusion of non diegetic sound in the form of voiceovers. I felt like it was much more personal when Hamlet did all of the talking directly on screen. I would have made sure that the camera was zoomed in even closer on the main character's face in order to fully portray his wide range of emotions while giving his speech. I would have included a prop exhibiting a threat of death, to show just how real the idea of death is for Hamlet. I did like the frantic camera angles at the beginning of some of the scenes to show the viewer the anxiety of Hamlet. The Branagh version would be my quintessential scene of this soliloquy and it definitely stood out in my mind.