To Be, Or Not To Be

***Note: the lines used in the blog refer to the ones on the sheet, not the play itself***

Imagery about death appears multiple times in the soliloquy. He speaks directly about death occurs in lines 5 and 9 when he says “To die: to sleep;” but he also speaks about death when he says “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them (ll. 2-5),” which is him talking about whether or not suicide is a noble thing to do since you’re putting the mind out of its misery, or if he should just suck it up and deal with all the drama in his life.

Imagery that refers to the negative experience of life are also rampant in the soliloquy. “The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,/the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay/the insolence of office and the spurns/The patient merit of the unworthy takes (ll. 16-19)” and “To grunt and sweat under a weary life (l. 22)” is talking about a lot of things that go wrong in everybody’s life and how people  have a daily routine that they try to stick to, even if they don’t want to because they’re tired of everything that is going on.

Hamlet uses mostly ethos and pathos in his soliloquy. “The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to. ‘tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wish’d (ll. 6-9)” is an example of pathos because it appeals more to emotions than it does to logic or the character. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;/And thus the native hue of resolution/Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,/And enterprises of great pith and moment (ll. 29-31)” is more ethos because it’s when Hamlet makes up his mind about whether he wants kill himself or not.

The importance of paradox, parallelism, use of the infinitive, tone, diction, and metaphor is to show Hamlet’s struggle with his inner battle is tearing at him. He’s hiding the big secret that his uncle turned step-father is the one who killed his father, and he’s upset that his mother moved on so quickly from his father’s death. He’s battling whether or not he can continue to put on the daily façade of acting like everything is okay. He’s got so many things he has to worry about, no wonder he’s falling apart when he’s all by himself. The two main metaphors he uses is the comparison of death and sleep and the discussion on life and death.

Hamlet compares life on earth, death, and the afterlife in line 25, when he says that “No traveler returns (l. 25),” which means that anyone who was living but dies and goes to the afterlife can never come back to Earth. He compares humans and thinking when he talks about sleeping and dreaming. “To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; (l. 10).”

The question that Hamlet ponders in the soliloquy is whether or not it’s okay to commit suicide in order to escape the pains of everyday life, and he ultimately decides that it’s not okay.

In the Kenneth Branagh clip of Hamlet’s soliloquy, there is no music or background noise at all. He’s in a hallway full of mirrors, and is directing the soliloquy to his reflection in the mirror. He’s dressed in all black, which shows that he’s still mourning, which could also be foreshadowing to him having to mourn the loss of someone else close to him. In line 24, the camera goes from being a chest-up shot to focused on his face until the mention of Ophelia in line 34, when it suddenly pans back away from him.

In the Laurence Olivier clip, it’s in black and white, and even though that was the only type of film available in the 1940s, it added quite nicely to the scene because it showed how upset Hamlet still is over everything that is wrong in his life. There’s some rather creepy music in the background, and for multiple times during the clip, the camera continually pans in to his face and back out once again, especially in lines 8-11.

In the Mel Gibson clip, he’s walking down a set of stairs into a tunnel, although it looks more like the catacombs because there are dead bodies (or they may just be statues designed to just creep people out). Once again, there’s no music in the scene and Mel Gibson’s Hamlet is dressed in all black. However, this Hamlet was given a very scruffy and disheveled look to show how upset Hamlet is. He has hair that looks like it hadn’t been brushed or combed for weeks, and his beard looked a little on the long side. Both of these show that Hamlet is not taking care of himself. Most of his soliloquy is echoing in the tunnel/catacomb, which adds a slight emphasis to what he’s saying. In line 31, Gibson raises his head, as if to address the heavens with his words.

In the Ethan Hawke scene, there is music, consisting of what sounds like the low notes of a piano and a stringed instrument to add drama to the scene. The shot is mostly from the shot up, but in line 32, the camera pans up to a close up of his face. Most of the scene seems like it’s Ethan Hawke doing a voice over, not him talking as Hamlet.

Ophelia’s back, everyone! Oh, that sounds like something “A” from Pretty Little Liars would say. “It’s O, readers!” Anyway, I’m getting distracted. And O sounds like Oprah and you don’t mess with Oprah. While I have to give it up to all of my Hamlets because they were superb, I do have to say the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet was the best. The way he looks when he’s talking to himself in the mirrors is spot-on to someone who’s having a major life problem (and for me, I love it because a reflection of Hamlet is great for me because then I get to oogle at two Hamlets!). He looks truly crazed, especially when he pulls out the sword and messed with it during some of the lines (I just wish I was able to calm him down).

I would have changed Ethan Hawke’s approach to mis en scene. In the Mel Gibson, the Laurence Olivier, and the Kenneth Branagh version, I could tell there was a deep reason for the scene taking place where it did, but I didn’t understand why Hawke’s version took place in a Blockbuster. Maybe I would understand it more if Blockbuster stores were still around and Movies on Demand didn’t exist. I also didn’t understand why it seemed like he was half talking during the scene, and half talking as a voice over. If you’ve got something to say, do it one way or another. Because I’m positive note, I’m going to end on a positive note. I did like the creepy music in the background.

Until next time,

Lauren, your faithful blogger

Ophelia, who doesn’t know what to put here anymore