Blog Post #15: Hamlet Blog 3 - To Be or Not To Be

Part One: Soliloquy Analysis

1. Locate imagery that refers to the uncertainty of death.
• "To die, to sleep./To sleep, perchance to dream--ay, there's the rub./For in that sleep what dreams may come/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil" (3.1.65-69).
• "But that dread of something after death./The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns, puzzles the will/And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.80-84)
2. Identify imagery that refers to the negative experiences of life.
• "The pangs of despised love, the law's delay./The insolence of office, and the spurns/That patient merit of th'unworthy takes" (3.1.74-78).
3. Appeals: Which appeal(s) does Hamlet use to convince and/or motivate his audience? Refer to specific lines.
• Logos: "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time.../When he himself might his quietus make/With a bare bodkin?" (3.1.72-88)
• Pathos: "To die, to sleep--/No more--and by a sleep to say we end/The heartache and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to--'tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wished!" (3.1.61-65)
4. Literary Devices: Identify the significance of the following in his speech - paradox, parallelism, the infinitive, synecdoche, tone, diction, metaphor. What are the two primary metaphors he will use in this speech?
• Paradox: The underlying theme behind his ending conclusion; he decides not knowing about death is what causes evil, but it is also what causes people to live through evil
• Parallelism: Used for comparing and contrasting things, emphasizes the similarities and differences between things that may not be related; the paradox
• Infinitive: "To die, to sleep" (3.1.63); Hamlet considers these actions as if trying to decide if he should cause them, makes his thoughts more ambiguous and complex
• Synecdoche: Highlights the pain in the common things in life; "--abuse from superiors, the insults of arrogant men" (3.1.73), specific examples to support his argument and questions
• Tone: Creates the atmosphere of the speech, makes it pensive and thoughtful, rather than cold and unforgiving or warm and happy; also builds on Hamlet's identity as a thinker
• Diction: Shakespearean diction; formal and continues to emphasize his elaborate thinking, also makes the speech more dramatic
• Metaphor: Compares the things he is talking about to more familiar things, more relatable and thought-provoking to why he chose those things
• Death as sleep 
• Life as war
5. Identify evidence of the following comparisons: life on earth, afterlife, death, humans, thinking
• Life on earth: "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or take arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.60-61).
• Afterlife: "The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns, puzzles the will" (3.1.80-81).
• Death: "To die, to sleep--/No more--and by a sleep to say we end" (3.1.61-62).
• Humans: "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,/And thus the native hue of resolution," (3.1.84-85).
• Thinking: "To be, or not to be? That is the question--" (3.1.56)
6. Identify at least three oppositions present in the argument Hamlet makes.
• Life against death
• Knowledge and the unknown
• Courage and cowardice
7. What eternal philosophical questions does Hamlet ponder?
• With all the bad things in life, is it better to be alive or dead?
• What is after death?
8. What conclusions does Hamlet draw?
• The fear of death makes people weak and do misguided things; it also makes people live through all the suffering because they don't know what death is. 

Part Two: Acting Analysis

• Kenneth Branagh
• The two props used in the scene are the knife and the mirror. The mirror is symbolic; it almost seems to represent Hamlet talking to himself, or perhaps looking into himself to answer his questions. The knife shows his dilemma between life and death, and the prospect of suicide to end all life's sufferings. When he touches the knife to the mirror, it is like Hamlet contemplating if he should kill himself or not. This knife also represents the war that is life. The two camera angles used are over-the-shoulder and close-up. The over-the-shoulder allows Hamlet to be reflected in the mirror while still showing his real self, showing his questions to himself. The close up allows the viewer to see his emotions and what he feels as he ponders. The lighting is natural as to not retract from the soliloquy. This same emphasis on Hamlet's words is also supported by the sound. His voice - diegetic sound - is the main focus of the scene, and therefore the main sound. There is also some non-diegetic music in the background. Interestingly, the music almost sounds like the singing of angels, which would be symbolic in that the central theme of his soliloquy is life versus death. 
• Laurence Olivier
• The soliloquy is set on a cliff by the sea. The camera starts by heading up several stairs before finally resting upon a bird's eye view of Hamlet's head. This appears to symbolize his contemplating of suicide, as all he has to do is jump off of the cliff. The camera then descends into his head, opening up the soliloquy which is switches between a voice-over and a diegetic speech . The music in the beginning is dramatic, providing a stark contrast between the quiet during the soliloquy. Only the diegetic waves resonant in the background, creating a lonely mood reflecting his purpose at the time. The music also rises abruptly just as Hamlet seems about to kill himself with a knife. This achieves the effect of startling the audience as well as a transition between his reason to commit suicide and his reasons to not to commit suicide. However, since the main focus is still on the soliloquy, there is not much sound that would distract the viewer from it. The lighting of the scene is in black and white, as is the entire movie. This is probably due to the fact that color movies weren't that popular in 1948 or they had not been developed yet. However, symbolically, this could represent the darkness of Hamlet's thoughts during the scene as well as the darkness of the entire movie as a whole. 
• Mel Gibson
• The soliloquy is set in a catacomb. This is symbolic as Hamlet ponders life and death. Perhaps he himself is wondering if he should just end it all there, in a place of death. The lighting is extremely dark, natural to the underground room. In the beginning Hamlet's face can barely be seen as the light is coming from the exit behind him, representing his movement away from the light. However, as he comes to a resolution about what the fear of death does to people, the light from a grate above settles on his face - a physical representation of his revelation. The sound is purely diegetic, with a focus on his the soliloquy and little else. In fact, the setting of the catacomb makes hi voice echo, creating more of an emphasis. There are no props; the setting of death makes up for the knife present in the previous two versions. The camera angle mostly interchanges between medium/long shots and close-up shots. The medium/long shots are used when Hamlet is moving; this is to again put an emphasis on the setting as a part of his speech. The close-up shots are used to put on focus on his more extreme emotions during the soliloquy, showing his own personal response to what he is saying. 
• Ethan Hawke
• This version of the soliloquy is a modern take on the play. It is set in the action section of a Blockbuster store, which could be an attempt at irony. Hamlet is considering death as sleep, yet he is walking through an area of movies that are many, fights against death. The sounds are both diegetic and non-diegetic. In the beginning of the scene, the sound is all non-diegetic, with mournful background music and a voice-over of the soliloquy. However, when the camera shifts from Hamlet's face to a movie playing on a television - also symbolic as it shows someone dying - Hamlet begins to say the words instead of just thinking them. This represents a shift in his thoughts. At first he seems to want to give up; his voice sounds like final thoughts before a death. But when he begins to contemplate the reasons of living on, his voice changes to a diegetic sound to represent him taking action. The camera angles are close-up shots of his face and medium shots of him walking except for a few moments where it focuses on the movie playing in a television, which as previously stated, is a symbol of the contents of his speech at the moment. The close-up shots allow the viewer to see his emotions and pensiveness. The medium shot is used at the beginning, where it almost seems like a wandering into the unknown.
• Most Effective Execution
• There are many versions of me, and I believe they all have their good points. However, I think that Kenneth Branagh's version of my soliloquy is the most effective. It captures the inner meaning of the speech through the use of the mirror and also uses a knife appropriately as as symbol of suffering. This version does not detract from my speech through its use of minimal background music. The angles from which it is shot effectively portrays my emotional state at the time, and does not change my speech to a voice-over. I believe that this is how my soliloquy should be presented, not as my thoughts, but as spoken words for myself to truly understand their meanings. Branagh's version is not overly dramatic as well, but rather provoking to elicit a thoughtful response from the audience as well. Why does one live? What is after death? These are the questions I ask and also the questions those watching would ask. 
• Changes
• I think the biggest thing I would change about any of the version is to take out the voice-overs and replace them with a diegetic speech. Though it does make the soliloquy more personal if Hamlet is thinking it, I think this is one of those things where you actually have to say it to believe it. It also gives more of an emphasis on any of the props used during the scene - especially the knife. In Olivier's version I think it would be more effective in color. This would provide more use for the lighting and also perhaps reflect any weather that would be symbolic of the moment - stormy, cloudy, etc. I also think that some of the background music in some of the version took away from the focus on the soliloquy. While they made good dramatic effect, I believe that it is not necessary as the speech is very pensive and thoughtful.