Blog #15 Hamlet Blog Assignment #3

Analysis

In Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates the nature and purposes of death; He contrasts between the reasons for both life and death in an attempt to find a justification for either maintaining life or committing suicide.

Hamlet uses imagery that refers to the uncertainty of death in order to justify the prolonging of life, i.e. why all people do not choose to commit suicide to put themselves out of the misery of life. He says “But that the dread of something after death,/ the undiscovered country from whose bourn/ No traveler returns” (3.1.79-81). Hamlet is thus using imagery to show that death is uncertain, because ever person who enters it never returns to life in order to dispose of the uncertainty of death. Because one’s fate in death is completely unknown, along with people inherent avoidance of the unknown, Hamlet is saying that people are deterred from prematurely entering death.

Hamlet also uses imagery that refers to the negative experiences in life in order to pose the question as to why people would choose to put up with such negative experiences in life, rather than to alleviate them by entering death. He asks “who would bear the whips and scorns of time,/ Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,/ The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay” (3.1.71-73) in order to show the pain that people will tolerate throughout their lives, if only in an attempt to waylay what they fear will come with death.

Hamlet uses logos to convince his audience. This is evident in the fact that he is trying to rationalize his way through arguments for death and for life. He rationalizes death by saying that by “[taking] arms against a sea of troubles,/ And, by opposing, end them?” (3.1.60-61), meaning that through death, one can put an end to their struggles in life once and for all. He also rationalizes life when he says “in that sleep of death what dreams may come/ When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/ Must give us pause” (3.1.67-69), which means that we as humans are unaware what lies ahead in death, and that this is something we worry about. Thus, Hamlet uses logos to provide logical reasons to take either path: life or death.

In the soliloquy, the line “Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And, by opposing, end them?” (3.1.60-61) is a paradox because he is equating fighting back and standing up to his troubles to dying and giving up on life. This is significant in that Hamlet is saying that fighting back against our troubles will cause our destruction, and he says that as he struggles with the troubles in his life (i.e. Claudius, and Hamlet’ s desire to kill him).

Hamlet uses parallelism to emphasize his internal contemplation, and therefore confusion, concerning life and death. He says “To die, to sleep--/ No more” (3.1.61-62) and “To die, to sleep./ To sleep, perchance to dream” (3.1.65-66) which contrasts his use of the metaphor of sleep to describe both death and life.

Hamlet uses the infinitive, such as “to be or not to be” (3.1.57) to show that by not assigning a subject to either verb that he is torn between being one or the other.

Hamlet uses synecdoche by using “death” to refer to suicide, particularly his possible suicide. The synecdoche is significant in that it makes his contemplation of life and death much more universally applicable.

The tone of Hamlet’s soliloquy is one of despair, in that he is contemplating suicide and is genuinely lost as to whether he should continue his life or give in to death. This is significant in that it adds sincerity to his speech, as if he actually is undergoing a struggle to decide whether to live or die.

Diction in Hamlet’s soliloquy is used to contrast life and death. For instance, he uses words associated with peacefulness and relaxation, such as “dream” to describe death, whereas he uses harsher words to describe life, such as “suffer” and “oppressor” which shows that he views life as painful and death as soothing.

Hamlet also uses metaphor to characterize death. In fact, the two main metaphors that he uses in this soliloquy compares death to sleep and dreams as well as death to a country from which a traveler cannot return. This shows the uncertainty that Hamlet characterizes death with.

Hamlet uses the following comparisons: He compares life on earth to “a sea of troubles” (3.1.60), the afterlife to an “undiscovered country from whose bourn/ No traveler returns” (3.1.79-81), death to “sleep” (3.1.61), humans to “cowards” (3.1.79), and thinking to “And enterprises of great pith and moment/ With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action” (3.1.87-89).

Hamlet also presents oppositions throughout the arguments in his soliloquy. For instance, even though dying would be like having a dream, there is too much uncertainty in that for people to be willing to prematurely enter it. Also, Hamlet says that even though it is easier to just die and to avoid one’s troubles, most people just keep suffering through life to avoid the uncertainty of death. In addition, Hamlet says that because of our fear of uncertainty, our thoughts towards death become prolonged, in therefore stay only thoughts rather than become actions.

The eternal philosophical question that Hamlet ponders is whether it is nobler to live or to die. He contemplates whether the peace that comes with death would be preferable to the struggles of life, or whether the certainty of life would be preferable to the uncertainty of death.

Hamlet was debating whether or not to kill himself, and in the end, he concluded that the fear of death is a deterrent to all, and that this causes people, including Hamlet, to think rather to act upon death.

Mise En Scene

In the Kenneth Branagh version, Hamlet gives his soliloquy facing a full-length wall mirror, and delivers the lines to a reflection of himself. This is significant in that Hamlet is contemplating either continuing or ending his life, so his reflection is representative of his life and by delivering his lines to his reflection it is as if he is contemplating his life from a more subjective perspective. He is fully lit up, which shows that all of the focus is on him. In terms of camera angles, the camera zooms in to a close-up of the reflection of Hamlet’s face. This shows that as he goes further through his soliloquy, he is getting more personal. In terms of sound, at the beginning but about halfway through, non-diegetic music is added to make the scene more dramatic and suspenseful. For costumes and make-up, he is dressed in all black, which represents the death that he is contemplating, and his make-up makes him look tired as if he has been up at night trying to figure out all of his troubles. He uses a knife as a prop, which he rests first against his face, and then the mirror, which represents his decision to either end his life or his attempt at suicide.

In the Laurence Olivier, Hamlet delivers his soliloquy on the roof of Elsinore, staring out into the sea. The setting is particularly important since Hamlet is facing a “sea of troubles” in his life. In addition, he is located on the edge of the roof, on the precipice between simply walking off the cliff into the sea, a quick death, and venturing back into the fog from which he came, representing the troubles in his life. The scene opens with the camera rushing up the stairs, which represents the fact that Hamlet’s thoughts are spiraling back and forth between life and suicide at this point, all while adding a suspenseful element to the scene. The very intense, quick background music at the beginning of the scene also adds to the madness of the beginning. The scene is in black and white, which represents the distinct contrast between life and death. The camera angle begins in a close up shot, then a medium shot, finishing with a long shot of Hamlet, which shows Hamlet backing further away from the madness at the beginning and getting more logical. Halfway through the scene, Hamlet closes his eyes, stops speaking his lines and it becomes voiceover narration instead, and begins to hold the knife closer to him, which shows that he is very seriously considering killing himself at that moment, but when he drops his arm and the camera zooms out he begins speaking again to show that he is considering a different argument. His costume is pretty typical of the medieval period, which adds authenticity to this version. It is also both black and white, which adds contrast between life and death.

In the Mel Gibson version, Hamlet is delivers his soliloquy in a tomb. He walks down a set of stairs to this tomb, which represents his contemplation of descending into death. Because he is royalty, if he died, he would probably end up here in the tomb at Elsinore, so if he did choose to die, this would be the location where he would finally have peace. In terms lf lighting, it is very dark, with the only light coming from up the stairs and the hole in ceiling, which would represent life and the fact that one must descend from life into death. He is dressed in all black, which represents the death that he is contemplating as well as his serious attitude. The camera angle is mostly close-ups with a few long shots, especially at the end. This puts the main focus on Hamlet, and the fact that even though he is in the tomb, he is not yet dead. In terms of props, he uses a tomb lean against, which shows that he is contemplating using death as a catalyst to peace, to lean on it to alleviate his struggles, but the fact that he gets up shows that he hasn’t decided to commit suicide. The sounds in the scene consist only of Hamlet’s voice.

In the Ethan Hawke version, Hamlet is at a modern day video rental store when he delivers his soliloquy. The setting is important in that he walks down the action movie aisle a couple of times, meaning that just as it seems he is attempting to decide on which action movie to rent, he is actually deciding which action to take: life or death. The scene opens with background narration, which transitions into Hamlet speaking his lines, which occurs when he sees the explosion on the tv and turns to walk down another aisle, which shows a transition in his arguments which is highlighted by him beginning to speak. There is music in the background to add drama and suspense. In terms of props, there is a tv used with explosions which shows the volatility of Hamlet’s thoughts. Hamlet here is dressed all in black, which represents the death that he is thinking about as well as his serious nature. He is also wearing a strange hat, which represents the abstract thoughts occurring in his head.

Laurence Olivier’s soliloquy was the most effective by far. I actually thought he was going to kill himself for a moment up on that cliff. I was so worried. I don’t know what I would do if he had died. I thought that the conviction in his voice was very passionate, and I can truly understand the suffering that he feels. I wish I could help him somehow. I also liked how there was a transition from the madness of the spiraling stairs to the portrayal of Hamlet’s logic. I knew in my heart that Hamlet wasn’t mad. He is as sane as any of us. I also thought that the fact that he stood at the precipice between life and death, between the sea and the fog was very effective. There is a quick and easy path to death right in front of him, put he must pass through the uncertainty of the fog to get there. He is standing on this precipice, making a decision that would affect all of us. I have to admit, I am very happy he chose not to kill himself up on the roof of Elsinore.

There are a few changes that I would make to the other versions. First of all, in Kenneth Branaugh’s version I would get rid of the background music that begins in the middle of the scene. I thought that it was distracting and pulled focus away from Hamlet’s words. In the Mel Gibson version, I would have spiced it up a little bit. I thought that it was a bit underdone and dull compared to the others. I probably would have changed the camera angles to add more variety. In the Ethan Hawke version, I would have gotten rid of his hat. I thought it was distracting and it would have been more effective with only his black suit on.