Hamlet Blog Post #3

Soliloquy Analysis

Imagery:

Referring to the uncertainty of death:

·         "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.57-59).

· "For 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).

· "But that the dread of something after death,/The undiscover'd country from whose bourn/No traveller returns, puzzles the will" (3.1.77-80).

· "Puzzles the will and makes us rather bare the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.80-82)

Referring to the negative experiences of life:

·         "Suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take action against a sea of troubles"(3.1.58-59).

·         "The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation" (3.1.62-63).

·          "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time," (3.1.70)

·         "To grunt and sweat under a weary life," (3.1.77)

Appeals:

Pathos used to convince/motivate audience:

Hamlet appeals to the emotional interest of the audience by showing them the difficultly of the decision that he is trying to make:

· "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," (3.1.57-58)

· "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,/Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely/The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,/The patient merit of th' unworthy takes," (3.1.70-74)

Ethos:

Hamlet establishes credibility with the audience when he shouts out with emotion so we can realize that although Hamlet seems to have control over is mad façade, he may not which establishes the honesty in his soliloquy:

· "And lose the name of action- soft you now!" (3.1.88)

Logos:

Hamlet uses logos by creating an opposition to his wish of death by contemplating the consequences of his actions:

· "But that to the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd 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?" (31.78-82)

Hamlet uses logos to convince/motivate audience:

· "And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.81-82)

Literary Devices:

•     Paradox: In the soliloquy, paradox appears in the form of an invalid argument. He describes how terrible and painful life is but he also considers the fact that his afterlife could be just as bad or worse so he would put up with life.

•     Parallelism: "Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, the insolence of office and the spurns" (3.1.71-73). It emphasizes the struggle in life that Hamlet faces.

• Synecdoche: Hamlet uses synecdoche to characterize and focus on the question that Hamlet is pondering.

• Tone: The tone of this speech is depressed because Hamlet is struggling with his emotions of sorrow and fear of death.

• Diction: Words like "whips", "scorns", "spurns", "dread", "oppressor", and "sicklied" to create the depressed mood.

• Metaphors:

Death is sleep: Hamlet compares death to sleep in order to make it seem more natural and less intimidating for him to try and ease his own fear of death. He also compares his uncertainty of his afterlife to the dreams that come in sleep.

· "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil," (3.1.67)

· "And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--/No more--and by a sleep to say we end/The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks" (3.1.60-63)

Death/life is an abuse/sickness: Hamlet's compares the hardships of his life to slavery. He endures the pain of slavery everyday and wants to escape his "slavery" by death.

· "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer" (3.1.57)

· "For who would bear the whips and scorns of time," (3.1.70)

· "To grunt and sweat under a weary life," (3.1.77)

· "Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," (3.1.85)

· To die, to sleep: to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (3.1.64-66).

Comparisons:

• Life on earth to the afterlife: "To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns" (3.1.77-80)

• Humans and thinking:

• "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; and thus the native hue of resolution is sickled o'er with the pale cast of thought, and enterprises of great pitch and moment with this regard their currents turn awry, and lose the name of action" (3.184-88)

• The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--" (3.1.62-64)

· Afterlife: "The undiscovered country, from whose bourn/No traveller returns, puzzles the will,/And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.79-82)

· Death: "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil," (3.1.66-67)

Oppositions:

• Hamlet is unsure if he will go to Heaven or Hell.

• He would not be able to avenge his father's death.

• Afraid letting death take him would make him look like a coward

• Death could be more torturous than life

Philosophical Questions:

Hamlet ponder the eternal question of what will happen after death?

He also wonders if it is better to die than to live?

• "To be or not to be: that is the question: 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?" (3.1.56-60)

• "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (3.1.66)

• "To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that to the dread of something after death, the undiscover'd 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

(3.1.77-82)

Conclusions:

Hamlet is too afraid of the repercussions of going to Hell to allow death to take him as seen in the last line, "Be all my sins remembered." (3.1.89) This shows that Hamlet knows that it would be a sin to kill himself and he doesn't want to commit it. It also alludes to his intentions to instead of killing himself, go and kill his uncle which would also be considered a sin. He is religious but it is questionable what his morals are.

Acting Analysis:

Kenneth Branagh: Minimal editing is used in this scene as the camera angle is continuous until Hamlet is finished with his soliloquy. It makes the soliloquy smoother and emphasizes it's importance over other speeches in the play. The camera angle is very clever as it shows Hamlet's reflection in a large mirror with only the tip of his shoulder visible in front of the mirror. This shows that Hamlet is reflecting deep into his thoughts and analyzing his own sins and morality and whether or not he would go to Heaven or Hell. It also  creates a sort of dominance between the mirror and Hamlet as it captures only his reflection speaking, emphasizing that Hamlet is losing control of himself and his emotions and is at a loss for what to do. The only diegetic sounds in the scene are Hamlet's voice in a whisper and it's echo and the sound and echo of his footsteps as he walks closer to the mirror. The echoes create an eerie tone and the silence behind them emphasizes the seriousness of the words and leave no distractions that could turn their focus away from Hamlet. The only non-diegetic sound was soft classical music that played to signal the audience that Hamlet had reach the climax of his soliloquy in towards the middle-end of the speech. It also brings out the sorrowful aspect of Hamlet's predicament. In this version Hamlet is dressed in a black suit which signifies that he is still mourning his father's death and is in a state of darkness. The props used were the mirror and the castle background to add to the solemnness of the scene and most importantly, he also holds a dagger which show the audience that Hamlet is serious and that it is a very close and tough decision to make whether or not to die.

Laurence Olivier: The scene begins with many choppy, edited shots of stairs up to a tower, tumultuous water, and Hamlet's head and face close up as he peers over the side of the tower. These images set the dark mood of the soliloquy to follow. When the camera reaches the ocean, Hamlet suddenly appears in the shot and the audience sees him watching the ocean, looking as if he is debating whether or not to jump.  After Hamlet begins to speak, there is little switching of angles or editing to interrupt his monologue. The diegetic sounds in the scene are the sounds of the water and wind to set the mood and Hamlet's voice. His mouth is only moving for some of the words that he speaks to show that the contemplation is mostly in his thoughts. The non-diegetic sounds is violent violin music in the beginning to set the fearful mood and in the middle of the soliloquy when he brings the dagger close to him to create suspense and surprise. Intense violin music also plays at the end of the soliloquy as Hamlet is walking away to show that he has come to a conclusion to live. The main prop is the dagger which he moves farther and closer away from his body to show whether his thoughts are leaning closer to life or death. After about a minute, Hamlet drops his dagger and the camera switches to show the dagger as it falls into the ocean, gone forever. This serves to represent Hamlet's ultimate decision to not commit suicide and instead try to fight his problems. Hamlet doesn't appear to be wearing and makeup. And his costume is disheveled and distressed looking which shows his current mental instability.

Mel Gibson: Hamlet is captured walking down a large set of stairs into a very dark, dungeon-y room. In some shots, the camera angle is of the room as a whole or Hamlet wondering around the room.  These shots usually occur when Hamlet is changing his mind in his speech and going from life to death or from death to life. The other shots are close ups of Hamlet's face to capture his facial expressions in the peak emotional parts of his soliloquy. The diegetic sounds are the sound of Hamlet's voice and its echo as well as his footsteps and their echoes as he paces around the room, which preludes to his loneliness. There are no non-diegetic sounds to distract the readers from the content and meaning within the words, like there were songs in the other videos. The only props would be the tombs of dead bodies, which are used to set a dark mood and show that Hamlet is close to death and also his envy of those that are dead. It looks as if Hamlet is wearing eye makeup to draw attention to his eyes and the emotions of sadness and melancholy that they will show throughout the soliloquy. Hamlet's costume is dark and blends in well with the shady background, which shows his currently dark mood and thoughts. It also shows how he is still mourning the death of his father.

Ethan Hawke: The scene opens with Hamlet standing in a store that looks to be similar to a Blockbuster. The setting makes the scene much more modern although Hamlet is still speaking in Old English which is a contrast. The shots of him walking show the continuity of the soliloquy until the end when the shot stays on a close up of his face as he stops walking and comes to a resolution. Hawke uses medium shots, long shots, and close up shots throughout the scene to capture Hamlet's emotion, which in this version comes off as very dazed and confused. He is dressed in a suit and winter hat, which symbolizes death, relating back to the Foster chapter, since that is exactly what he is contemplating about. The diegetic sounds are the sound of his voice and footstep to create a solemn mood and limit the distractions as much as possible to keep the attention on Hamlet. Part of Hamlet's words are said out loud and part of them are just a voice over which indicates that his soliloquy is mostly full of thoughts. There is also intense background music, and sound effects of guns, whips, chains, etc. He is walking down the Action aisle most of the time because we can see the Action labels repeated in the selves at his sides. This is almost mocking him in the fact that he has not just taken any action to avenge his father. It is ironic that there is a sign behind him that says “Leave Home Happy”. At about one minute, the sound switches from non diegetic to diegetic and Hamlet is captured speaking. He continues to speak throughout the rest of the scene and at the very end of the scene, a TV screen with a man burning in fire is captured.

After viewing all of the scenes of my love Hamlet speaking his famous soliloquy, I thought that it was absolutely ingenious the way that Hamlet is only shown through a mirror. I believe that this shows a level of self-analysis and reflection that none of the other scenes did. The way that Hamlet spoke all of the words and did not rely on voiceover and also the harsh whisper that he used made the scene more relatable and believable. Kenneth shows in this scene as Hamlet with the way he speaks the words and inches closer to the mirror and utilizes the dagger on his reflection show that he has brought down his walls for a moment and is actually falling apart behind his façade. Him being dressed in his normal attire also give the scene honesty and show Hamlet's humanness and vulnerability. The silence and the echoes, while present in many of the other scenes, spoke the most to me in this particular scene. The only thing I would have changed was the music because I thought it distracted from the soliloquy and trying to get the meaning of what Hamlet was saying, it was also a little cheesy. Overall, the scene was very tasteful and well thought out. It showcased not only Hamlet's words but his inter conflict and deep emotions of sorrow in his mental instability.

The modern interpretation of Hawke's scene was very interesting but also a little bit confusing. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be comical or not with the strange hat and Blockbuster background. If it was supposed to be comical then I think that there should be more props or sounds to show that. That scene was also lacking some emotion compared to the other portrayals which I am not sure was intentional or not. It took back a lot from the meaning of the soliloquy and overall lost me. I guess there was some good symbolism but it was just to modern for the whole soliloquy, which is really the most important part of the scene.