Blog #15 To Be or Not to Be (Hamlet Blog #3)

SOLILOQUY ANALYSIS: To Be or Not To Be

As Hamlet dramatically ebbs and flows between the ideas of living and dying, he chooses to include dark imagery related to the uncertainty of death and the negativity of life. He asks himself whether it is “nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” or rather “to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing them, end them.” (3.1.57-59) With the inclusion of twisted metaphors, his words take on a more emotional (pathos) weight. They highlight the main dilemma of Hamlet’s speech and also hint at his mental instability. Even when he speaks of life, he alludes to its “heaviness” in saying that one does, “grunt and sweat under a weary life.” (3.1.77)

Throughout his soliloquy, Hamlet continuously captures the reader through the use of appeals, whether they be to emotion or character, reason or fear.  To appear as an equal, he stresses the specific words related to mankind as a whole. “…and makes us rather bear those ills we have,” he exclaims, “than fly to others that we know not of.” (3.1.81) Whoever the speech is addressed to, even if it is just to himself, Hamlet’s use of these words portrays him as if he’s like us all, and turns the focus of the speech not just on him, but on the audience (ethos). Emotionally, Hamlet is an expert as tugging heartstrings. With skillful wordplay, he emphasizes the very negative aspects of life and all its struggles, suggesting that, “…by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.” (3.1.61)  Concurrently, the prince is able to employ logic even through a cloud of insanity. He warns that “the conscience does make cowards of us all”, asserting that even the “native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.” (3.1.83-85)

Like a true poet, Hamlet’s speech is interwoven with literary devices, all working towards one purpose, to highlight his appeals and strengthen his assertions and uncertainties. The overall tone of the piece can be seen as morbid and pained. He can’t seem to make up his mind, and even at the speech’s resolution, is plagued with the same dilemma as well as the suffocating confinement of his own mind. Carefully selected and crafted, Hamlet pieces together dark diction as enforcement of tone.  Words like, “suffer”, “whips and scorns”, and “mortal coil” illuminate a feeling of imprisonment in the live human body. (3.1.) The entire soliloquy hints at the larger irony (paradox) that death may be the only relief from the weight of life. He draws parallels between death and sleep, dreams and mortality.  In numerous cases, the infinitive is used in support of these parallels, when he twice states, “To die: to sleep.” (3.1.61,64) or perhaps the more famous “to be, or not to be.” (3.1.56)

Speaking metaphorically Hamlet compares Time to an oppressor, saying that one must bear its “whips and scorns.” (3.1.73) He also talks about the place after death to be something like, “the undiscovered country from whose bourn, No traveler returns…” (3.1.79) Similarly, he draws a connection between life on earth and imprisonment, arguing that our body is a cell of confinement. Therefore, our mind, he says, is another prison in which we must remain, left only to face our own uncertainties, inevitably doomed to remain cowards. Although, he makes solid arguments, he often doubts himself, and therefore is seen as not completely sure of his own assertions. Like many other greats, he ponders the infamous “meaning of life” as well as the struggle between painful life and easy death.  In the end, he is still being pulled in different directions, but concludes that we all will be forever afraid to act upon our thoughts and that death may be the only resolution to the weight of being alive.

 

 ACTING ANALYSIS

 

Kenneth Branagh: This scene begins and ends with a shot over the back of Hamlet. Almost the entire soliloquy was a shot of a mirror and Hamlet’s own reflection in it. This hints at the prince’s own “self-reflection” and discovery, by both literally and figuratively revealing an image of Hamlet to himself. As the scene continues, the camera shot zooms closer and closer, until we are left to view only Hamlet’s face.  Just like the audience is uncovering more about his mental state as the speech matures, they are physically getting closer to him in what the director chooses to reveal in the shot. Wearing all black, Hamlet’s costume choice symbolizes the stereotypical relationship between the color black and death as he goes through his rant about the struggle of life versus suicide. When he hits the part about time as the oppressor, scary music begins to play and when he unsheathes the blade, the music increases in suspense. Zooming completely in on his reflection in the mirror, the scene leaves us unsure about reality and reflection, life and death.

Laurence Olivier: Definitely the most dramatic of the four, this version begins with suspenseful music, overlooking the stormy sea, which alludes to Hamlet’s image of the “sea of troubles”. Before he begins speaking, there are some really weird, trippy blob-like images and then the camera zooms in on his head. This sets us up for Hamlet’s soliloquy by hinting at his mental instability and the internal conflict he feels.  At the “to die” moment in his speech, there’s a non-diegetic voice over (we barely notice it changed) until he reaches, “to sleep”, where there’s a flash back to diegetic sound and reality.  This technique illuminates the larger theme and uncertainty between life and death, as well as what is reality and what could be considered a dream.

Mel Gibson: The shot starts off with Hamlet walking down dimly lit stairs, and then pans over the inside of castle, until we eventually realize that he is inside of a tomb.  While considering his own life and death, the camera constantly zooms back to tombstones and skeletons, very bluntly emphasizing how close he is to death, literally. As he walks and talks, little bits of light from ceiling sometimes illuminate his face, showing his emotions, and also illustrating the contrast between light and dark, death and life. The entire scene is very quiet, which leaves us to hear only Hamlet’s inner thoughts. The camera sometimes zooms in on his face, and other times features a wide shot, except for when he reaches, “the undiscovered country” where the camera zooms in on the tombs.

Ethan Hawke: Probably the most unrealistic, yet most effective of the different versions, this one begins with Hamlet walking through the aisle in a present-day movie store (Blockbuster). The cheery setting and modern day background create a stark contrast between death and life. The director, like the other versions, chose to clothe Hamlet in black, but unlike the others, gave him a very attractive winter hat.  Just like the seasons coincide with rebirth and death, the winter hat could be symbolizing the thoughts of death that are confined inside of his head (or in this case, that he is wearing on his head.) At the conclusion of his speech, an image of a burning man flashes on the tv screen, paralleling his inner struggle.

 

Most Effective Version (From Gertrude’s Perspective)      

As I watched from the cold outside air of Blockbuster, my face pressed against the glass window, I could clearly see Hamlet as he perused the aisles carefully.  His black suit and shirt made me think that what he was ranting about had to be something a bit morbid.  I may have been thinking into it too much, but the fact that he was wearing a winter hat could have been symbolizing the season’s relation to death. He does have a flair for the dramatic. I found it strange that I was hearing background music, but you know, sometimes that’s what characters hear when they’re acting in movies.  It was really intense and dark, and it actually scared me a little.  It made me question Hamlet’s sanity- was he going to kill himself right then and there? In a movie store? That’d be a mess to clean up. I also found it ironic that he was walking through the “action” aisles, because since he’d entered the store, he’d been asking himself if he should “take action”. Get it? Yeah, that might be a reach, but like I said, Hamlet’s a character. When he finally finished talking to himself, I noticed the television screen had a picture of a burning man, which seemed to parallel his internal conflict and anger. As a whole, ever since Hamlet entered Blockbuster, the contrasting colors and ironic undertones seemed to highlight his dilemma better than any old-time Shakespearean movie ever could.

 

What Would I Change?

              

If I could change anything about any of these “To be or not to be” approaches, I’d have to go with the Mel Gibson version. Although he was really great to look at, I didn’t really like how obvious the whole “standing-in-a-tomb” thing was.  I think the director could have highlighted his inner turmoil in a more subtle way. Maybe he could have been glimpsing his reflection in water or even in a sword (like Mulan).  I’d also change the lighting and make it more purposeful instead of randomly shining onto his face.  I think it would “shed a lot of light” onto his mental struggle if the light from the ceiling could have fallen on his face when he was talking about life and then he could have stepped into the shadows when mentioning death. However, I did like how the camera zoomed onto the tombs when he talked about the “undiscover’d country”, but it would have been interesting if instead of walking by the tombs, he would have interacted with them more.  If he had climbed into them or hung on them, he might have helped play up the paradox between the struggle of life and the easy relief of death.