To be or not to be? (Blog #4)

"To be or not to be? That is the question—" (3.1.57). I heard Hamlet say before I entered the room. Intrigued by his self conversation I listened. What a depressing soliloquy. I don't understand why he would even think of suicide. His life can't be that bad... can it?

"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?" (3.1.58-61).  He is debating whether it is worth it to just take all the unfortunate things that life throws at you or just to give up all together. I will agree that life does often have many mishappens and at that moment in time it seems better to end it. But you shouldn't, because NOTHING is worth ending your life. He goes on to say, "For 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, / The insolence of office, and the spurns / That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, / When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, / To grunt and sweat under a weary life," (3.1.71-78). Yeah these things are annoying, but they are apart of life. You just have to push through it, and not let it get you down.  I know that for certain.

But what I do not really know about is death. During Hamlet's speech he often mentioned the uncertainties about death, and it made me start to wonder as he did. "But that the 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?" (3.1.79-83). We don't know what happens after death, and most of us do wonder. What happens? I mean someone dies and they are just gone forever... where does their sole go? Can they come back to contact us? I mean anything is possible... right? Besides not knowing where you go, we don't really know what it is like to die. Hamlet describes that death is sleep and when you sleep you dream but then he said, "To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub, / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause." (3.1.66-69). 

I believe he is appealing to his emotions (ethos) and his personality (pathos). He pores his heart and sole into this speech, you can feel his emotion come through, he is very depressed and bothered by the everyday routine. Also when he says this he is not putting on another persona, like he does in public, this is the real him.

Since his speech is so dramatic; it is trending on youtube.com. I started watching other people deliver his soliloquy, I must say they are all good in many different ways. But I do have to say that Kenneth Branagh is the best. The setting puts into perspective that his speech reflects how his feelings are, but at the same time other people can finally see how he actually is without him knowing. I also love how he builds up to the end, he starts of kind of quiet then he is really into it by the end. But he gets interrupted by me and hushes once again. When he gives this speech I can really feel the same emotion I felt when Hamlet actually said it; his black clothes give more emphasis to the dark, depressing mood already given by the soliloquy.  He also spoke all of the speech unlike some of the others who had half voice over and half actual talking. This gave more of an emphasis to the character of Hamlet. 

Next was the Laurence Olivier, what I liked about this one was right before he started talking was the winding stairs up the castle to this dangerous cliff. Then the camera angle changed to a first person looking over the edge which really made you think he was actually contemplating killing himself. This was one that did half and half with the voice over and talking, which I didn't really like because it distracted you from the emotion. 

Maybe it is because I do not like Mel Gibson, but this one was my least favorite. But besides the actor, I did not like how the camera kept changing to the coffin, though I understand the reference. It was alluding to Hamlet still being upset with his father's death. But that change in camera angle would break up the soliloquy, and it needs to flow as one whole thought, kind of thing. The setting though was nice, it did add more to his depression, because it was his father's tomb. Along with setting his attire also emphasized on his state of mind (dark colors). 

The last depiction was interesting to say the least. It was a more modern twist on it. It took place in a Blockbuster (which are no longer around), specifically in the action section of the movies. This ties very well into his last line of losing action. He paces through the isle until when he says, "And lose the name of action." (3.1.89) he actually leaves and it emphasizes the line very clearly. What I did not like what he wasn't talking the whole time, then all the sudden he spoke out loud. I would have just made him voice over the whole time. In this case it would help the feeling of emptiness and despair. Also I might change some of the camera angle and focus more on the actor and his facial expressions/ body movements; because in this it should some videos that sort of had to deal with the speech, but at the same time didn't tie in all the way. Last  thing I would change is costume. I didn't have too much of a problem with it, but the clothes should have been darker. 

Ophelia #ToBeOrNotToBe