#15: Do they have soft pillows in the afterlife?

1. 

     In the famous soliloquy, Hamlet makes many references to dark times and the quiet approach of death. 

Whether he should live or leave his "mind to suffer" (3.1.57). He repeatedly questions whether he should take up arms and defend himself or whether it may be easier, more worthwhile simply to "to die, to sleep" (3.1.60). He thinks that life after death may be more sound, and generally a better place, as he ponders, "for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come" (3.1.66). He does not know what the afterlife brings but the thought of having a more positive experience makes him ponder. He describes the more negative feelings in life, "pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay" (3.1.72). For him, the sweaty, arduous life can simply wear a person out. Dark moments when "no traveller returns" makes Hamlet believe that a deep sleep may be just what he needs.

     Hamlet relies largely upon pathos to persuade his audience. This can be seen most clearly in his diction, which utilizes tone to evoke feeling. For example, he wallows, "the pangs of despis'd love," and the "grunt and sweat under a weary life"(3.1.72-75). Words like "pangs" and "grunt and sweat" are rich and evoke pathos. He does further utilize logos to increase this speech's effect. Though not his major technique, he does reference some inarguable truths about human nature such as when he says, "conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.83).
     The tone used as Hamlet talks is contemplative, curious, and solemn, as Hamlet tries to weight the advantages and disadvantages of death. Does the uncertainty of death outweigh the pains of life itself? The diction is casual at least for that time period, as Hamlet is literally discussing with himself and does not need to be formal to indicate respect or otherwise. These are his thoughts simply spoken out loud.

     The main metaphor in this speech is the comparison of death to a deep sleep and dreaming. Also life is compared to a battle many times. Hamlet wonders about the end to suffering and hardship that death can provide by stating, “[t]he heartache, and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to" (3.1.62-63). He keeps asking himself and the universe why people can stand to suffer through the grunt and sweat of life when the promise of something better may lie ahead. What he concludes from this long questioning of life is that, death is uncertain and the afterlife will or won't be what you expect. It is this uncertainty that prevents everyone from committing suicide in order to simply get to the side with seemingly greener grass.

2. 
Kenneth Branagh. This scene begins and ends with an over the shoulder camera angle. The entirety of the speech is shown through the mirror as Hamlet inspects himself from the inside. This is a revealing of Hamlet's self-image to himself and the audience. The scene proceeds and the camera zooms closer and closer to Hamlet's face until that is the only thing within the screen. As the scene progresses, the zooming in reflects the viewers' greater understanding of who Hamlet is and what in life concerns him. He is wearing his dark attire that his mother and Claudius are often ashamed of, which traditionally symbolizes death and gloom, which parallels the content of Hamlet's speech. As Hamlet approaches the part of his speech about time as an oppressor, daunting music plays and as he reveals the blade, the music increases in pitch and therefore in suspense. The camera ultimately remains zoomed in on Hamlet's face which symbolizes his and therefore the audience's decreased visibility.

Laurence Olivier. This is the most dramatic of the four scenes, and bridges on unrealistic. At the beginning, suspenseful music plays, which seems slightly out of context. It foreshadows the troubles ahead, but does little more than add a cheesy touch. The shot pans out to the clouds and stormy skies, and then back down to the foaming seas below. This version also utilizes a shot of the back of Hamlet's head before he begins his initial speech, as if to literally provide the audience with Hamlet's point of view. Before he begins speaking, the camera zooms up on Hamlet's scalp and unrecognizable images start to encompass the screen and we see an image of a brain. This underscores the internal conflict that Hamlet is dealing with as well as his growing craziness, as well as foreshadows the contents of Hamlet's speech.  When Hamlet says “to die” in his speech, there’s a non-diegetic voice over until he reaches, “to sleep”, which is basically taking us inside of Hamlet's head, as if the soliloquy was part thought versus an actual speech. The techniques used in this scene highlight the fact that Hamlet's struggle is mainly internal.

Mel Gibson. The scene begins with Hamlet descending some dark stairs alone, immediately underscoring his the struggle within himself that he is dealing with.  The audience eventually picks up that he is inside a tomb, and the camera zooms in and out onto tombstones and skeletons, leaving nothing to the interpretation. As Hamlet ponders life and death, the camera shots increasingly become more obvious, relating directly to his words. His voice echoes slightly inside the tomb, which is important as his own words are almost replayed back to him. Most of the time, the camera is zoomed in a medium shot upon his face and other times, panned out to a wide shot when Hamlet is doing some significant body movement, except for when he reaches, “the undiscovered country,” the shot suddenly zooms in on the tombs.His face is often in and out of the shadows, and when making an important realization, he looks upwards and his face suddenly finds the light. 

Ethan Hawke. Is this even real? This is one of the more unrealistic versions of this scene as Hamlet has the biggest realization of the entire play within a BlockBuster video store. The camera shot follows Hamlet around the store as he gazes at various video displays and often at the television screens that show dark images like things being set on fire. Hamlet is still clothed in black but he is wearing a winter hat, perhaps indicating that it is cold outside, symbolizing the death and demise and freeze that comes with winter. Peacefully suspenseful and at times of real discovery, triumphant, music plays the entire time that Hamlet is speaking. This was the one scene that kept me completely engaged, though it was unrealistic. It is a modern version of the play, I assume, and thus this weird scene somehow works.

The Most Effective. I found Ethan Hawke's version of this scene to be the most effective because I could actually see it happening today. It kept me visually engaged because in a Blockbuster store, there is an awful lot to look at. His gloomy colored apparel stayed true to the original portrayal of Hamlet. I enjoyed that as dramatic moments took place in the speech, the television was burning something down or making other noises that paralleled Hamlet's realizations without being completely in the scene. I enjoyed that as he spoke "action" in his speech, he walked through the action section of the video store. It was a subtle way to highlight the significance of the video store, as it is a place where many different stories and perspectives are told.

What I would change. The version I would change would be Lawrence Olivier's scene as I found it to be way too dramatic for my taste. I would have more subtle music play at the beginning and skip the part where the camera zooms unreasonably close into Hamlet's head. I do not like having him out at sea pondering the question, as it is too unsurprising and unoriginal. Instead of having random blobs take over the screen before Hamlet actually starts speaking, I would pan out completely, showing Hamlet as simply a little speck sitting outside the castle or some place of more significance than the sea, and then zoom in to him as he begins talking.