Blog Post #15; Hamlet Post #3 To Be or Not To Be Soliloquy analysis

     The main metaphors are sleeping, which is a reference to death. this is proven when Hamlet says, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come" (3.1.75). The other prominent metaphor in this soliloquy is the image of a dream, referring to heaven, or the afterlife. "To sleep, perchance, to dream..." (3.1.74). The whole passage is about how Hamlet doesn't know if he should go through with any of his plans, if they're worth it, if completing them will get him where he wants to be. This is reinforeced by camera angles being very close up in the film, as well as that he's talking to himself in a mirror, as a very literal inward reflection. Especially when he pulls out his knife and puints it at his mirror-self's throat: a symbol of his violence toward himself and in general. He also begins to question his own sanity, and has the validity of concience, "Thus concience does not make cowards of us all" (3.1.93).  But even more so, if He and his life are worth it. Considering "to be" is to exist, and to exist is to live, this soliloquy would be better titled "To Live or Not to Live." This offers a far better explanation for the frequency of his references to sleeping, and hopefully, dreaming, or dying, and hopefully going to somewhere better than his life is on earth.

     For the Ethan Hawke adaptation of the scene, the camera basically followed the Hamlet actor around a blockbuster movie-rental store. They only get about medium-far away, or medium-close, there isn't much angle variation. "Hamlet" was wearing darkeveryday clothes, black pants and a black hoodie-- which not only reflect his inner darkness of thoughts, but also may even suggest laziness, in terms of not dressing up. There was no outside noise, and every so often, the screen cut to show a tv with fire on it.  I believe that this was the best adaptation of the scene. After that, I would rank the version we've been watching in class as number  two, due to it's high attention to detail and how that translated into imagery and symbolism. Third, I'd rank the Mel Gibson version, I didn't feel as affected by the catacombs as a setting. While it really emphasized the looming grimness of the words, I thought it was too boring, too minimal. The last, and worst, adaptation, was the Lawrence Oliver scene. Not only did it not convey the message very well due to very little change in speech patterns and the feeling of someone just reading words as opposed to truly acting, the uncomfortable and even awkward positioning of the Hamlet character was highly distracting.