In Hamlet's famous soliloquy, "To Be or Not To Be," Hamlet contemplates whether or not he wants to continue living.
Hamlet is in so much emotional pain that he feels he cannot continue his time on Earth. However, he is hesitant about ending his life because nobody knows what happens after death. As Hamlet puts it, “no traveller returns, puzzles the will/And makes us rather bear those ills we have”(3.1.80-81). Hamlet is afraid that if he were to end his life, he may regret it. But at the same time, he is living in negativity. He speaks of the pain of "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (3.1.58) and "the whips and scorns of time" (3.1.70), and it is clear that he feels death would be less painful than what he is dealing with at the moment.
There are appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos scattered throughout Hamlet's soliloquy. Hamlet is trying to be logical about his decision to live or die when he considers that "no traveler returns, puzzles the will..."(3.1.80). Although he is nearly certain that he wants to die, he isn't quite sure of what would come next and if it would be worth dying for. Hamlet appeals to pathos the most throughout his soliloquy, as his emotional disturbance is expressed. He feels "the pangs of despis'd love" (3.1.72) and he wonders "who would bear the whips and scorns of time" (3.1.70). This imagery provokes feelings of despair in the reader, allowing them to connect to the depressed Hamlet. There is also an appeal to ethos when Hamlet remarks that "tis nobler in the mind to suffer" (3.1.57). Hamlet knows that it is a sin to commit suicide, and even though he is extremely distraught, he wants to be noble and continue suffering to prove his strength.
The use of paradox in the line "or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And, by opposing, end them?” is important because it showcases Hamlet's struggle between fighting and taking the easy way out (killing himself). There is also parallelism in the lines "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" (3.1.65-66). Hamlet is almost listing the reasons why he cannot bear to continue living.
Hamlet also uses infinitives to emphasize his uncertainty about his decision. By saying things like "to be," "to die," "to sleep," Hamlet is listing his options in a way that shows that he is struggling with
deciding what to do.
The tone of Hamlet's soliloquy is dark. He is rattled with despair and uncertainty as he ponders if he should cross the line between life and death. Lines like "grunt and sweat under a wear life" (3.1.77) show how Hamlet's life has exhausted him, and he wants a way out. The concept of suicide is a dark one, indeed, so it is no wonder that the tone is dark, since he is contemplating it throughout his soliloquy. Hamlet's diction helps contribute to this dreary tone, too. By using words like "suffer", "troubles", "die", and "pale", we are given images of the awful life of Hamlet. We feel his pain as he expresses it.
There are two main metaphors that can be seen in Hamlet's soliloquy. The first is seen in the line, "or to take arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.59). Hamlet sees his life as one bad incident after another, and he showcases this by using a "sea of troubles" as a metaphor for all of the things that have made him so upset. The other metaphor that can be found in the soliloquy is in the lines, "and thus the native hue of resolution / is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought..." (3.1.84). Native hue is used as a metaphor that is "derived from the color of the face" (Jago).
Hamlet makes many comparisons throughout his soliloquy. He compares life on earth with death when he says that while he wants to be noble and "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (3.1.58), he also feels that death will "end the heart-ache" (3.1.62). He also compares this to the uncertainty of death when he states that "no traveller returns" (3.1.80). He discusses humans and how "thus conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.83), and compares it to "the pale cast of thought" (3.1.85).
Most of Hamlet's oppositions to his argument have to do with the uncertainty of death. He discusses how nobody knows what will happen after death, because nobody returns to tell the tale. He notes that while death is like a dream, but the nature of the dream is also uncertain, and so he isn't sure if it is a dream he would like to have. Finally, he says that the reason humans cannot take their lives so easily is that they do a lot of pondering, and they spend so long doing it that they end up continuing their lives anyway.
The main philosophical question that Hamlet ponders is whether or not he should continue living. He wonders, "should I continue suffering on Earth like a noble man, or end my life not knowing what will happen after I do?" After pondering this question, Hamlet comes to the conclusion that humans will choose to keep living because their fear of the unknown is greater than their wish to die.
-Mis En Scene Analysis:
Kenneth Branagh: We see Hamlet staring at his own reflection in the mirror. He is speaking softly to himself, which is perhaps because he is deciding between life and death, which is a serious matter. He is looking at his reflection in the hopes that it will give him an answer, or perhaps even a reason to stay on Earth. Hamlet is dressed in all black and there are no other distractions in the room so as to keep the focus on his soliloquy. The only prominent thing about the camera angle is that the camera zooms in on Hamlet is he gets further into his soliloquy, because as his struggle deepens, his words become more important, as he is about to reach his decision. Music is also added in about halfway through, in unison with the camera zoom, to add to the drama that is unfolding inside Hamlet's head. The focus is kept on his words, even though they are uttered softly.
Laurence Olivier: This scene starts in chaos. There is already music playing and the camera ascends a flight of stairs until we see Hamlet, who is facing the sea (to mirror his metaphorical sea of troubles), ready to deliver his soliloquy. The chaos in this scene is also mirroring the chaos in Hamlet's head as he struggles to decide whether or not he wants to die. The camera then focuses in on the back of Hamlet's head, and suddenly, there is a blurry image of the sea. This is an image to represent the turmoil in his head. The camera then switches back to Hamlet, where the scenery is very dark and foggy. In this version, there are some voiceovers during Hamlet's soliloquy. This may have been done to make his thoughts seem more like actual thoughts, since we don't see them being physically spoken. Hamlet is on the edge of a cliff - or rather, the brink of death - and after his soliloquy, he retreats back into the darkness of life, as he has made up his mind.
Mel Gibson: The scene starts with Hamlet in a very dark tomb. The only reason we can see him is because of a single skylight. Hamlet is bending over the tomb, but then he stands back up; this is a physical representation of the back-and-forth struggle going on in his head. Throughout the scene, the camera zooms in on Hamlet as he speaks, but when the time comes for him to decide his fate, the camera zooms back out because a solution is being reached. The darkness of the tomb mirrors the darkness of Hamlet's mind, and it is also an interesting setting because if Hamlet were to have chosen death, he would have ended up in a tomb. We see Hamlet walking out of the tomb at the very end of the scene, towards the light, so we know he has chosen to live.
Ethan Hawke: This modern-day scene begins with music playing as Hamlet slowly strolls through a video rental store. He is dressed in a black suit, the black mirroring the darkness of his mind and the decision he has to make. There are intense action movies playing on screens in the background, another mirror image of the intensity in his head. Hamlet continues walking but has yet to choose a movie, which follows his decision-making process. At first, we hear Hamlet speaking, but don't see him (a voice over). This makes it more dramatic because we hear this thoughts but we cannot see him. Eventually, he is physically speaking his lines, and we continue following him through the store.
I felt that the Laurence Olivier scene did the best job of delivering my famous soliloquy. The chaos at the beginning of the scene perfectly mirrored my thoughts, and as I watched myself sit on the edge of the cliff, looking out at the unforgiving sea, I realized just how dark my mind was at that time. I was in an awful place, and Olivier made me realize that because not only was there this raging sea in front of me, but there was darkness and fog behind me, where my real life was waiting for me to limp back and continue the struggle. I felt that the scene's use of voiceovers also allowed those dark thoughts of mine to seem more personal because it looked as though I was actually thinking them, rather than seeing me speak them. The final walk back into the darkness was powerful because it gave me mixed emotions; I was happy that I chose to be noble and continue my life, but watching the fog encompass me was sickening.
If I could change things from the other three scenes, I certainly would. In Branagh's version, I would have made my character speak more loudly. While I realize that it may have been purposeful because of the intimacy of the struggle, I do not feel it was effective in capturing my despair. In Gibson's version, I felt that the tomb was too dark, and it didn't account for the fact that I was also contemplating living. Hawke's version was my least favorite, however. There are many improvements to be made. I was not a fan of the setting; the video store, to me, was not the place to showcase my most personal struggle. I was also distracted by the movies in the background; I missed a few lines of my own soliloquy! All of these changes could have made my soliloquy easier to understand and relate to.
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