Hamlets "To be or not to be.." soliloquy is one of the most famous and iconic parts of Shakespeare's play. In this soliloquy, Hamlet revisits the idea of suicide and its consequences. He weighs its pros and cons and discusses whether it is better to live through the suffering or die, leaving all suffering in the mortal world behind.
Both of these videos capture Hamlet's thoughts in different ways. In the first video, it seems that all of these ideas are just casually floating through Hamlets head. He is walking around in a video store yet in the back of his mind, he is thinking about suffering and the consequences of suicide. In this interpretation, I think that Hamlets soliloquy is not as dark as Shakespeare intended it to be. Some aspects that I think make this true is the fact that Hamlet is just casually walking around in a video store. Another aspect would be that Hamlet is not speaking aloud. I think this detail makes a very large impact in the second video.
In the second video, Hamlet's soliloquy is dark and twisted. He closes his eyes imagining what it would be like had he committed suicide. The whole scene is a lot more serious and cold. The tone in his voice represents struggle and hardship. Also, the way the scene is set up makes for a lot more serious feeling. Hamlet looks to be in a dark basement of some sorts all alone. I feel like this video is a better interpretation of how Shakespeare intended this scene to be. I do not think Hamlets thoughts were meant to be "background thoughts" but were intended to be his main focus and all he could think about.
Hi Maddy!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post! My favorite part was how you mentioned whether Hamlet is speaking aloud or not. Your argument towards how Hamlet should be speaking aloud, of which I agree, was a very interesting part of your blog post. Another part of your post that is good is the how you introduced the quote, that made me understand what you were going to write about.That being said, I think you should add some sentences about how you are reviewing the videos above. That would be more beneficial to your post. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed your commentary to the videos!
-Rachael