Locate imagery that refers to the uncertainty of death. "To die, to sleep.

./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." (3.1.64-67) In this excerpt, Hamlet is comparing death to the uncertainty of dreams. He argues that when one dies, it could be sweet as a pleasant dream or as dreadful as a nightmare; explaining that people fear death because they do not know what it could bring, just as people do not know what dreams the night will hold in store for them. "But that the dread of something after death,/The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns, puzzles the will." (3.1.78-80) Here, Hamlet compares death to a country from which no traveler returns; he elaborates that people fear death because they do not know what it holds. If no traveler has "returned," then no one has an idea of what to expect. It is easier to fight the evils that one understands in the current world rather than face something of which there is no knowledge of. Identify imagery that refers to the negative experiences of life. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." (3.1.5758) Hamlet personifies life as something that "slings" and throws "arrows" and is "outrageous". He makes the comparison of life to an obstacle that is determined to throw as many negative situations as it can towards an individual; as if it is purposefully trying to break an individual down. "Take arms against a sea of troubles" (3.1.59) By comparing life to a "sea of troubles", Hamlet describes life as a colossal wave that keeps crashing down on the individual, time and time again. It creates a sense of enormity and endlessness; that troubles will never cease to come to an individual and there will always be pressure pushing people down. "To say we end/The heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to" (3.1.62-63) Hamlet describes life as a series of a "thousand natural shocks" and a force that brings "heartache." He exaggerates the severity of life by comparing it to lightning; that it is cruel and nearly impossible to survive from. This statement further enhances the cruelty of life by moving from the previously established view of life being an obstinate force determined to sink an individual to the ground to a cruel, unfeeling power. "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" (3.1.70-74) Hamlet begins describing all of the negative situations that occur in life; the harsh words of people in power and higher positions, the rudeness encountered from arrogant people and people in office, the heartache from unrequited love, the unfairness of the justice system, and the insults that a moral person takes from one that is dishonorable. Hamlet highlights all of the unfairness in life pointing out reasons for which to leave it. "To grunt and sweat under a weary life" (3.1.77) Here, life is described as a heavy load that a person would "grunt and sweat under" for their entire life; it is burden that eventually wears everyone down. Life is constantly being described by Hamlet as something that makes a person crumble. Appeals: Which appeal(s) does Hamlet use to convince and/or motivate his audience? Refer to specific lines. Pathos: "By a sleep to say we end/The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation/Devoutly to be wish'd." (3.1.61-64) Hamlet is using emotion to appeal to the audience by portraying life as cruel and death as a wish to strive for in order to end that severity. By expressing life as a "thousand natural shocks," he evokes a feeling of despair and pain in the audience and immediately after evokes feelings of relief by putting death on a pedestal

of desire as something "devoutly to be wish'd" in order to end the struggle. Hamlet is trying to convince the audience that life is something cruel by evoking emotions of pain out of the audience and contrasting that with the bliss of death by evoking emotions of yearning for it. Logos: "For who would bear the ships and scorns of time... when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin?" (3.1.70-75). Hamlet poses a logical argument with a rhetorical question. He asks why a man would bear the pain of life when he could easily take his dagger and use it take his own life. Hamlet specifically uses the long description of negative situations of life in order to build up the cruelty of life before finally posing a solution. He establishes the idea of living as foolish by presenting all of life's harsh situations and following with a quick and easy solution of death.

Literary Devices: Identify the significance of the following in this speech - Paradox, parallelism, the infinitive, synecdoche, tone, diction, metaphor. What are the two primary metaphors he will use in this speech? Paradox: "And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.80-81). Hamlet explores a paradox in human life; that people choose to live in hardship and suffering that they understand rather than risk venturing into the unknown. The paradox he ponders in his thoughts reveals his desire to find a solution to his problem; he is lost with what to do in regards to the suffering he is experiencing from the task put upon him by the ghost and the situation around him, just as a paradox is contradicting and confusing. Parallelism: "To die, to sleep;/To sleep, perchance to dream..." (3.1.64-65). He uses parallelism to connect ideas and to extend upon his argument by offering multiple examples to support his claims. He uses parallelism first to connect death with sleep and then sleep to dreams all in the goal of connecting death with dreams in order to get to the paradox questioning life. Infinitive: The infinitive "To be, or not to be" and "To die: to sleep" are all general actions. Hamlet uses infinitives in order to expand his thoughts past his situation into universal applications. He is not just talking about taking his own life, but is also pondering the universal question of the meaning of life. Synechdoche: Hamlet uses synechdoches such as "Th'oppressor's wrong..." to broaden his argument from his situation to multiple situations in life that each person can connect to. He describes the "pangs of despis'd love" as one of the mortal problems in life that anyone can relate to, but he takes it from his situation with Ophelia and Gertrude. Tone: Hamlet's tone is contemplative and indecisive; he is considering both sides of a paradox. He discussion of the paradox reflects his indecisiveness and contemplation on what he plans to do next. Diction: Hamlet uses cruel and negative diction throughout his soliloquy; he mentions "suffer, end, flesh, consummation, death, mortal coil, whips, scorns, dread, ills". All of this diction refers to life and shows his outlook on his situation in life; that life is but a cruel and harsh thing. Metaphor: The two main metaphors he uses are death being compared to sleep and life compared to calamity. Identify evidence of the following comparisons: life on earth, afterlife, death, humans, thinking. Life on earth: "sea of troubles" (3.1.59) Afterlife: "the undiscover'd country from whose bourn/No traveller returns" (3.1.79-80) Death: "To die: to sleep;/No more" (3.1.60-61) Humans: "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.82) Thinking: "Pale cast of thought" (3.1.85)

Identify at least three oppositions present in the arguments Hamlet makes. "The dread of something after death" (3.1.78) Hamlet explains that the only reason not to want to kill oneself would be if one already knew that death had something horrible in store for them due to their sins. "And makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of?" (3.1.8081) Hamlet states that the reason people do not choose death over life is because they would rather face the hardships that they know rather than face the unknown. "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" (3.1.67-69) Hamlet reasons that the explanation for why people fear death is because death is uncertain; death can either be pleasurable or immensely horrifying. What eternal philosophical questions does Hamlet ponder? Whether it is easier to live or to die. The influence death has over people. What conclusions does Hamlet draw? The fear of death turns people into cowards and stops them from fulfilling actions. People live through a harsh life because they do not know what death will bring. Analyze four depictions of this soliloquy using elements of mis en scene (editing, sound--diegetic/nondiegetic, setting, props, costume, make-up, camera angles). Kenneth Branagh In Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet's soliloquy, the scene entails Hamlet dressed completely in black from head to toe, standing in an empty room surrounded by mirrors and light colors. The black in Hamlet's clothes contrasted with the light setting illustrates the contrast between the people around Hamlet and Hamlet himself. Hamlet sees nothing but villainy, death and despair, while the people around him are celebrating (due to Gertrude's recent marriage). The large empty space also reveals the loneliness of Hamlet; he is the only one who is thinking negatively. The mirrors and over the shoulder shot reveal Hamlet reflecting on himself. The transition from the over the shoulder to the close up indicate that as Hamlet continues talking, he is getting deeper into his true internal thoughts and he is closing in on an answer. The dagger that Hamlet pull out by the middle of the scene and that he continues to bring close to his face indicate that he is seriously considering what he is proposing through his speech and as he points it to his head, it further embellishes the idea that Hamlet is having an internal, thinkingn debate. Also, half-way through his speech, which is diegetic sound, a very tense, religious non-diegetic music track begins playing; it indicates the universal question of life that Hamlet is pondering. Laurence Olivier The scene begins with the image of ascending stairs going into the sky before finally setting on the ocean and throughout most of the scene, Hamlet is either look at the ocean or sitting high in the sky above it. The high atmosphere reveals that Hamlet is ascending into his mind and pondering his situation. The tumultuous ocean also reveals Hamlet's chaotic thoughts when he ponders life and death. This is further accentuated through the switch between the diegetic sound of Hamlet speaking and the non-diegtic sound of his thoughts overlaid on the video. The camera angles also transition from over the shoulder to a close-up to indicate the transition from the setting to Hamlet's thoughts and then there is another transition from the close-up to a middle shot as Hamlet considers his actions; this indicates that while he is contemplating the meaning of life and death, he is also seriously considering doing the actions to himself. Hamlet's costume is

primarily black, which also indicates his depressed and gloomy state of mind. The clouds around him as he exits serve as a final reminder of the unclear debate in Hamlet's thoughts. Mel Gibson As Hamlet descends down into the cavern, he transitions from an area of light to a cave of darkness, indicating his descent into dark thoughts. He is then surrounded by broken pottery and sleeping statues; all attributing to his description of a disastrous and cruel life and possibly relieving but unknown death. Also, Hamlet is fully robed in black in order to add to his state of despair. As Hamlet moves through the lines of his speech, the camera angles focus from a middle shot to a close-up, indicating that as Hamlet continues with his pondering, some of his comments are more personal than others, such as the close of "to die, to sleep". The scene is comprised of completely diegtic sound coming from Hamlet speaking his soliloquy and as Hamlet speaks, he moves from a soft whisper to nearly a shout and back again to a whisper, as if his contemplating reaches a climax before finally coming to a conclusion. The duration of Hamlet's speech comes to an end as his face shifts from a low key lighting to a high key lighting, indicating that he has reached an epiphany in his thoughts. Ethan Hawke Hamlet descends past rows of movies in the action section of a Blockbuster as non-diegetic sound plays over the video. His thoughts overlay his actions; the video is ironic since Hamlet is only thinking and not acting, yet he is walking though the action section. This indicates that Hamlet is pondering his future actions. Dramatic non-diegetic music also played at the same time, increasing the intense feeling of the scene that is first established through his speech. Hamlet is dressed in all black, illustrating his dark and depressing mood; however he wears a teenager's bright colored hat on his head. This is another contradiction in the video. It further contributes to the idea that Hamlet is conflicted over his thoughts and actions. The entire duration of the video is focused on a close-up of Hamlet's face in order to further accentuate the focus on Hamlet's thoughts. The video is shadowed by low key lighting, also indicating a descent into dark thoughts; Hamlet is also all alone in the Blockbuster to further emphasize the idea that he is alone in his thoughts. Write a final paragraph or two analyzing which delivery is most effective. Why is it most effective? Kenneth Branagh's delivery is the most effective, particularly due to the mirrors surrounding him, the closing in of the camera angle from over the shoulder to close-up and the sharp contrast between the appearance of Hamlet and his surroundings. The mirrors reveal that the soliloquy is Hamlet's internal thoughts, but the mirrors also create a sense of Hamlet looking deeply into his soul, evaluating his moral and coming to a conclusion. The other videos show Hamlet's reflection but the mirrors in this scene particularly reveal every little action the actor takes and accentuate it, making it more noticeable and dramatic. Hamlet's emotions appear to be much more distinct while in the other videos, Hamlet appears to be more flat in terms of character. Also, the angle of moving from an over the shoulder to a close-up creates a sense of climax and conclusion; although Mel Gibson's scene also creates this same sense through lighting, the camera angles are much more effective in creating tension and then relaxation. Lastly, the contrast between Hamlet and his surroundings is only seen in Branagh's video. This sharp contrast is what truly sets this delivery apart from the others because it shows an overall theme that the others do not; Hamlet is alone in his thoughts and accusations. It highlights his despair and makes the video much more emotional than the others.

What would YOU have changed about any of these approaches with regards to mis en scene? Why? Mel Gibson's approach was a close second to Branagh's delivery because of Gibson's excellent portrayal of Hamlet's emotions through his acting; however, I would change the lighting of the scene in order to make it more effective. Although there were two transitions from low key lighting to high key lighting, I would include more. Instead of having just the beginning and end contain Hamlet momentarily walking into/out of the light, I would begin with Hamlet completely in the dark and eventually emerge in the light to illustrate his transition from a debate to a conclusion. Also, I would remove a majority of the statues in the room, because they cluttered the scene; with less props, Hamlet would appear to be even more isolated and therefore further separated in thoughts from the other characters. Lastly, I would remove the long shot camera angles from the middle of the scene because they took away from Hamlet's internal debate. This scene was better when the camera was on a close-up of Hamlet's face. Perhaps, some middle shots would be necessary as he made his way from one side of the room to the other in his tumultuous debate with himself, but no long shots of the room are necessary except in the beginning when the setting is first established for the viewer.