Hammie's Soliloquy

• The uncertainty of death is shown through imagery throughout the soliloquy with words such as "sea of troubles", which brings about thoughts of a turbulent and wave-filled sea, slightly dangerous and difficult to traverse, and "undiscovered country", which brings about the idea of an unexplored land, yet again dangerous and full of mystery. Also, "grunt and sweat under a weary life" brings about the image of someone holding up something horribly heavy, being barely able to carry it. 
• As for the negative experiences in life, Hamlet says "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", which is comparing bad luck to being shot at with arrows and hinting at the pain it brings, "The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to", which is saying that by simply being alive, we are condemned to have unhappy experiences and horrible memories throughout our lives, and "the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despised love...", meaning that throughout our lives, people will do us wrong, have bad will towards us, and we'll all be in pain due to love. All of these are ways in which Hamlet relays the bad experiences of life to the audience. 
• Hamlet uses mostly pathos in his speech, such as when he uses words that have emotion attached to them, such as "heartache", "troubles", "despised love", and "spurns", it all appeals to the emotions of the audience to get them to feel a certain way. An ethos part of the speech, though, is "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" because that is the whole dilemma he is going through. To act out of revenge, or end his life, or to stay his hand out of religious concerns, or "conscience", in respect to both.
• Paradoxes, such as "to die, to sleep" and "to be or not to be", which also happen to be infinitive statements, contribute to the debate style of Hamlet's thought process. It also shows the inner conflict he feels over suicide and killing his Uncle. Hamlet's tone is morose, and his diction is rather elevated, using words that are not exactly colloquial, such as "insolence", "calamity", and "contumely".
  
  - As for mis en scene, in the first version of the soliloquy, the mirrors play a large role in camera angles as well as the setting. The mirrors are supposed to reflect the personal nature of his speech, but we, as the audience, know that it's not personal at all. People are listening to him reflect upon his thoughts and feelings. The camera angles are affected by the way his image is all over the room. It gives it an eerie, repetitive feeling, as if Hamlet cannot escape himself. The prop, a knife, shows Hamlet's desire for revenge and suicide both, as well as makes the feeling more intense for the audience. There is no non-diegetic sound, since only he is speaking and there is no music. This causes a great focus on him and his speech, as does the zooming in of the camera upon his face as the speech gets more intense. He is also wearing all black, to symbolize his grief.
  -The mis en scene for the second version is different in many ways. It's in black and white, it has music, specifically violin and strings playing, and there are many more non diegetic sounds, such as the ocean in the background/music. The setting changes to the top of the castle overlooking the ocean. This gives it a certain anticipation, as it would be so very easy for him to kill himself up there, and he is speaking of the merits and sins of suicide. The camera goes into his head, emphasizing his thoughts and inner emotion, as well as when it zooms in on his facial expressions or eyes. This time, though there is a knife as a prop, he drops it into the ocean, stressing the connection between the knife and the revenge he wants on his uncle, and the action vs inaction debate he has. The mist emphasizes the confusion of Hamlet in the matters of murder and suicide.
  - The third version was set in a tomb, dimly lit, which automatically sets a more dark and empty, hollow mood. He is wearing black, as seems to be customary for the typical Hamlet depiction, and the camera often zooms in on his face whenever the tone is most intense. Shadows fall across his face due to lighting tricks and causes the audience to feel a bit of an ominous atmosphere.
  -In the fourth rendition of the speech, Hamlet is dressed in black, except for his hat. The hat has green and red accents to it, and I feel it shows that Hamlet is not all gone, consumed by his need for revenge. Obviously, since he does not kill himself at the end of the speech. The blockbuster is brightly lit and contrasts his tone, which is bitingly bitter and morose. The speech is a non diegetic VoiceOver for the first bit, then we can see him speaking it. He does not walk, but ambles. He does not speak, but kind of grumbles and mumbles. The camera is on his face the whole time.
  -The most effective, in my opinion, was the first version. The mirrors really had a great effect on the mood and meaning of the scene. I also like how there was no music to distract from what he was saying and how his facial expressions are changing. I would have changed the scene by maybe showing more of Claudius's reaction to his speech. It would add more to his character, and to the meaning of Hamlet's words.
   
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