Assignment 4

            -Imagery that refers to uncertainty of death

• "'Tis a consummation/ Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep, / To sleep-perchance to dream- ay, there's a rub..."(3.1.63-65).
• "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come/ When we have shuffled in off his mortal coil..."(3.1.66-67)

             -Identify imagery that refers to the negative experiences of life:

·         “…the mind to suffer…”(3.1.57)

·         “The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks…”(3.1.62)

·         “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,”(3.1.70)

·         “Be all my sins remember’d.”(3.1.90)

 

              -Appeals: Which appeal(s) does Hamlet use to convince and/or motivate his audience?

• Pathos: (Appeal to the emotions or interest of the audience)
• All of the following examples are very deep quotes that really show how Hamlet is feeling and what is going on in his mind.  He doesn’t leave us any misunderstanding of how he is feeling inside, he makes his feelings very dramatic, and he wants us to know how depressed he is.
• “To be, or not to be: that is the question:”(3.1.56)
• “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” (3.1.58)
• “The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,” (3.1.72)
• “Be all my sins remember’d” (3.1.90)

• The significance of all of these literary devices is to make certain points stronger and more intense. Without these the speech would be boring and wouldn’t grab your attention as much.  Without these it would be boring, there would be nothing to analyze, and nothing to figure out.  A very important metaphor used in this speech is, “O to take arms against a sea of troubles…” (3.1.59). This is very impactful and the way it’s said is more complex and deep than just talking in regular terms.  Evidence of life on earth, afterlife, death,humans, and thinking are shown in all of the quotes in the two sections above.  They cover all of these topics in very deep and meaningful ways.  All of the questions Hamlet ponders have to do with death.  Examples: "And by opposing end them?"(3.1.60).  "...with a bare bodkin?"(3.1.76) (and so on).  Hamlet draws one main conclusion; death is real, it’s not a fun thing, and it will be one of the toughest things a loved one [of someone dying or dead] will have to go through.
• 3 Oppositions:
• "To be, or not to be: that is the question:"(3.1.56) This quote, alone, is opposition in itself. 
• "To die: to sleep;/ No more; and by a sleep to say we end/ The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks..."(3.1.60-62)  First this is talking about death and that death might be the better way off but then it talks about how there might be heatache that comes along with that death.
• "And makes us rather bear those ills we have/ Than fly to others that we know not of?"(3.1.81-82)  This is opposing eachother because first its saying that we have to take hold of the htings we need to fix, but then it says that we let go of things that we dont even know about; which isnt possible because if we dont know about these problems, then there is no wa to do anything about it.

         I, as Hamlet, noticed a lot of slight differences in all four of these videos.  Yet, the slight differences did a lot to change the intensity from video to video.  The first video by Kenneth Branagh was very simple and not much changed throughout.  Throughout the whole thing Branagh depicted me as very intense, somewhat simple, and just taking a closer look at myself.  As the video goes on the camera gets closer and closer to my face which shows the intensity and the personal side of my speech.  The camera shows me just looking into the mirror the whole time, somewhat just examining myself.  The only thing we see throughout the whole video is me, a mirror, and a sword.  This shows the intimacy of my speech and shows the man thing I’m talking about; death and how death relates to life.

            The next video, done by Laurence Olivier, is more dramatic.  This is portrayed by showing large crashing waves on large rocks.  This leads into my speech very nicely and really sets the mood for the rest of my speech.  The lights stay dimmed and dark the whole time which also helps get my point about death across to those that I can’t stand.  Other than me talking, you can hear the waves crashing and that’s it.  This keeps the speech intimate yet intense.  At one point they show me take out a dagger and I hold it to my chest as if I’m going to kill myself, then I pull the sword away but its referencing that I want to kill myself and that I’m talking about death.  Towards the end, I start walking away into the darkness and then go down the steps, which is representing me walking right back into the darkness and still being a sad person inside; not being able to escape my troubles.

            Next, Mel Gibson’s version is a little more abstract and is in a different setting, which is a cave-like place.  The cave is almost completely dark and the passion shown on my face is very evident and what I am singing about is shown thoroughly through my expressions.  At one point the light shines on my face, which is at a more “happy” point in the speech (not that there’s any happy part in the speech, but somewhat better than death).  When I say, “With this regard their currents turn awry,” (3.1.87) this is when the light shines.  Then it goes dark again and I walk to the steps in misery and just kneel down at the steps.  This doesn’t include a sword but it did not need one.  Through my actions, my enemies can tell that I am not in a happy place in life and that I am depressed and mad.

            The last video by Ethan Hawke is a more humorous approach but still isn’t funny.  It grabs your attention a little more because you’re not expecting a speech this serious to be in Blockbuster.  I start by walking through the ‘action” isle in the store with a scary and intense movie playing on the TV’s in the background.  Also, in the background there is very sad music playing.  SO, through all of the things that are shown or heard, we collect that the speech is action-filled, intense (because of the movie), sad because of the music, somewhat light because of the hat I wear, and lastly, still deep and sad because of the language I use and all of the comparisons I make throughout.

            My favorite acting job and favorite elements occurred in the Laurence Olivier video.  This is because of all the different qualities really got blended together to get my point across.  It is a very dramatic representation of my speech but really gets across the main pints o death, sorrow, depression, love, life, and all of these different components.  I wouldn’t change anything about any of these videos because all of them are very different but unique in their own ways.  Things that were in some of the videos wouldn’t have worked in others, and some things in other videos wouldn’t have worked in some of the other ones.  Everything blended together very well and really got the meaning of my speech across and highlighted all the important parts.  The correct props, lighting, and diegetics were used in all of them to work together perfectly and get my point across.  My favorite interpretation of it was Laurence Olivier’s version and got the points that I thought were most important across.

 

__Hamlet__