Hamlet Soliloquy

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Unanswered Questions It’s been a month since Hamlet started mourning his fathers unfortunate passing, not only is the death of his father hard to bare but his throne is taken right from beneath him by none other than Hamlets Uncle Claudius. Gertrude (Hamlets mother) just so happens to marry Claudius within one month after his death. Even though Hamlet appears to be suicidal, he shows his madness seems to be perfectly under control, wanting a relief more than actual death. Whether it’s speaking to himself in a hallway or having a conversation with himself in front of a mirror wielding a knife by his throat suicide isn’t what’s really on his mind. After watching Kenneth Branaghs 1996 version of Hamlet I realized how closely this film was …show more content…

In this scene the use of the camera was captivating. Once the scene starts the camera is panned behind Hamlet right over his right shoulder, while he stares at himself through a full body mirror. The camera puts us in birds eye view of what Hamlet himself is looking at while he is convincing himself that suicide might be a great decision rather than living in a helpless world. While he stands dressed in all black inside of a grand ball room filled with beautiful trimmings, flooring and mirrors showing the sheer class of what being a prince consists of, we realize that Hamlet is alone and is becoming more of a danger to himself now becoming this beautiful monster. The length of the scene with minimal cuts has to be one of the most impressive attributes of this soliloquy, to memorize the lines perfectly and to look in the eyes of someone who is going mad right before our eyes, to be so close to where it’s almost intrusive making it feel so realistic. This film depicts everything in the text perfectly, from the tone to the setting. I read the text first and when I saw the movie I could not tell if the text had been altered in anyway. It was spot on word for word and the director did a great job delivering that to us from the use of open space to the use of light inside of the …show more content…

As stated by Dr. Mitchell A. Kalpakgian a Professor of English at Simpson College, he states:
‘In his hatred of evil and in his trust in Divine Providence, Hamlet does not fear death as he enters the fencing match: “We defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be not now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’
I truly believe Hamlet was having depression issues and did not know how to cope with everything that was going on but one thing is for certain, is that he would not kill himself being it’s a sin. What this quote is stating is that he’s not suicidal by any means but he is ready to die, whether it’s now or later but it’s bound to

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