Hamlet's Soliloquies

 SOLILOQUY #1 (1.2)
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt (1.2.131-61).
O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, (135)
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely
. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: (140)
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, (145)
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month --
Let me not think on't -- Frailty, thy name is woman! --
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body, (150)
Like Niobe, all tears: -- why she, even she --
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month: (155)
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good: (160)
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

NOTES
too too ] The duplication of "too" intensifies Hamlet's feelings of regret. Repetition of this kind was a popular literary device in the Renaissance.
solid ] Many scholars ask whether Shakespeare intended "solid" to be actually "sallied", a form of the word "sullied". The second quarto of Hamlet contains "sallied", but the First Folio prints it as "solid". Modern editors have been quite divided on the issue. Editors of The Arden Shakespeare have chosen to use "sullied", while editors of The New Cambridge Shakespeare have decided upon "solid". The reasoning for the use of "solid" is fairly evident, as it logically corresponds to "would melt" (131). However, there are good arguments to support the claim that Shakespeare did mean "sullied". With "sullied" we have the "suggestion of contamination" (Jenkins 437), which is apparent throughout the soliloquy. Some critics stress "sullied" as the "contrast to 'self-slaughter' the resolving of the baser element into the higher, whereby Hamlet might return from melancholy to normal health, or, if to become dew is to die, then from 'misery' to 'felicity'. But there is surely no thought here of being restored to health or happiness, only of being free of the 'flesh' whether through its own deliquescence or through suicide." (Jenkns 187).
canon ] divine law; the Church regards "suicide" or "self-slaughter" forbidden by the Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill".
flat ] Spiritless.
unweeded garden ] A well-tended garden was symbolic of harmony and normalcy.
in nature/Possess it merely ] Although Hamlet accepts weeds as a natural part of the garden (and more generally a natural part of life), he feels that the weeds have grown out of control and now possess nature entirely (merely = entirely).
Hyperion ] {hy-peer'-ee-uhn} One of the Titans and the father of Helios, the sun-god.
Satyr ] {say'-tur} A grotesque creature, half-man and half-goat, symbolic of sexual promiscuity. Hamlet's reference to his dead father as Hyperion and to his uncle Claudius as a satyr illustrates Hamlet's contempt for Claudius. His father is godlike while his uncle is bestial.
beteem ] Permit. In anguish, Hamlet remembers the way his father would treat Gertrude with such gentleness and care. His father would not permit the wind to "visit her face too roughly".
ere ] Before.
Niobe ] {ny'-oh-bee} Symbolic of a mother's grief. Niobe, Queen of Thebes, boasted that her fourteen children were more lovely than Diana and Apollo, the children of Latona (Leto). Because of her arrogance, Niobe's children were slain by Latona's children, and Zeus turned Niobe to stone - yet still her tears flowed from the rock.
a beast, that wants discourse of reason ] Hamlet believes that even a creature incapable of speech would have mourned longer than Gertrude mourned for Hamlet's father (here wants=lacks). "The faculty of reason was traditionally recognized as the crucial difference between man and the beasts. This lends further significance to the Hyperion-Satyr comparison above. It was through his reason that man could perceive the relation of cause and effect and thus connect past with future, whereas the beast, precisely because it lacks reason, must live largely in the present moment. Hence the axiom that its mourning would be brief." (Jenkins 438).
Hercules ] {hur'-kyoo-leez} A Greek hero renowned for his super-human tasks. Having a father so strong and noble intensifies Hamlet’s feelings of inadequacy.
unrighteous tears ] See commentary below.
flushing ] Flushing refers to the redness in Gertrude's eyes from crying. She did not wait until the redness disappeared from her eyes before she married Claudius.
galled eyes ] Irritated and inflamed eyes.
dexterity ] One could take "dexterity" in this context to mean either speed or nimbleness.
incestuous ] Even though Claudius and Gertrude are related only through marriage, the union between a woman and her husband's brother, even if the brother was deceased, was considered incest (see Leviticus 16:20), and was explicitly forbidden by the Catholic and Anglican religions.
But break, my heart ] Hamlet's heart is heavy because he must keep his anguish to himself. "The heart was thought to be kept in place by ligaments or tendons (the heart-strings) which might snap under the pressure of great emotion" (Edwards 91).

Assignment for soliloquy #1 (1.2) [in "Hamlet's Soliloquies" Google doc or on paper]
1.        Word choice in context. If you were hired as the editor of a new edition of Hamlet would you choose “solid” or “sullied”? Write a focused paragraph defending your answer.
2.        Analysis and Evaluation. Write a paragraph (or paragraphs) addressing the following questions. What is Hamlet’s attitude toward his own life? Why does he feel this way? How does the imagery in the soliloquy convey Hamlet’s attitude toward the world? Cite and explain textual evidence to support your answers. Also, given his circumstances is his attitude justified? Why or why not? If not what do you think his attitude should be? Dig below the surface. Have empathy. Put yourself in his shoes. Don’t just answer the questions address them in a cohesive paragraph (or paragraphs).
3.        Analysis and Evaluation. How does Hamlet feel about his mother? Why? In your paragraph, cite and explain at least two quotations from the speech to support your answer. Also, given what you know from the play is his attitude justified? Why or why not? If not what do you think his attitude should be? Dig below the surface. Have empathy. Put yourself in his shoes. Don’t just answer the questions address them in a cohesive paragraph (or paragraphs).
4.        Analysis and Evaluation. In a paragraph write about Hamlet’s attitudes towards his father and Claudius. In the paragraph you should explain the two contrasts Hamlet uses to show that his father (King Hamlet) is superior to King Claudius. (The notes will help you with these contrasts. Hint: Allusions help to reveal Hamlet’s attitude.) Also, given what you know from the play is his attitude justified? Why or why not? If not what do you think his attitude should be? Dig below the surface. Have empathy. Put yourself in his shoes. Don’t just answer the questions address them in a cohesive paragraph (or paragraphs).
5. Take notes and make an argument. 
First, write down everything you notice about five performances of the act 1.2 soliloquy. Consider specific acting and directing choices made in each performance. Notice phrasing, tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, movements, staging, lighting, music, etc. Notice these performance choices in relation to specific phrases in the soliloquy. 
Then, write a thesis/claim/position about each performance: How do the performance choices add up to a particular interpretation of who Hamlet is in relation to his situation?
Finally, which performance of the 1.2 soliloquy best conveys the richness found the text (and context)? Be insightful. Be specific. Also, make sure that while supporting your position that you incorporate supporting details from the performances (by comparing superior acting and directing choices to inferior ones--or ones that are, perhaps, successful and interesting but simply not as rich). I'm looking forward to reading these because of how passionate and thoughtful you were in class about your preferences. Try to convince me and your peers that your judgment is right!



First clip: 1.2 soliloquy, directed by Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet played by Kenneth Branagh (1996)
[observations][thesis/claim/position about each performance: How do the performance choices add up to a particular interpretation of who Hamlet is in relation to his situation?]
Second clip: 1.2 soliloquy, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Hamlet played by Mel Gibson (1990)


Third clip: 1.2 soliloquy, directed by Michael Almereyda, Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke (2000)


Fourth clip: 1.2 soliloquy, directed by Gregory Doran, Hamlet played by David Tennant (2009) [soliloquy ends at 3:32]
opening shot: looks like a b/w security camera video.


Modern royal furniture.
Reflective floor.


Hamlet walks into the frame slowly from the bottom.


Image switches to color and is shot from a lower angle.


Hamlet faces away from the viewer as he speaks his first lines
“solid” (not “sullied”) flesh
Hamlet hunches over and cries “thaw”
and the crouches at “resolve itself in a dew” [He is dissolving.]


rocks back and forth at “self-slaughter” line
seems to switch from sadness to simmering anger at “unweeded garden”


Becomes more pensive at “that it should come to this” (mom’s remarriage)


At “but two months dead” Hamlet addresses the camera directly from the first time and he seems to revive a bit. [He is struggling with a response to what has happened with his father, mother, and uncle.]


Anger when comparing his uncle to his father (hyperion to a satyr).
Sadness, despondency when talking about mother


Stands up at “Let me not think on’t.” (Anger again. In his language he is fixated on “month” repeating it)


Fluctuates between facing the camera and walking away to compose himself and back to the camera again.


As he does this he is framed by the furniture behind him. The scene is skillfully composed.


As he composes his emotions he approaches the camera and at “post with such dexterity to incenstuous sheets” he is bitter and sardonic.


Then, he pauses letting that linger as he thinks on the implications of the marriage and the marriage bed but determined this time to keep himself together
David Tennant’s movement and voice, added by the cold, elegant set and shifts in camera shots, emphasize Hamlet’s fluctuating emotional struggle between devastating sadness and bitter anger, between raw emotional expression and precariously controlled composure.
Fifth clip: 1.2 soliloquy, directed by Laurence Olivier, Hamlet played by Laurence Olivier (1948)



(Week of 11/24)
SOLILOQUY #2 (2.2)


Now I am alone. O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! (555)
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect, (560)
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her?
What would he do, (565)
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appall the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed (570)
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life (575)
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this? (580)
Ha!
'Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites (585)
With this slave's offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, (590)
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
Fie upon't! foh! About, my brain! I have heard (595)
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak (600)
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen (605)
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds (610)
More relative than this: the play 's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

NOTES
rogue ] Useless vagrant.
peasant ] A person of little integrity (see The Taming of the Shrew 4.1.113).
player...Hecuba ] This passage is often very difficult for students, and standard annotations leave them wanting. So it is best paraphrased:
Is it not horribly unfair that this actor, pretending to feel great passion, could, based on what he has conceived in his own mind, force his own soul to believe the part that he is playing, so much so that all the powers of his body adapt themselves to suit his acting needs, so that he grows agitated ("distraction in's aspect"), weeps, and turns pale ("wann'd")? And why does he carry on so? Why does he pretend until he truly makes himself weep? For Hecuba! But why? What are they to each other?
Hamlet wishes he could arouse his passions so.
Hecuba ] Trojan queen and heroine of classical mythology. Earlier in 2.2 Hamlet asks the First Player to recite a monologue retelling Hecuba's response to the death of her husband, King Priam. The Player tells us that Hecuba's grief was profound and "Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven/And passion in the gods" (505-6). The contrast between Gertrude and Hecuba should be noted. To Hamlet, Hecuba has responded appropriately to her husband's death, while Gertrude has not.
cue for passion ] The reason for strong feelings.
Make mad the guilty ] "By his description of the crime he would drive those spectators mad who had any such sin on their conscience, and would horrify even the innocent" (Kittredge 68),
amaze ] Plunge into confusion.
muddy-mettled ] Dull-spirited.
peak ] Moping about; languishing, unable to act.
John-a-dreams ] A nickname for a dreamer.
unpregnant ] "Pregnant" here does not mean "with child", but rather, quick or ready. Thus to be "unpregnant" is to be unable to act quickly.
pate ] Head.
swounds ] God's wounds.
pigeon-liver'd ] In the Renaissance, the gentle disposition of the Dove was explained by the argument that it had no gall and thus no capacity to feel resentment or to seek revenge. The liver also was seen as the body's storehouse for courage.
region kites ] The birds of prey in the region, circling in the sky, waiting to feed. If Hamlet were not "pigeon-liver'd" (583) he would have long ago fed Claudius to the hawks.
kindless ] Unnatural.
drab ] A whore.
scullion ] A kitchen helper, either man or woman but usually a woman. It was a term used to show contempt. One should note that in the second quarto, scullion was actually "stallyon", which means a male whore. Scholars are still undecided on the matter, but scullion is the more generally accepted of the two.
proclaim'd their malefactions ] Announced their evil deeds.
blench ] Flinch.
Source: http://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa061500b.htm

Assignment for soliloquy #2 (2.2) [in "Hamlet's Soliloquies" Google doc or on paper]
1. In your "Hamlet's Soliloquies" Google doc/paper use the chart below to explicate this soliloquy. An explications is not a paraphrase or a summary, but explains and explores a text thoroughly.
You will use the chart to explain what Hamlet is saying and how he says it. (What the text says and what it does.)
When explaining “what Hamlet is saying,” remember to consider the soliloquy sentence by sentence (not line by line and not by summarizing). Remember that the soliloquy is a tool that Shakespeare uses to show Hamlet’s mind at work. In addition to asking yourself "what is Hamlet saying?," ask yourself “what does this reveal about Hamlet?” and “how does what he is saying fit into the work as a whole (especially the development of themes)?” Deal with the surface and the depths.)
When explaining “how he says it,” pay close attention to the language (particular word choices, sentence structures, etc.) and imagery (including figurative language, such as metaphors). Ask yourself “what does the language itself reveal about Hamlet?"


from "Now I am alone" to "...eyes and ears."
[What is Hamlet saying? How is what he is saying significant?][How is Hamlet saying it? How is the way he is saying it significant?
from "Yet I..." to "Fie on't! Foh!"


from "About my brain! I have heard..." to "...catch the conscience of the king."



2. In your "Hamlet's Soliloquies" Google doc/paper: Take notes on the five performances using the chart below. Pay close attention to choices made the actors and directors. Then, write a shuttle comparison (1-3 pages, 12-point font, double spaced) of how two of the performance use different acting and filming strategies to convey different interpretations of the soliloquy. I'm looking forward to reading these because of how passionate and thoughtful you were about your act one scene two preferences.


Reminder: How to write a shuttle comparison...
Start your response with a bold, nuanced assertion, something like "Not only does Michael Almereyda's version of the soliloquy use a distractingly non-traditional setting, it also fails to convey the nuances of the speech captured by Gregory Doran's version, through phrasing, facial expressions, gestures, movement, lighting, and prompts." Or, "Kenneth Branagh's version of the soliloquy captures Hamlet's erratic anger and crafty intelligence whereas Franco Zeffirelli's version emphasizes the depths of his madness."
Then, move back and forth through the two soliloquies from beginning to end developing specific details to support your bold, nuanced insight.

First clip: 2.2 soliloquy, directed by Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet played by Kenneth Branagh (1996)
[observations][thesis/claim/position about each performance: How do the performance choices add up to a particular interpretation of who Hamlet is in relation to his situation?]
Second clip: 2.2 soliloquy, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Hamlet played by Mel Gibson (1990)


Third clip: 2.2 soliloquy, directed by Michael Almereyda, Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke (2000)


Fourth clip: 2.2 soliloquy, directed by Gregory Doran, Hamlet played by David Tennant (2009) [soliloquy ends at 3:32]


Fifth clip: 2.2 soliloquy, directed by Laurence Olivier, Hamlet played by Laurence Olivier (1948)





(Week of 12/1)
SOLILOQUY [?] #3 (3.1)

 To be, or not to be: that is the question (3.1.64-98).

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer (65)
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks (70)
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. 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, (75)
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, (80)
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life, (85)
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of? (90)
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry, (95)
And lose the name of action.-- Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
NOTES: [Source: http://shakespeare.about.com/od/studentresources/a/tobeornot.htm  Amanda Mabillard, B.A. (Honors) is a freelance writer specializing in Shakespeare, Renaissance political theory, theatre history, comparative literary history, and linguistic topics in Renaissance literature.]
slings ] Some argue that "slings" is a misprint of the intended word, "stings". "The stings of fortune" was a common saying in the Renaissance. But in the context of the soliloquy, "slings" likely means "sling-shot" or "missile". This seems in keeping with the reference to "arrows" - both can do great harm.
outrageous fortune ] Fortune is "outrageous" in that it is brazenly defiant.
And by opposing end them ] If you cannot suffer the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" then you must end your troubles with suicide. [Mr. Cook’s note: other critics read this phrase more broadly.]
consummation ] Final settlement of all matters.
rub ] Impediment. The term comes from bowling, where the "rub" is any obstacle that pushes the ball off course.
shuffled off this mortal coil ] To separate from one's body (mortal coil = body).
respect ] Consideration.
of so long life ] So long-lived.
time ] Time = temporal life.
his quietus make ] Settle his own account. [Mr. Cook's note: Quietus means "death" but also "something that has a calming or soothing effect." It is perhaps interesting to think of both definitions here.]
bare bodkin ] A "mere dagger". Bodkin was a Renaissance term used to describe many different sharp instruments, but it makes the most sense here to assume Shakespeare means a dagger.
fardels ] Burdens.
No traveller returns ] Since Hamlet has already encountered his father's ghost, and thus proof of the afterlife, this line has raised much debate. There are four major current theories regarding this line: 1) Shakespeare made an egregious error and simply failed to reconcile the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet's belief that human beings do not return; 2) Hamlet has earlier revealed that he doubts the authenticity of the ghost and, therefore, he does not believe his father has truly returned; 3) Hamlet is referring only to human beings returning in the flesh and not as mere shadows of their former selves; 4) the entire soliloquy is misplaced and rightfully belongs before Hamlet has met his father's ghost. In my estimation, theory #4 seems the most plausible. [Mr. Cook's note of disagreement with Mabillard: #2 and #3 are worth considering further. #2: It's not just "earlier" that Hamlet revealed he doubts the Ghost's authenticity; it's one of the last things he says in the previous scene (2.2) before this speech in the very next scene (3.1). There's clear continuity between the two speeches. #3: In 1.5 the Ghost says, "I am thy father's spirit" not "I am thy father." The distinction between flesh and spirit is made explicit in the play. He is not merely a traveler returning home. The Ghost also tells Hamlet that he is forbidden to tell the secrets of the afterlife. So even if we can trust the Ghost it still can't tell us what we want to know about the afterlife.]
bourn ] Limit or boundary.
native hue of resolution ] Natural. Here Hamlet refers to the "natural color of courage".
pale cast of thought ] Sickly tinge of contemplation.
great pitch and moment ] Of momentous significance. The "pitch" was the name given to the highest point in a falcon's flight before it dives down to catch its prey.
With this regard their currents turn awry ] A reference to the sea and its tides: "Because of their thoughts, their currents become unstable".
Soft you now ] "But hush!". Hamlet hears Ophelia begin to pray and he must cut short his private ponderances.
Nymph ] See commentary below.
orisons ] Prayers.
1. In your Hamlet's Soliloquies Doc/paper use the chart below to explicate Hamlet's 3.1 soliloquy/monologue. This will be similar to the chart you made when analyzing the last soliloquy (2.2) except here I'm asking you to work through the soliloquy/speech sentence by sentence rather than section by section. Make sure you explain what Hamlet is saying and that you analyze what is significant about what Hamlet says and how Hamlet says it. Consider what is significant about and what is suggested by specific figurative imagery, sentence structures, shifts in focus, pronouns (we/us instead of I/me), variations in rhythm, etc. Also, consider particulars in this soliloquy/monologue in relation to the rest of the play. How does what is explored here relate to what is explored elsewhere in the play? How does what is explored relate to the ways people attempt to deal with trauma, deep uncertainty, and the prevalence of wrongdoing in the world?

Note: Make sure your explication does not incorporate interpretations borrowed from sources other than the notes provided to you. Uncited paraphrases of other people's analyses is plagiarism and will result in a zero, a call home, and notification of the assistant principal for further disciplinary action.
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer (65)
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
[What is Hamlet saying? How is what he is saying significant?][How is Hamlet saying it? How is the way he is saying it significant?
To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks (70)
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.


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, (75)
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, (80)
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?


Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life, (85)
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of? (90)
[What is Hamlet saying? How is what he is saying significant?][How is Hamlet saying it? How is the way he is saying it significant?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry, (95)
And lose the name of action.



Soft you now!The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.



********************

2. In your Hamlet's Soliloquies Doc/paper write a shuttle comparison of two performances of Hamlet's 3.1 soliloquy/monologue. Remember to begin with a bold insight about meaningful similarities and/or differences. Then, develop that insight by explaining very specific acting and directing choices. (You don't need to share your notes with me in a chart this time. But if the chart is helpful you can use the one below.)

First clip: 3.1 monologue, directed by Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet played by Kenneth Branagh (1996)
[(1) Here the monologue is in context as it appears in the second quarto and first folio. (2) I know what you're going to ask. The answer is one-way mirror.]

Second clip: 3.1 soliloquy, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Hamlet played by Mel Gibson (1990)
[Here the soliloquy is lifted out of its context in 3.1 and delivered on its own. Hamlet walks down into the catacombs where his father and others are buried.]

Third clip: 3.1 soliloquy, directed by Michael Almereyda, Hamlet played by Ethan Hawke (2000)
[Here again the soliloquy is lifted out of its context in 3.1 and delivered on its own, but this time Hamlet is in a Blockbuster video store. Why?, you ask. Because in this version Hamlet creates the Mousetrap by editing clips of film into a montage depicting something like the murder of his father. He's in Blockbuster looking for film clips to include in his montage.]

Fourth clip: 3.1 soliloquy, directed by Gregory Doran, Hamlet played by David Tennant (2009)
[Here the monologue is in context again. I chose an edit of this speech that shows a little bit of the context at the beginning and end of the speech.]

Fifth clip: 3.1 soliloquy, directed by Laurence Olivier, Hamlet played by Laurence Olivier (1948)
[Out of the 3.1. again but with suggestive water imagery that plays off of lines in the speech and elsewhere in the play.]




(Week of 12/1)
SOLILOQUY #4 (4.4) [Technically, this is Hamlet's 5th soliloquy. He has a short soliloquy at the end of 3.2 after the Murder of Gonzago/Mouse Trap; before Hamlet heads off to his mother's room and encounters Claudius on the way.]

How all occasions do inform against me, (35)
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not (40)
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom (45)
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge (50)
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare, (55)
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake
. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, (60)
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot (65)
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain?
O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

NOTES
[Source: http://shakespeare.about.com/od/studentresources/a/allinform.htm  Amanda Mabillard, B.A. (Honors) is a freelance writer specializing in Shakespeare, Renaissance political theory, theatre history, comparative literary history, and linguistic topics in Renaissance literature.]

inform against ] Accuse me.
market ] Employment.
discourse ] The power of reason. God gave human beings the ability to reflect on life's events.
Looking before and after ] Our intelligence allows us to analyze past experiences and make rational judgments about the future.
fust ] Grow mouldy. Hamlet is saying that God did not give us the power of reason for it to go unused.
Bestial oblivion ] The forgetfulness of an animal. Our capability to remember separates mankind from other animals or "beasts". But Hamlet forgetting Claudius's deeds is clearly not why he delays the murder.
craven scruple ] Cowardly feelings.
of ] From.
event ] Outcome.
quarter'd ] Meticulously analyzed (literally, divided into four).
Sith ] Since.
gross ] Obvious.
mass and charge ] Size and cost. Hamlet is referring to the army led by Fortinbras, prince of Norway. Hamlet wishes he had Fortinbras's courage.
puff'd ] Inflated.
Makes mouths at the invisible event ] Shows contempt for (or cares not about) the uncertain outcome of battle.
Rightly to be great...stake ] Truly great men refrain from fighting over insignificant things, but they will fight without hesitation over something trivial when their honour is at risk. "True nobility of soul is to restrain one's self unless there is a great cause for resentment, but nobly to recognize even a trifle as such as cause when honour is involved" (Kittredge 121). Ironically, "Hamlet never learns from the Captain or attempts to clarify what the specific issue of honor is that motivates the Prince of Norway. In fact, there is none, for the play has made it clear that Fortinbras's uncle, after discovering and stopping his nephew's secret and illegal revenge campaign against Claudius, encouraged him to use newly levied forces to fight in Poland...Since no issue of honor is to be found in Fortinbras's cause, Hamlet, through his excessive desire to emulate the Norwegian leader, ironically calls into question whether there is any honour in his own cause" (Newell 143). [Mr. Cook adds: or, perhaps, Hamlet’s mind has once again moved from the particular (Fortinbras and his army) to the abstract (consideration of what defines greatness). It seems Fortinbras and his army are not important in and of themselves but in how they “inform against” (indict, critique, etc.) Hamlet’s inaction.]
twenty thousand men ] In line 25, it was 20000 ducats and only 2000 men. It is undecided whether this confusion is Hamlet's or Shakespeare's.
blood ] Passions.
trick of fame ] Trifle of reputation. But is not Hamlet jealous of Fortinbras and his ability to fight in defense of his honour? "Fortinbras is enticed by a dream, and thousands must die for it. Hamlet's common sense about the absurdity of Fortinbras's venture shows the pointlessness of his envy" (Edwards 193).
Whereon...slain ] The cause is not significant enough to consume the thousands of men fighting over it, and the tombs and coffins are not plentiful enough to hold those who are killed (continent = container).

1.       (Make connections!) In a paragraph compare what Hamlet says in lines 36-49 of this soliloquy to what he says in lines 91-96 of his “To be or not to be” soliloquy (below).

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry, (95)
And lose the name of action.—

2.       (Make connections!) In a paragraph explain how this soliloquy is similar to the “O What a rogue and peasant slave” (2.2.576) soliloquy. (Think about the role that Fortinbras plays in this speech and that the First Player plays in the earlier speech: “What would he do,  / Had he the motive and the cue for passion / That I have?”)

3.       (What’s your opinion?) Hamlet contrasts his own cowardly thought with the actions of Fortinbras. Do you think Fortinbras is a good role model for Hamlet? In other words, should Hamlet be more like Fortinbras or not? Explain your answer in a paragraph. Use evidence from the play and this soliloquy to develop your answer. (Like Hamlet, you might be able to argue both “yes” and “no”.)

4. (Be the director/actor.) In a paragraph explain how you would portray this soliloquy. Consider your understanding of the text and its position in the play. Consider objective/motivation, subtext, obstacle, and adjustments/shifts. Consider phrasing, pace, tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, movements, attire, staging, lighting, music, etc. If it would be helpful, here are links to performances of this soliloquy: Branagh's performance and Tennant's performance (soliloquy starts around :50). (This soliloquy is omitted from other films because Fortinbras is (for the most part) cut from the other films. As a side note: it's interesting to think about what (if anything) is lost when Fortinbras is cut.)   
 
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[The chart is here to copy & paste if you need it for one of the responses. You don't need it for the 4.4 soliloquy.]















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