"To Be Or Not To Be..." Three Ways

In Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Hamlet, Mel Gibson portrays the eponymous character and delivers the “to be or not to be” soliloquy deep within a catacomb. The setting of the speech is quite dark and melancholy. It is the tomb of the previous kings and noblemen of Elsinore, including Hamlet’s father. Hamlet has no visible props on his person; he simply wanders around the graves while contemplating his choice. Unlike the other two versions of the play, Hamlet does not have a dagger or any visible means of killing himself. This gives the soliloquy a more contemplative quality and implies that Hamlet is not seriously considering suicide; he is merely toying with the idea. This version is more relatable for the audience than the other two versions because Hamlet appears calm and rational while he thinks about the nature of suicide. Many people have contemplated suicide, but the number of people who have actually attempted it is far fewer. All of these aspects make the scene appear more melancholy and thoughtful than exciting; the audience never believes for a moment that he will actually kill himself.

At the other end of the spectrum is Lawrence Olivier’s version of the play, where Hamlet is not only holding a dagger, but is also standing on the edge of the castle, ready to jump into the roiling seawater below. Hamlet’s soliloquy is much darker in this version and it appears that he seriously considering suicide. Though the audience can surmise that Hamlet will be in the rest of the play, it seems much more likely that he will take his own life than it does in either of the other two versions. The dark stormy sky, the dagger, and the ocean swirling beneath him all convey a sense of urgency and death that the other versions lack.

Kenneth Branaugh’s version of the play is the most unusual. The tone is rather unclear. Kenneth Branaugh’s Hamlet is standing in what appears to be a very large room in a mansion in front of a large mirror. The walls are a blinding white trimmed with gold, giving the room a rather gaudy, superficial appearance. The floor is tiled in black and white and the only prop that Hamlet possesses is a dagger that he draws towards the end of his speech. The setting does not possess the creepiness of the tomb or the urgency of the parapet, but has an eerie quality that the other two lack. The greatest difference between this and the other two film versions lies in the use of the mirror. The mirror provides an interesting concept of duality – the Hamlet who desires death and the Hamlet who fears death, which gives the scene added dimension.

In all three of these versions, the directors, though they may have different takes as to how to portray Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts, all capture Hamlet’s contemplation of the nature of suicide. Zeffirelli gives the scene a touch of sadness by setting it in the tomb of Hamlet’s father; Olivier paints the scene with serious urgency by giving Hamlet immediate access to the instruments of his death, and Branaugh brings a strange, hypnotic quality to the soliloquy with the use of the mirror to show the duality of Hamlet’s choice. All are unique interpretations of Shakespeare’s work and highlight the different aspects of Hamlet’s nature and character.