Activity

@obrian-of-the-surface-world

I really love this one, from the end of Julius Caesar:

His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
80And say to all the world, “This was a man.”

Why? partly because it’s a praise of Brutus, whom I liked, but mostly because I think it a very high compliment; not that he was rich, well liked, well gifted, even, though that is part of it, but that he was a man. (Reminds me of the line from Hamlet, incidentally: “He was a man. Take him for all in all.
I shall not look upon his like again.”)

I would like something to similar effect said of me when I die.

And then there are so many lines in Hamlet that I couldn’t count them all.

What are some of your favorites?

I really liked the Mel Gibson version you had above. It launched my sister and me (both avid Hamlet fans) into a fourth soliloquy search. We ended up watching like 9 of them. 🙂 I especially liked the first half of the speech–the acting was great, and he said the lines like he meant them (unlike some others, Kenneth Branaugh included). The camera work and lighting was really good, too.

@sparrowhawke

YES! The “To Be or Not to Be” soliloquy is worth memorizing! I also would like to memorize his first soliloquy. I agree with you: most do see Hamlet as a story of revenge, and even go so far as to be more sympathetic toward the king than toward Hamlet…which will get my heated faster than just about anything. I, too, see it as more of a justice thing (“the law’s delay”)–he is the only one able to hold the king accountable for his murder.