A textual analysis of screen versions of Hamlet's soliloquy "To Be or Not to Be That is the Question" to explore elements of the process of adaptation

This paper is a textual analysis of three screen versions of Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be, that is the question” to allow me to explore elements of the process of adaptation. Specifically the paper will examine the discrepancy between theatrical dialogue and cinematic dialogue - the ability of film to manipulate space and time as a key difference between theatre and cinema. Bazin sees adaptation as the organisation of space; he states “The idea of a locus dramaticus is not only alien to, it is essentially a contradiction of the concept of the screen.” (1974: 387). This paper will also demonstrate how the cultural and political context of the filmed soliloquies affects the language. It will demonstrate the impact of mise en scene and the consequences of filmic characteristics on the Shakespearean language.