Original Pronunciation - Hamlet | To Be, or not to be... | Ben Crystal

On a balcony overlooking Tower Bridge in London, after taking part in a Kickstarter campaign to support a film of an OP Hamlet production, Ben was asked to give one of Hamlet's speeches a couple of swings...
This is Take 2 of 'To be, or not to be...' in its entirety. As Ben has discussed elsewhere, for him this is not a speech about suicide, but one of mortality...
Closed Captions & Subtitles from the First Folio
Shot by Aslam Husain, www.aslamhusainphotography.com

[@ixlnxs]

This actor's father is a linguist who specializes in the pronunciation of English in Shakespeare's time. It is endearing to watch the two work together.

[@jordanforbes149]

1:25 without the OP I never would’ve realized that “quietus ” was meant as a pun on “coitus.” That line and phrasing makes so much more sense now. Oh my god it’s a joke.

[@jordanforbes149]

When he says “who are these fardels bear, to grunt and sweat” that’s ALSO a sex joke. I can’t believe it. This rules.

[@ABAlphaBeta]

@@jordanforbes149 what is the second joke

[@davidolsen1222]

@@jordanforbes149 And why a 'bare' bodkin? Isn't just bodkin enough. Unless it's something you make quietus with, else you grunt and sweat under a weary life. Its a little tempting to go the whole bawdy shakespeare direction and take most of the uses of country as a joke emphasizing the first syllable, though that might be stretching things a bit far.

[@davidolsen1222]

I think the best interpretation there is likely a contrast of suicide/masturbation vs. continuing to live and kinda getting fucked by life. When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death,

[@SilverLine269]

I always wondered what on Earth that meant, now I can visualise it!

[@rexfort]

I liked this. That speech is usually played as just Hamlet's suicidal musings. This version makes it more of a breaking the 4th wall thing. Hamlet is conversing with us, telling us that we all should be suicidal but conscience makes cowards of us all. It's not just suicide, it's dealing with life and mortality.

[@stevedavis8329]

well, it's a soliloquy, so of course it breaks the fourth wall.

[@randellporter8747]

Richard: Very well said. Thx

[@awmperry]

Richard Brummer Good point. And with that in mind, now I could easily imagine a production where the house lights come up a bit and Hamlet just sits on the edge of the stage chatting the soliloquy at the audience, maybe even wandering out to really emphasise that.

[@rexfort]

I like the intimacy. It's like he's sitting on the bar stool next to you being maudlin. It's like he's taking a break from the game he's been playing and just "keepin' it real" for a moment.

[@jakobsors5335]

it's indeed a more direct soliloquy, than usual

[@tonyoliver2167]

It's pleasantly chilling to know he's standing at the bank of the Thames, overlooking buried artefacts, some of which the vibrations of this accent haven't tremoured against for hundreds of years

[@LordSandwichII]

"some of which the vibrations of this accent haven't tremoured against for hundreds of years" That's a beautifully Shakepearian sentence! 😍

[@tonyoliver2167]

@@LordSandwichII haha four years later and I forgot what I wrote. But in all truth, lots of things I pick up and dig up from hundreds of years before I always see as vestiges for a time and energy that is no longer here. Much like our own pocket change although inanimate and without life or conscience and consciousness, has felt our conversations for near on decades and decades. Thanks for the appreciation everyone ;)

[@lehi_v]

I wish I had a million dollars to donate to these people to record all of Shakespeare's words in OP. This is absolutely lovely.

[@davidcrystal1]

It's done, actually. See David Crystal, Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation (2016), with an audio link

[@mikesrandomchannel]

OP = understand the meaning entirely in one go, no notes, no explanations, no nothing. Wonderful. Shakespeare in his time, for our time.

[@AndreinneLawrence]

+Ed Bradburn it's incredible how much easier it is to understand for me. And it makes me sad to think that Shakespeare became overacted, over pronounced, and over complicated when they switched to RP.

[@renlish]

Ed Bradburn ... FOR SURE. Hearing the original makes the meaning far mor obvious.

[@philliprich623]

*timeless

[@EndoftheTownProductions]

Hamlet told the players: "Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue...Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature." Ben surely followed Hamlet's advice....well done!!!

[@devincory9695]

It sounds like an American trying to do an Irish accent. I love OP.

[@patchworkundead4787]

It's sounds like a weird cobbling together of Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and a stereotypical pirate. It's quite fun to me.

[@monkeymox2544]

It sounds like English west country, with a bit of an English Northern accent thrown in. @Patchwork Undead, when you say 'typical pirate', that's how people from the west country sound. You only associate that accent with Pirates because Robert Newton, who was from Bristol, played Long John Silver in Treasure Island back in the 50's. His accent has been associated with pirates ever since.

[@patchworkundead4787]

@@monkeymox2544 I actually knew that, it's just not quite a perfect comparison and my aspie self decided to go the long route.

[@monkeymox2544]

@Patchwork Undead then my sincere apologies for piratesplaining at you :P

[@patchworkundead4787]

@@monkeymox2544 you're fine, Autism Spectrum Disorder classification 1 (formerly aspergers syndrome) makes me an awkward little fuck.

[@Keruo3o]

LOL... I loved his 'softly now the fair Ophelia'" - such mischief! LOL

[@hannamusic3945]

Good on you, Ben Crystal. I love this interpretation. Most performances deliver this speech in one, depressed tone throughout. It's never felt authentic to me that way. Hamlet was going crazy, not depressed. His mind was racing with no sleep, tortured by grief, rage and frustration but again, not sad and depressed as most choose to play this. It's also usually delivered as if it's a rehearsed speech to a crowd - Hamlet's conclusion on the subject - instead of (as I believe this is) one of those arguments we have with ourselves when trying to think something through. We go back and forth, asking ourselves the question "why not just kill ourselves and end it all?, the problems, heartache, bad dreams...", then answering the question to ourselves "because maybe death is worse..." (lol forgive my simplified translation but you get the point) and usually end up as confused as we started "damn! fear of the unknown is a bitch..." As I said, to me, this speech is full of energy and frustration, not sad and hopeless. He's trying to figure out what to do. Nice to see someone make it personal.

[@84rinne_moo]

It’s not just the OP version it’s how he delivers it! You really believe he’s a guy musing over the meaning of life and all that.

[@RalphDratman]

Well that is by a long mile the best soliloquy I ever heard. Not only is Ben a skilled linguist, he is also a wonderful actor. Now I want to speak this way myself, as soon as possible under these too-new skies!

[@hypnotechno]

well said Professor Crystal

[@Lurker1979]

I think this is easier to understand then how it is done now days.

[@Hereticalable]

+Lurker1979 We use RP these days, which I adore (and pretty much speak myself) but we lose so much of the puns and humour when we don't use OP for Shakespeare. If the English respected their language and actually taught their children we might still speak OP today....

[@susanfry145]

+Hereticalable "Loose" -- as in "loose the dogs of war"? :-)

[@Hereticalable]

Susan Fry Not very forgiving about spelling errors are we? It was corrected...

[@WiseGuy508]

*than

[@TheMaru666]

I, m spanish native speaker and , althogh i don, t understand many words , the spelling makes much more sense whith that pronunciation .

[@MarctheSwissIrishman]

This Shakespearian pronunciation is most interesting in itself, but it suits Ben Crystal very well, which makes the performance even better. Would love to see plays like that.

[@noooddle]

In this delivery, Hamlet comes across as philosophical and thoughtful, asking good and sincere questions. In all RP versions, he comes across as a whiny sissy boy who just needs to get over himself. It's really amazing.

[@edlyness4891]

thats a sweeping fucking statement mister

[@sallymj8957]

Well said!

[@muhilan8540]

That reflects your preexisting notion of RP more than nothing

[@muhilan8540]

@George Corbul received pronunciation

[@narbogbugsploda7660]

Horseshit, he's delivering a monologue about suicide in the middle of a depression, he's not supposed to sound thoughtful and intelligent, it's supposed to be miserable and mournful, morose and melancholy, not this dogshit.

[@DMDSFrazzles]

So, everyone spoke like pirates? Neat.

[@rpryce2140]

Other way around; pirate spoke like everyone!

[@jeremytheoneofdestiny8691]

“net”

[@randomheadful7190]

That’s what OP sounds like to me, too!

[@drrd4127]

My village in the UK we talk like this: "Hiv ye bin up tae onyhing?" "Och Aye, ah Hiv! Bin up tae nae guid! Yer no comin'! Ye ir aw wee shites" "Och mon, a've bin daein' nu'hing wi masel" "Ye kin bide in the hoose an' a'll see ye the morra" Honestly, lots of people refuse to keep the regional dialects once they go to university in the big city, one guy told me he dropped the regional dialect because "I don't want to sound like a Pirate" but I agree, it is the other way round, I don't sound like a Pirate, pirates sound like me.

[@samwallaceart288]

It's so odd; in modern English it sounds so stilted and awkward and is just hard to listen to, but here you can appreciate that it was specifically designed to be *easy* to listen to ... so odd what an accent and vowel shift can do.

[@drrd4127]

Lots of people in Regional UK still talk like this! Are you saying their speech is not modern? Not PR enough for you! Not American enough for you to be considered modern English.

[@MrClickity]

@@drrd4127 Dude, relax. You're looking for offense where there is none. Rural/regional dialects definitely sound odd to people not from that region. Even Hot Fuzz did a bit about how incomprehensible a West Country accent can be, even to other Englishmen. I guarantee you people in the US and the UK would say the same about a rural Alabama accent, too.

[@francisdec1615]

As far as I understand, the modern English "posh" accent comes from King George IV, who was a person that most of his subjects felt deep contempt for, which is a bit ironic.

[@Joviex]

Sounds fine to me in Modern English

[@Strawberry-12.]

@@MrClickity as an American form the northeast I would agree with you that the rural Alabama accent would be hard to understand if not for the fact that it is almost always spoken in a slow southern drawl.

[@akan1]

Greetings. OMG. That soliloquy just came alive! It felt as though I was hearing it for the first time. It scanned as a collection if meaningful thoughts, the rhythm and cadence ironically, brought the piece into the 21st century. I could hear someone a young man (30-ish), worrying about something and then remembering his girlfriend is going to meet him. Magnificent. OL.

[@voxorox]

A fine performance of a heavily-misunderstood soliloquy. It's usually played as "woe is me" rather than an actual musing on life. Well done.

[@wolf1066]

That is by far and away the most moving rendering of Hamilet's soliloquy I've ever heard. Far from being "incomprehensible", due to being OP rather than RP, I have no trouble following it and being moved by it.

[@Albukhshi]

I want to see the whole play done in OP, as Shakespeare intended. It looks from the snippets I could get a hold of (this included) that it isn't what I grew up thinking it was.

[@swopnilkalika7339]

After viewing this, every other performance of this soliloquy I have ever seen, including that of the awesome Mr. Tennant, feels like overacting, like, they were being melancholic without any real purpose. It's wonderful how further popularizing of OP could open new windows for a better understanding of Shakespeare among the general audience such as myself.

[@williamj74]

I couldn't possibly agree more. This is the best version I have ever seen of this soliloquy

[@Locahaskatexu]

+William Child It just sounds so much more natural

[@RalphDratman]

Is harpsichord one of the original instruments for Bach?

[@valentinpoussou7087]

I read in Peter Ackroyd's biography of Shakespeare, that there was textual evidence that this soliloquy was not written with the rest of the play, but was added to it in a place where it could fit. The general drama in which the soliloquy is included often forces stage directors and actors to focus more on the suicidal side (they may be wrong). But out of context it resonates very differently.

[@ombilicdes]

The 'naturalism' of his delivery is historically inaccurate---it would have been declaimed poetically, at quite some distance from the audience, who could barely see the actor's faces---and overall unsuited to the speech. OTOH his exaggerated actorly emphasis on 'would'---as if to say, hey, I actually do understand a word or two of this, amidst a relatively flat sea of blather---is also terrible.

[@vwgolf1991]

To my Western Canadian ears, it sounds like Newfoundlanders, and even a lot of Ontarians in certain areas. My dad would pronounce "arms" and "nobler" in pretty similar a way as well. Clear and intelligible English.

[@faithbringshope]

if thats the way you hear someone from Ontario speaking then I seriously had to laugh. I'm from Ontario myself near Toronto and to be honest even we think our Newfoundlander bros and East coasters have an accent to us. u can hear the Irish inflection in the east coast accents of Canada...most likely from early settlers. what really gets me is your from west Canada??? I seriously didn't expect that one.

[@Crazy_Diamond_75]

@@faithbringshope is it Irish inflection or West Country / OP inflection? A lot of the pronunciation things we Americans make fun of Canadians for seems like they could be readily explained by this as well.

[@toomaskarmo9435]

Brilliant. For the first time in ages, I feel i actually WANT to learn Shakespeare.

[@681278]

OP has so much more weight to it, it feels more real and beautiful.

[@TheMissingLink1]

It's INSANE how much better this is. I must have seen more than 50 different version of this exact monologue, but I felt as if I really hard it for the first time here - the natural cadence of the voice, the intent. How marvelous! I live in the US, and I so wish that more theatre companies would mount Shakespeare productions in OP. I think high school students would have a much more fun time discovering this version of Shakespeare, instead of the version most teachers present.

[@theDaoistBean]

I'm glad to see so many people finally realizing this soliloquy is not about suicide...as is oft misinterpreted and worse mis-taught. I think this comes from taking the phrase 'to be or not to be' too literally. There is a predicate left unstated here...'to be [king, a killer, agent of vengeance, action hero, etc?] or not to be [those things].' It is not meant to be the gigantic existential angst of living or dying. IMO, Ben's performance certainly conveys much better the intent of the author, which is a man trying to decide whether to do a thing or not do that thing, and why he would or wouldn't. That suicide is mentioned does not mean it is about suicide, it is instead about living and suffering in the face of the possibility that we could quit at anytime. Why don't we leave? Fear of the unknown. Why don't we act? Fear of the consequences. Better to stay with the devil you know. Applied to the specific plot of the play, Hamlet does not know the consequences of killing Claudius...will it also bring on his death or will he be crowned king or any other number of outcomes that could spell success or doom for him and his country (don't forget Sweden is coming)? Or would it be better to not act and let life happen, which for Hamlet at this point means being a coward. Another thing I realized listening to it this time, perhaps because the accent made me think more in that time period, is that Hamlet doesn't cite eternal damnation as the sole or proper reason people do not commit suicide...and thus eschews the prevalent Christian dogmatism of the day for a more personal, introspective and psychoanalytic type of reason that makes Shakespeare continue to be relevant today.

[@HyruleLibrarian]

This sounds so much like the accent from my area of the US, the Tidewater. Most specifically it sounds like the accent from Smith or Tangier Island.

[@farisfuad1150]

Hoytoyde

[@GeorgeTSLC]

You're not the only one here who's noticed, but you're the first I've seen who's from the place.

[@MrClickity]

Back when I lived in the Outer Banks NC, I met quite a few folks in Wanchese who sounded very similar to this.

[@naomin5284]

Zowee. I loved this. As to comments that it's missing the pathos of the emotion we usually hear it in, I think it's entirely normal for someone going through a rough patch - even as bad as Hamlet is going through - to speak logically and calmly. Emotions rarely surface, and we are quite predisposed to hiding them, and even sounding calmer than usual, in order to hide them. And with OP - I really heard this as if being spoken today.

[@MegaDp1976]

I understand what he was saying more than any classical shakespeare actor could. I've heard that loads of times and explained, but hearing how it was meant to be or very close, brought understanding. Well done Ben Crystal and thank you. Hope to hear more?

[@saber2802]

It weirdly dawned on me that this was a fourth wall break and a deep look into a way of thinking.

[@GeorgeTSLC]

@@saber2802 All the Elizabethan and Stuart monologues break the fourth wall. Long before the moderns.

[@philliprich623]

This pronunciation adds a whole entire new depth and breadth to the meaning. Such a better delivery than the majority of Hamlets I've seen!

[@niiikaaa21]

man I love this interpretation - I must've watched this video about 10 times now over the last year or so, and I'm sure I'll keep regularly coming back to it. I just love the sound of the old pronounciation and the general interpretation and delivery of this soliloquy. It's just beautiful to listen to!

[@tweepixie]

Thank you for making me fall in love with Shakespeare and making me want to study phonology a little bit more!

[@HominidMachinae]

I never liked the "to be or not to be" it always seemed so out of place. He was supposedly faking his melancholy when he was giving his "What a piece of work" speech to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but now he's acutely depressed? Understanding the context, that in the globe the actors could look the audience in the eye, and the fourth wall was broken, put it into a much better understanding for me. I've also never liked how it was performed. The otherwise excellent Tennent Hamlet seemed melodramatic and too sad. The Olivier too soft-spoken and formal. The Mel Gibson seemed like he was out of breath and the pauses were too overwraught. The Richard Burton clearly inspired the Tennent, but the emphasis and phrasing seemed bizarre (though it was otherwise excellent). The Brannagh is quite excellent but suffers the same breathlessness that seems a common affliction but that's a mild quibble. I've seen every Hamlet that can be imagined, including several quite good live versions, and the To Be or Not to Be has to be one of the hardest to deliver in all theater just because it's so famous and almost every famous shakesperian actor has done it at some point. It seems every famous actor struggles to put this speech down, either falling into overacting or underacting. But out of all of the To Be monologs I've ever seen, I think this is the best, it makes it interesting. It seems to me to be not a moment of weakness as he prepares to spring his trap in the play-within-a-play scene, but rather him explaining to us why he hesitates. It doesn't weaken the character the way so many other variants of the speech do. I know I just wrote a tome, and Ben may never see this, but my hats off, this was an amazing piece of acting, and you should be proud to have set down a version of a seminal bit of acting that's easily the peer of any Hamlet I've seen in film or live.

[@kiwibobe]

+HominidMachinae Sir, I know considerably less about Shakespeare in general and this soliloquy in particular than yourself. But I am struck by the comments you make of the various versions of this verse. I have seen several of the versions you mention and I agree entirely with your summary. With little experience and no expertise in the great works, I always felt frustrated by many performances but felt unable to criticise them, you have crystalised by frustration into words. So pronunciation aside, I too was struck by this performance, it is intimate and the timing seems to me to be natural, no over dramatisation, no indulgent posturing, it is engaging, captivating even. I thank you for your comments and I hope that Ben Crystal may chance upon it.

[@lockelamora8099]

Ten months later: here bloody here! And the original pronunciation helps too; it doesn't feel so much like a drawn-out monologue here, it's just Hamlet talking to us.

[@SKSith]

I never saw an issue with him being acutely depressed here. He's going through a lot of tragedy and a terrible weight has been placed on him, so it make perfect sense to me that he'd have a point where he deeply considers giving up.

[@zildjianabuser]

I had a professor who claimed that Hamlet is essentially BS-ing the entire soliloquy and that he knows that Ophelia is overhearing him, which makes it technically not a soliloquy. He backed this with the point that Hamlet is asking her about her father later in the scene in an almost paranoid fashion. It was a very interesting take on the passage.

[@billmcdonough3950]

Actually, he's quite intentionally speaking in a reconstruction of the accent likely used by Shakespear's troupe at the Globe. Check out the other videos of him discussing Original Pronunciation vs Received Pronunciation. Quite a lot of scholarly work went into that 'homeless drug addict' style you're hearing.

[@lordshardik]

I love how naturally he speaks. It makes it easier to follow and shows he has a really solid understanding of what he’s saying. I also like how he’s taking advantage of the film medium to deliver it quieter.

[@timothyswag3594]

I listened to a voice recording from the 50s of a man that fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War when he was a young man, and it struck me how different it sounds from modern Southern accents. Actually, there are some similarities in some of the sounds of that accent with OP.

[@tastyanagram]

Is that accessible online? I'd love to listen to it. Thanks!

[@jaojao1768]

Yes, a lot of accents are actually quite recent

[@GeorgeTSLC]

"The South" didn't have a uniform dialect then any more than it does now. What state was he from? And what class?

[@darknevangelist]

The southern American accent and dialect is one of the surviving accent styles that most closely patterns after the shakespearian era English as it were people from that time that populated that area of Southern US. They became an isolated population which solidified the accent. Some cool stuff. There's some videos floating by this really knowledgeable American linguistic anthropologist that's worth listening to if this stuff is of interest.

[@Leen95M]

English isn't my first language, and although I sometimes have trouble understanding Shakespeare, I absolutely love the accent used here! It just sounds good.

[@flossie5432]

It's certainly NOT made-up language.It's how most people talked in Britain at the time of Shakespeare.This video gives a better idea of the dialect than most .English speakers don't have issues with the language,simply the understanding of the vocabulary of those times.The spellings were not standardised either ,till quite a lot later on,perhaps when the Oxford English Dictionary was being compiled.So hearing it said ,in performance ,it is easier to understand than reading it.To understand Shakespeare,you need to go and watch a play.

[@titch1886]

Made up? This is how they spoke in Shakespeare's time. Where do you think the Americans got their accent from? It's the English accent that has changed over the years. Also, people still have similar accents to this in some parts of England.

[@flossie5432]

Yeahitsme =It's true to say that if you're a non-native English speaker,and you don't use the language a lot,you will have trouble understanding Shakespeare.That ia not what I said.My issue was that you said a lot of what he wrote was made-up.Spellings at that time were certainly flexible ,but what I was saying was that if you hear the words spoken by the people who still live in the area where the great Bard was born and raised,then you will have a better understanding of his words.I've been reading and studying Shakespeare since 1958.I've lived in Gt Britain all my life.When I began to really appreciate his works though,was when I went to plays as part of my senior school education.The best were those where the players were Midlanders ,rather than Londoners with R.P.The words just made more sense,as in the video here.

[@Leen95M]

Yeahitsme is there a book or a reference that has all the words that Shakespeare invented ?

[@akshaybhagwat8841]

Most of the words you are talking about are first used by Shakespeare and so, are credited to him. But that could just mean that they were part of the slang (of the time) and thus never used in literature. Can you be sure that he INVENTED them? Other writers of the Elizabethan age might not have used these words because they were more conservative (at least, when it came to language)?

[@RabbitPlum]

Great, it sounds so much better like this.

[@terencebentley8398]

I absolutely love this. Huge commendations to the actor for a staggeringly convincing rendition of the speech…

[@swingloveEKL]

got actual, literal chills watching this! so much more powerful in the original pronunciation!

[@tedray]

Stunning... finally spoken in a vernacular that transcends the Received Pronunciation pretense.

[@stellaluceat7335]

FINALLY! Someone acting instead of just reciting words! Not even Branagh did it correctly (not to mention well). But this! Beautiful!

[@Keruo3o]

+Stella Luceat easier to do in the OP. That earthy, gruntiness of the correct pronunciation lends itself to an authenticity that Recieved english, or American english does not.

[@stellaluceat7335]

I can appreciate that, even if I don't know it (have not experienced it) for myself. It wasn't until I started studying Shakespeare *with the Crystals' help* that I realized (it seems) precious few actually understand it.

[@Flubly]

What a bizarre claim. Branagh understood the soliloquy fine and his interpretation is a valid one drawn from the text. It may not be to your taste, but that his performance demonstrates he doesn't understand the passage? I can't imagine your reasoning there. If anything, I would say that this performance belies the textual evidence that, at this point, Hamlet is getting increasingly enraged with himself at his inability to follow through with revenge. "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 pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry And lose the name of action." That's clearly a frustration directed at himself, not just a random thought being mused on. Does a performance this calm and pleasant really make sense considering it's immediately followed with him humiliating and coldly rejecting the woman he wrote love letters to and promised to marry (if we believe Ophelia in act iv)? This would make sense if you read Hamlet as a psychopath, but if you believe his grief at her grave side is genuine, then it makes more sense that he's not in a good place mentally during this speech. He's getting worked up and then unloads on Ophelia.

[@stellaluceat7335]

Flubly Hmm. Yes. You make some good points. Perhaps Crystal's rendition is a smidge casual, and I get what you mean about Branagh having more . . . gusto? shall we say? But I think he's leaning more towards show-boating than portraying what's going on inside this kid's noggin. Crystal's might be too mellow, I'll grant ya. But Branagh's is too much about his performance than the psyche of Hamlet, which prompted my comment that B doesn't "get" Shakespeare.That IS too broad of a judgement call on him. After all, one of my favorite performances of his is in the movie adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. If he didn't know Shakespeare, his performance there would have illustrated it as well. The artist portraying Hamlet must be given license to perform it in his own manner. I happen to think his performance deviated too far from the author's original intention. Again, though, you're right. Hamlet is unraveling. *Some* show of that would not be amiss.

[@merriemisfit8406]

A person deep in self-reflection would not be inclined to shout ponderments loud enough for folks to be able to hear them in the cheap seats, yet -- aye, there's the rub -- that's how they had to be performed for centuries in the live theatre. Move in close, listen to those quiet musings -- even introduce them as voice-overs, as though we can listen in on the thought process ... thus the camera doth make better Shakespearean performers of us all.

[@billyleroy2465]

Big help in...very hard not to overact when doing historical acting..its all in the subtleness...great talent Ben!

[@grumpysanta6318]

The more I listen to this, the more I understand it (by "it" I mean the words) and the more it... makes sense. This isn't the rantings of a mad man, but the contemplations of a man.

[@FractalZero]

this rendition is beyond words

[@HighLow_Milo]

You should definitely have more videos like this. I like to just listen to the sound of the old pronounciation, because it sounds so nice!

[@michaelgrubb5705]

This is so good! Thank you for the linguistic context!

[@susandrydenhenderson6234]

Wonderfully delivered!

[@ArtyomLensky]

Hamlet after a really rough day on the farm.

[@GenerallySleepy]

I love that the captions are written in the First Folio spellings!

[@AncientLiteratureDude]

Very masterfully done. After having discovered the study of original pronunciation myself in recent times I am endlessly fascinated by such performances of it. Bravo.

[@randellporter8747]

Ben: Who knows how many times since High School I have heard the famous "To be or not to be.." soliloquy from Hamlet. I don't know if it was the accent or the delivery, in either case this was the first time I actually heard and understood those beautiful insightful words. Thx

[@eddiedoncaster4754]

I like this. I love how language changes over time.

[@84422112]

There is something authentic about this version of the soliloquy. It is more earthy than elevated and this, to me at least, makes it more appealing and easier to empathise with the character. Great job.

[@GeorgeTSLC]

I don't think Hamlet is any more "elevated"--or much less--than Will's other main characters. They're men--humans--and that covers a gamut.

[@gergalvin1312]

Rich indeed, and thanks to Ben for posting this. Older people in rural Ireland, particularly in the west, flatten their vowel sounds (cold /cauld; old / auld) and, as an (older) Irish man, what I am hearing in this clip sounds very like a generic Irish rural accent. Trendy young things from rural backgrounds in Ireland are at pains to hide the humble roots betrayed by such archaic pronunciations and eschew cauld for cold, but Ben is right on the nail with this fascinating school of thought. Richard III may have been 'cheated of feature by dissembling nature', but to my ear (I was born in 1573), he was 'chayted' of 'fayture' by dissembling nature. Rhymes better, doesn't it! That's why, in rhyming terms, he was therefore 'sent before (his) time into this 'braything' world, scare half made up. Mock the rural Irish accent at your peril, those of ye who wouldst, but fie! : ye are listening to the Elizabethan past!

[@tanyamuse1319]

Thank you, that’s great!

[@gedney2001]

I love this. Am slightly suspicious about few of pronunciations, but am not an expert in phonology of that era. I would have expected the vowel in 'sleep' to be more closed than that even well before Shakespeare's time. Also sounded like fricative in this to me, whereas I thought it would be like in Scottish English, just a devoiced approximant, particularly before lower vowels. Lovely to listen to though.

[@maddieplaia250]

To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 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 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, 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, Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th'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, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovere'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? 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 And lose the name of action.

[@GeorgeTSLC]

Or you can turn on the closed captioning and get the original spelling to go with the pronunciation.

[@JamesMilliganJr]

This is fantastic!

[@andrewdeakin7078]

This reading by linguist and actor Ben Crystal, using original pronounciation, presents a natural, candid, and familiar tone to provide an interpretation that, for me, complements the context, thought, form, and rhythm of the soliloquy. The presentation is attractive: Crystal alternates between thoughtful looks into the middle distance and intimate confidences direct to camera that draw you in, much like you suspect might have been the practice in Shakespeare’s time. The tone and delivery contrasts markedly with the presentations, pregnant with meaning and significance, of the last century’s greatest actors, who almost seem weighed down by the accumulating centuries of ponderous consideration of Shakespeare’s philosophical importance. That’s understandable, but Crystal’s simple presentation of an intelligent man’s lucid and free flowing thoughts about the issues of the time (like someone who was familiar with the then novel and modern preoccupations of Montaigne) is very attractive. This is a reading I would recommend to someone who is new to Shakespeare, and who is skeptical about his relevance today. Crystal simply and smoothly transports the original Shakespeare to the modern world.

[@andreapollera2985]

Loved it!!!! Congrats!! I was on your webinar today, amazing!!

[@danielguns3300]

English is not my first language but I can say that this is easier to understand for me than a nowadays British accent.

[@ulfahdirham8221]

I always look up to Ben & his father, Professor David Crystal. They are both genius..... I wish I could meet them someday....

[@kevinschaaps9041]

Amazingly good!

[@pasqualeerrico8307]

love you,thank you

[@theloverofwisdom66]

Ben, I have not read all 610 comments (so far), and I am sure I am repeating many of them, but this is absolutely the best I've heard of this soliloquy, and I've listen to a lot from a lot of famous actors. If I had the money, I would give it to you so that you could produce and direct Hamlet. I have tried to find where it is said above that you discussed elsewhere about this speech, but have not been able to find it. I am certain it is a very interesting discussion.

[@shakespearaamina9117]

I love it! it was difficult to get used to and think that Shakespeare might have pronounced in the same way you do Ben! But, I believe it is amazing!!! it is so Early modern

[@Ashybe011]

Beautiful I speak Surrey - greater London English but definitely parts of the UK that sound very similar to his pronunciation to this day. Shakespeare read like this would definitely be more interesting for everyone. I felt emotional as I love literature, poetry & the classics we are so fortunate to have preserved these works.

[@LeviTheBeliever]

Something that is often overlooked in this speech is that Hamlet knows he is being watched by Claudius and Polonius. Makes you wonder what he's really doing: is he *honestly* contemplating suicide, or is he feigning tragic airs to throw them off the scent of his true villainy? Meanwhile, Ben's pronunciation and diction in this video are impeccable. Excellent job, sir.

[@GeorgeTSLC]

Monologues in Elizabethan and Stuart drama are by convention not overheard by other characters. The film versions that do them in voice over while we watch the silent actor aren't wrong.

[@sharingmaterials73]

Loved it!! Amazing!!

[@closair]

So so beautiful!

[@rosalina4852]

This is beautiful.

[@the1exnay]

that was very interesting. i had never considered how they pronounced things differently.

[@benitosolverano9020]

sounds so much better than with modern RP, seriously this is much more powerful

[@Halleluyah83]

❤SUUPERR!!!) VERY BEAUTIFUL❤

[@patricknorris6117]

Awesome! Also, yes it is absolutely a pre-existentialism take on mortality!!!!

[@Willtheofilosilva]

I love it!

[@thegreatbutterfly]

In a thousand years, when people are studying English the way we study Latin, this should be the standard pronunciation they use.

[@Crazy_Diamond_75]

This gave me chills. It's less of a speech and more of a one-way conversation. Overall I think it does a much better job of bringing the viewer into Hamlet's frame of mind.

[@GeorgeTSLC]

That's what monologues are supposed to be. Any teacher or director who makes them into stand-&-deliver moments is ... well, let's be charitable and say woefully ignorant.

[@englishhive5735]

It's fantastic !!!

[@amithahluwalia]

NICE ASLAM!!

[@jeanluc1404]

This is really wonderful, although, it really puts some previous performances (which I enjoyed) some where in the shade.

[@davidisdivine]

Wonderful.

[@mikkethemightey3722]

He has such a beautiful voice too

[@galazet]

Beautiful

[@9drtr]

Brilliant!

[@heathstjohn6775]

Very interesting. Thank everything good that can be thanked the accent changed. What a beneficial influence Ralph Richardson should have been on Shakespeare.

[@AndrewKendall71]

I like how clouds moved in toward the end. Made me think, "How is it that the clouds still hang on you?"

[@lexleon]

Found this vid because I wanted to hear this soliloquy, "to sleep" like slip, to slip away. Poor not proud.. so many I missed just from never listening. Thanks!!!

[@UltimateKyuubiFox]

He got that part wrong, actually. It is "proud man's contumely". He also uses 'fardels' as if it's a type of person carrying a burden, as opposed to what it is, which is the burden itself.

[@Viertelhund]

@@UltimateKyuubiFox Actually, he didn't get it wrong. The text doesn't follows the First Folio Edition of _Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies_ and there it is "poore mans Contumely" where "poore" has nothing to do with "poor", but is a short for "power" or "powerful". Also it is "Who would theſe Fardles beare".

[@inessamaria2428]

so great

[@AJBernard]

I regret that I have but one "Like" to give to this video.

[@MarttiSuomivuori]

lovely!

[@benjaminhoffman3848]

I am really glad that modern English speakers can still read and even listen to Shakespeare and understand it!

[@CianDub]

It's an interesting mix of modern Irish, Scottish, and West Country accents

[@GeorgeTSLC]

The mix is in what survived from what was the same back then. London pronunciation then wasn't the same as contemporary Irish, Scottish, or West Country accents.

[@guyfroml]

I agree with what I have heard Ben say in other videos that there is something of a "pirate" sound to OP. In one video where he speaks OP to the opening of Romeo and Juliet, he sounds like Geoffrey Rush with his character of Captain Balboa in Pirates of the Caribbean. Very fascinating!

[@annarichter6196]

Bravo!

[@NA-or7nd]

so frankly, everyone back in the day sounded a lot like a Lancashire man trying to do West Country accent? But well a lot less exaggerated. It does make a lot of sense though as the North of England preserves a lot of the old sounds i.e. luck sounds a lot more like RP 'look' and the West Country (and Ireland and America) preserve the final 'r'. I'd be interested in the difference of performing in OP and just a straight out Devonshire or Bristollian i.e. West Country accent.

[@drrd4127]

Probably, the Scots tongue in Scotland has the most sounds coming from old/middle English which makes sense because it is the furtherest away from London and therefore, the futherest away from the Norman conquest and the great vowel shift. Here some examples (written how it is pronounced): Scots. Old/Middle Eng. Mod Eng. Hoose Hoose. House Oot. Oout out Oor. Oor Our Mooth. Mooth. Mouth Coo. Coo cow Feart. afear'd. Afraid Noo. Noo. Now Ane. Ane. One Twa. Twa. Two Nicht. Nicht. Night Broon. Broon. Brown Aye. Aye. Yes Ye. Ye. You Moose. Moose. Mouse Toon. Toon. Town And the list goes on and on.... Can you see the Great Vowel shift that occurred during the Norman (French) invasion? "Oo" sounds become "ou" and "ow" sounds, that's why in English the pronunciation doesn't match the spelling because of the great vowel shift.

[@janegeland7596]

So, the way that Stewie Griffin, from Family Guy, pronounces 'whip' is actually the way that it used to be pronounced?

[@shakespeareontoast]

:-D yup

[@Locahaskatexu]

It's a beautiful and lyrical usage of English :)

[@conordrake2986]

It's the voiceless labialized velar approximant if you're interested :)

[@janegeland7596]

Conor Drake Ooh, that's very fancy! Thank you for telling me!

[@columbus8myhw]

On the other hand, the normal 'w' is the _voiced_ labialized velar approximant.

[@EastEndBen]

very good, and I'm intrigued by this and the Southern-US actors delivering speeches to know the origins of this-how actors know that this (and the Confederate state accents) are close to or exactly that of Shakespeare's time (I'm not doubting it, I just want to know more)

[@narminagasimova1952]

'Tis good!