Tyler Stoltenberg
English 339: Special Topics
Professor Wendy Wall
June 2008
Hamlet Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 168-223
Olivier's Hamlet (1948)
The only line missing from Olivier's version of this scene is "as we have many pocky corses nowadays that will scare hold the laying in" (170-171)
He keeps the rest of the lines in tact and in the correct order. It is a straightforward reading of a modern edition, with the only thing of note being the way Hamlet approaches the grave. He walks up and the audience sees his shadow coming and he stops when the shadow of his head is directly over Yorick's skull. Hamlet becomes Yorick for a moment and we get to see in side his head, much like in the "To be or not to be" scene. This also fits with the style of a more brooding and intellectual Hamlet that Olivier is portraying.
