Hamlet: 'To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question' 'To be or not to be, that is the question' is the most famous soliloquy in the works of Shakespeare – quite possibly the most famous soliloquy in literature.
The soliloquy is essentially all about life and death: "To be or not to be" means "To live or not to live" (or "To live or to die"). Hamlet discusses how painful and miserable human life is, and how death (specifically suicide) would be preferable, would it not be for the fearful uncertainty of what comes after death.
In the opening lines of the soliloquy, Hamlet asks whether it is better to 'be or not to be', meaning to live or to die. On its face, this might sound like a simple question: most people would say that it is better, or 'nobler in the mind' to live.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. That one may smile and smile and be a villain. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.
''The rest is silence'' are the last words of Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play by the same name. The poignant phrase has gained a life far beyond the play, often being used to comment on the conclusion of dramatic or tragic events. In context, they respond to Hamlet's--and the play's--preoccupation with death.
"To be, or not to be" is the opening phrase of a soliloquy given by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, weighing the pain and unfairness of life against the alternative, which might be worse.
Does Hamlet consider suicide? When Hamlet asks “To be or not to be?”, he is asking himself whether it is better to be alive—and suffer what life offers—or to be dead by one's own hand and end the suffering.
However, a key theme is that indecision leads to personal tragedy, as Hamlet's inability to take decisive action ultimately results in many of the characters dying, including himself.
Shakespeare's message about revenge in Hamlet is a complex one. In Hamlet's case, he felt he had a moral obligation to avenge his father's death. However, as Shakespeare demonstrates, the path of vengeance is a messy one with destructive repercussions and often takes many innocent lives in the process.
Mortality. The weight of one's mortality and the complexities of life and death are introduced from the beginning of Hamlet. In the wake of his father's death, Hamlet can't stop pondering and considering the meaning of life — and its eventual ending.
Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well.
While she lives in the same patriarchal society that demands that she subjugate herself to her father and her brother until she is married, Ophelia has fallen in love with Prince Hamlet.
Hamlet's final line is to his friend Horatio. Hamlet says, "The rest is silence." Hamlet tells this to Horatio as he is dying and after Gertrude, Laertes, and Claudius have all died.
The opening line by the characters in Hamlet is, “Who's there?”This itself is a great question in the context of the play and the western literature. This is also a question of identity asking, “Who am I?” and “Who are you?” And the answer only increases the puzzle when it is said, “Nay, answer me.
The very first words that Hamlet speaks are 'Aside', to us rather than the people around him, his spitting embittered A little more than kin and less than kind. He is still in mourning clothes, standing out in the celebrating court scene marking Claudius's ascension to power.
The 'To be or not to be' soliloquy is 33 lines long, and consists of 262 words. Hamlet, the play in which 'to be or not to be' occurs is Shakespeare's longest play with 4,042 lines. It takes four hours to perform Hamlet on the stage, with the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy taking anywhere from two to four minutes.
And Horatio, in his loyalty to Hamlet, agrees to forego his own death to complete the one final request his friend has made of him.
Therefore, one of the leading themes of Hamlet is doubt. There are two main issues that the protagonist cannot decide upon: whether to kill Claudius and avenge his father; whether to commit suicide and escape the problem.
Freud proposes that Hamlet is unable to make up his mind to kill Claudius owing to his own Oedipus Complex the repressed but continuing presence in the adult's unconscious, of the male infant's desire to possess his mother and do away with his rival, the father.
Despite the evidence that Hamlet actually is mad, we also see substantial evidence that he is just pretending. The most obvious evidence is that Hamlet himself says he is going to pretend to be mad, suggesting he is at least sane enough to be able to tell the difference between disordered and rational behavior.
"Hamlet is Shakespeare's greatest play because, while the play showcases the struggles of Danish royals, what Shakespeare has really written about are the core elements that drive all of us: grief, betrayal, love (or the lack thereof) and family.
Hamlet seems to be paralysed by all of his over-thinking. He rarely knows which way to turn. He absolutely defines himself by inaction – a life of contemplation, a life of philosophy, the life of the mind. Then he is given this task, this enormous task of avenging his father's death.