Shakespeare .....! Again (an essay) .

Act 3 Scene 1: To Be, Or Not To Be (Spoken by Hamlet lines 57- 91)

Act 3 Scene 1: To Be, Or Not To Be (Spoken by Hamlet)
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,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the 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 undiscover'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 pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.


"To Be Or Not To Be" Soliloquy Translation:
The question for him was whether to continue to exist or not, to live or not and to achieve or not – He asks about the proper action (to continue enduring the unbearable situation) or to face the sea of troubles and may be (To die.) He thinks over the scene which he simplified in (To sleep) - as simple as that. He suggested sleeping comfortably as an escape away from (heartbreaks and miseries). That end (comfortably sleeping) is keenly hoped by all of us. He repeated the word to sleep indicating death is no longer than a long asleep. He even said the dead may dream which can make (us) pause and that's the thought that forms the disaster of such a long life. He then, went through different kind of life experiences which produce agonies and sufferings and revealed suicide could be a release from life.
All humans bear this life with its miseries because after life is unexplored and when we think about after life it makes us all cowards. May be the end of the life is hidden behind a desire (enjoying: means gradually dying) just like the great important plans going towards accomplishment means going to stop, eventually.

This soliloquy is very recognizable world wide, firstly, for the notable beginning and secondly, for the impact that it has created. The heated discussions have been on the meaning and the intention (was he speaking about suicide or taking a decision?). Hamlet speaks about death, existence and commitment… His doubtful questioning style leads him to consider death as sleeping comfy. He expresses bitterly the human relationships as if they are all miseries and sufferings. Hamlet, during the soliloquy looks more depressed than ever - as if a heavy decision has been taken and yet, not been announced. He thinks over about after life and deaths’ dreams and hidden desires that cover death. He continues his self argument making sure it is the only way which could lead him to vengeance.

The nature of characters like Hamlet always shows how creative and genius Shakespeare was as a playwright. He used Hamlet’s problems to create series of scenes depending on his soliloquies. Hamlet’s thoughts were not clear although he speaks about many things, his thoughts were not organized, which may mislead the reader about his decisions specially, when to revenge and how. It also, made Hamlet’s character looked very uncertain, cautious and doubtful and to some extent mad enough to commit suicide. Although Hamlet is not mysterious but when it comes to his Soliloquies his spontaneous questions turned into complex, unsolved ones. You may even sense some wisdom and philosophy in them. He worried since the ghost appearance of disbelieve and he worried at the end of who will tell the story to the world. Hamlet character was caught between divine justice and death. Some theories suggest that Hamlet’s Soliloquies are infact Shakespeare’s thoughts and experiences said by Hamlet, if we bear in mind that the events were at the Renaissance time. I think the soliloquies succeeded to draw sympathy and at the same time, admiration of the character of Hamlet. He feels the pain of losing his father along with the burden and hindrances in taking revenge on his father’s killer. There have been a lot of theories about why had Hamlet delayed revenge, the only explanation would be Hamlet has some doubts about the killer, he saw the ghost but he can't be sure if the ghost is good or evil. That would also, solve the mystery of the great amount of questioning and confusion in Hamlet’s soliloquies. He was questioning everyone and everything. The soliloquies did not show the real Hamlet, infact, they show only what was he thinking of, which, in my humble point of view is not enough to expose or discover the inner self of a character or even understand it .






A bibliographic citation:-
1- Hamlet, the Oxford Shakespeare, Oxford University press (1987).
2- Wikipedia.org.
3- (162-164) Hamlet, the oxford Shakespeare.
4- (239-242) Hamlet, the oxford Shakespeare.

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