To be, or not
to be, that is the question.
Is it nobler in the mind to suffer
The
slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to fight against a sea of
troubles,
And end them by
fighting?
In this soliloquy,
Hamlet is questioning whether it is more noble to suffer in his mind for the murderous
deed done by his Uncle Claudius or should he fight Claudius? Hamlet is questioning
whether he should just suffer mentally, knowing his Uncle Claudius has murdered his
father or should he fight Claudius and end his suffering? That is the question--to be or
not to be?
Then again, Hamlet talks of death or sleep which
is in reference to eternal sleep:
To die, to sleep,
Nothing more, and by
sleeping, to be able to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural
shocks
That the body gets as part of life is an ending
To be wished
for very earnestly. To die, to sleep,
To
sleep!
Here, Hamlet is
wishing for death to end his suffering. If only he could go to sleep eternally, his
suffering would be over. To sleep the eternal sleep would end his misery. He is so
filled with suffering and misery until he wishes not to
live.
But if he should sleep, he could possibly dream. Here
he is worried about the dreams of death. Perhaps, they are filled with horror and then
death would be no better than life. Hamlet is indeed in a terrible predicament. To be or
not to be is his question. Then when he answers himself, he is worried that his
suffering will never end, not even in death.
Perhaps to dream. Yes, there's the
catch,
For what dreams may come in that sleep of death,
When we have
left this life on earth,
Must make us stop. There's the respect
That
makes a mess of long
life,
Clearly, Hamlet is in
turmoil. To live or not to live is similar to what he is asking. To live is filled with
suffering. To die may not be better. Hamlet is torn with questions. There seems to be no
answer or end to his suffering.
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