Annes Newton World Literature
Hamlet Writing Assignemnt
TR4
04/22/2020
"TO BE OR NOT TO BE?"
"To be, or not to be?", opens the famous soliloquy spoken by Prince Hamlet in Act 3 Scene 1 of
the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare. what does this phrase mean? I will first begin
by analyzing this outburst of emotions but before I do so, I will paraphrase it using my own
words for clearer and concise understanding.
To live or to die? Which basically allows your mind to suffer through all the terrible situations
that "life" throws at you or to deal with these troubles by ending one's life? To die is simply to
sleep. We have all heard that when someone dies it is that that they are asleep; we sometimes say
" sleep peacefully" And this sleep ends the heartache and many problems we face while we are
alive. To sleep and never have to worry again is something that most of us wish for. To die is
simply to sleep. To sleep perhaps to dream. But here is the catch, because one does not know
what dreams that occur in death, it makes us nervous. And for this reason, we tolerate the evils of
life for as long as we can because we can't stomach the thought of not knowing what to expect
when we die. Otherwise, who would really bare such evils as the abuse of power, insults from
those who are arrogant, the pain of rejected love, a law system that is inefficient, disrespect from
people who hold official positions, and the advantage that is taken of people with good hearts by
others when one could just end their life simply to be at peace or in a better place. If it was for
not knowing what the afterlife brings and knowing there is no return from death, who would
truly bear the burden of this terrible life. Which is why I beloieve we tend to hold onto the things
we know and show no haste towards the things we do not know. Awareness creates fear, and thus
the urge to end life is often overthrown by our thoughts and we end up not going through with
our initial plan to do so because we are scared.
Additionally, Conflict is viewed upon at the core of this play. At the moment Hamlet voices this
soliloquy, he is facing a number of conflicts and therefore that private moment to himself seemed
necessary. He had just lost his father, the King of Denmark whose name also was Hamlet, the
Dane is thrusted into a state of grief and depression which everyone around him recognizes. His
mother, Queen Gertrude and her newlywed, her widow's brother who now holds ruler of the
throne, King Claudius are seen at the beginning of the play encouraging Hamlet to cut short his
period of mourning and move on. This recent wedding also causes Hamlet great pain as he views
it as direspect to his