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William Shakespeare, Hamlet
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Text on p. 1743 of the full Ninth Edition and p. 1325 of the shorter Ninth Edition.
"To Be, or Not to Be" Soliloquy (3.1.56–90)
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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 heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished—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,
Th' 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 th' 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 undiscovered 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 pitch 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 remembered. |
Reading Questions
Critics and scholars disagree on the subject and general import of the soliloquy. Consider the following questions:
1. Is Hamlet reflecting on the issue of whether he should commit suicide because he cannot face the revenge that he may have to take? If so, then how do we explain the fact that this mood follows his resolution at the end of the last act to take positive action, to use the play within the play "to catch the conscience of the King"? Has Hamlet already contemplated suicide in his first soliloquy ("O that this too too solid flesh would melt," 1.2.129)?
2. Is Hamlet reflecting generally on the advantages and disadvantages of human existence (i.e., given its burdensome nature, is life worth living)? This is the kind of questioning that might spring to the mind of a reflective person such as Hamlet; it would also accord well with the bleakly philosophical mood that he had spoken of with Rosencrantz and Gildenstern in 2.2.270ff: ". . . yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so."
3. Is Hamlet thinking here of the consequences of taking action against Claudius, knowing that if he does, he will surely run a high risk of being killed himself in the process?
4. Is Hamlet simply acting a role for the benefit of the King and Polonius (and/or for Ophelia), whom he could know are listening? Is it possible that he's acting the part of the ineffectual, moody philosopher just to throw the King and Polonius off the track?
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