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"To Be or Not to Be" Essay
In the beginning of act 3, scene 1 Hamlet is thinking if it is better to be dead or alive: “To be, or not to be: that is the question”. Hamlet is overthinking what it means to die and what are the consequences because no one before has died and came back to life to tell what it feels like to die. With him overthinking about dying makes him get fear at the idea of death. Hamlet feels that if he were to contemplate suicide all his pain, misery, and problems would go away. That basically everything that has been difficult for him and what he has had to put up with during his lifetime. Hamlet
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The symbolism used in this version of Hamlet’s soliloquy is the coffin represents something else. The coffin that is in the scene when Hamlet is saying his famous soliloquy represents death and it also represents Hamlet’s problems in life. In the beginning of act 3, scene 1 Hamlet is asking himself why should anyone go through life’s struggles “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” (Shakespeare 129) What this quote is try to emphasize why should anybody tolerate all the things that happen in life. Most people wouldn’t be able to take it and basically for them it is the easy way to commit suicide because they are blinded. They aren’t able to see the good things in life because they are always so negative, they are always looking for the negative things before actually doing something. The coffin represents all Hamlet’s problems in life due to the fact when you have negative things going on your life you put them all together and that’s what brings you
From the appearance of the Ghost at the start of the play to its bloody conclusion, Hamlet is pervaded with the notion of death. What better site for a comic interlude than a graveyard? However, this scene is not merely a bit of comic relief. Hamlet's encounter with the gravedigger serves as a forum for Shakespeare to elaborate on the nature of death and as a turning point in Hamlet's character. The structure and changing mood of the encounter serve to move Hamlet and the audience closer to the realization that death is inevitable and universal.
The interpretation of Hamlet’s, To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, from the Shakespearean classic of the same name, is an important part of the way that the audience understands an interpretation of the play. Although the words are the same, the scene is presented by the actors who portray Hamlet can vary between versions of the play. These differences no matter how seemingly miniscule affect the way in which someone watching the play connects with the title character.
Hamlet is self centered and irrational throughout most of the play. He goes through various stages of suicidal thoughts that all revolve around a multitude of selfish reasons because he can not deal with his problems. His outbursts, mood swings, and constantly changing character have led to a multitude of reasons for his decisions to not kill himself. Think of this, it is much easier to die for a cause than to live for a cause, and yet all Hamlet wants to do is take the easy way out. There are three major soliloquies that Hamlet has that prove as major turning points of his emotions. Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts ring loud and clear for most of the play, however they do change constantly and play key pieces that provide well written and thought provoking soliques.
This famous soliloquy offers a dark and deep contemplation of the nature of life and death. Hamlet’s contemplative, philosophical, and angry tones demonstrate the emotions all people feel throughout their lifetimes.
He realizes the commonness of death and the value of life itself. He begins to ponder his own mortality and destined fate. While it is quite a morbid outlook on the matter, it does reveal the truth to Hamlet and forces him to take a more humorous toll on the matter.
Here, Hamlet really gets a feel for death. You can tell his emotions are sad and sorrowful by his reaction to finding the skull. He says “he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it”. That line shows his emotions of finding the skull as “abhorred”, which is a synonym of hate.
In Hamlet, Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death, but wonders whether the struggle of living and carrying through with his plans is worth the hardships, or if death is a better option. Shakespeare writes a soliloquy where Hamlet discusses with himself whether he should live or die. Shakespeare discusses the idea of suicide through metaphors, rhetorical questions, and repetition until Hamlet decides that he is too afraid of death to commit suicide.
In his “To be or not to be” soliloquy Hamlet notes, “To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there’s the rub,/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (III.i.66-67). He wants to stop living in his terrible, twisted reality but the fact that he is not entirely sure that the afterlife will be better or worse keeps him entangled in his indecisive mess. Because his poor decision skills and his inactive nature keep him from going through with death, Hamlet begins to fantasize about death and its effects on people and time. When Hamlet returns from his voyage to England, he sees a gravedigger in the midst of digging a grave and has an in-depth conversation with the man about death. When Hamlet says, “[...] see’t.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.
Hamlet although he believes that suffering must be endured or battled, he also understands that suffering is optional and that suffering is caused from pain and all pain can be relieved. At times Hamlet no longer sees the point of bearing the huge burden of suffering as he does, but rather to end the burden through suicide. These thoughts are however based or can be linked back to Hamlet’s emotion and how his negative emotions overcome his logical thinking. We see however Hamlet’s ability to think logically and understand the reasoning behind suffering and the preciousness of his life. At this point in the play Hamlet no longer doubts his meaning in life, this is quite pivotal because this then allows him the confidence and power to seek revenge on Claudius.
Death threads its way through the entirety of Hamlet, from the opening scene’s confrontation with a dead man’s ghost to the blood bath of the final scene, which occurs as a result of the disruption of the natural order of Denmark. Hamlet is a man with suicidal tendencies which goes against his Christian beliefs as he is focused on the past rather than the future, which causes him to fall into the trap of inaction on his path of revenge. Hamlet’s moral dilemma stems from the ghost’s appearance as “a spirit of health or a goblin damned”, making Hamlet decide whether it brings with...
When we are young we don’t realize that yet. We are not afraid of death, we are just curious about it. Then as we get older—later adulthood—we fear death because we have no idea what will happen when we die. We don’t know what happens when we die and that scares us. Humans naturally fear the unknown, Hamlet knows this and is thinking about it, understanding that some people choose to deal with the hardships of their life because they are afraid that death will not be the way they want it to
Hopefully, this gave you a little more insight on what the play Hamlet holds. Suicide is one of the major themes throughout this play. Hamlet contemplates suicide many of times, and continues to constantly ask himself if he really has any reason to live. Hamlet has a very wide range of emotions; he becomes angry with things and situations, and tries to look for escapes. We all know that no matter what you have going on in life, that there must be at least one thing
Hamlet’s anger and grief- primarily stemming from his mother’s marriage to Claudius- brings him to thoughts of suicide, which only subside as a result of it being a mortal and religious sin. The fact that he wants to take his own life demonstrates a weakness in his character; a sense of cowarness, his decision not to kill himself because of religious beliefs shows that this weakness is balanced with some sense of morality. Such an obvious paradox is only one example of the inner conflict and turmoil that will eventually lead to Hamlet’s downfall.
The third soliloquy begins on page 103 in a room in the castle after we had just witnessed between the Queen, Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlets childhood friends Roserncrantz, and Guildenstern. Claudius has asked Hamlets child hood friends to spy on him and report back to him to tell him what Hamlet is planing and thinking. After they all exit Hamlet enters and starts philosophizing and contemplating. “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”. (pg. 103 Shakespeare) Here Hamlet is describing suicide. He is comparing death to a eternal sleep. To end his troubles by just turning his sword against himself and ending all of his troubles. He makes the idea of death seem so simple here by comparing it to just a sleep. We all s...