Within in the third act
of Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet”, the main character, Hamlet, contemplates
suicide following outrageous events in the previous acts. This famous
soliloquy, “To be or Not to be”, displays Hamlet’s inner confliction on living
and dying, and whether it is in his best interest to be dead versus alive.
Whether ‘tis nobler” to
put up with life’s hardships, and all that lady luck throws ill in his
direction, is, in short, the question. Hamlet then juxtaposes dying and
sleeping “To die, to sleep”. By this, he means that there is no difference.
Dying is an indefinite form of sleeping; dreams occur once the dead have
reached the afterlife. This is where uncertainty begins to prevail. To convince
himself of not being, he states “For who would bear the whips and scorns of
time. Th’ oppressor’s wrong.” Who would put up with the difficulties of life,
the corruption and misconduct from leaders, and those that are superior? Who
would deal with heart break, “insolence of office” and so on?
Again, swaying back and
forth the idea of both life and death, Hamlet thinks positively. “But that the
dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn No
traveler returns.” Essentially, the young prince exhibits his fear for the
unknown. His father, in act 1, describes (whether out loud, or to himself) the never
ending trail he walks, from purgatory to earth, day and night. For this very
reason, the end, or the unknown, is terrifying to those that have no indication
of what will happen once death occurs. “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.” The mind it over thinks, makes men afraid, makes them cowards to
their own earth. Deep thought is what ruins the plan; deep thought is why
Hamlet cannot kill himself, he is too afraid of what will occur after death. Hamlet
has officially, after much open thought, decided that is better to live than to
die. Following this part of the speech, Hamlet notices Ophelia arriving, and is
quiet with his thoughts.
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