Hamlet Character Essay - 1198 Words Hamlet Character Essay Please sign up to read full document. Text Preview The Troubled Prince: An Analysis of Hamlet “To be, or not to be: That is the question”(3.1.58). This is probably the most famous quote in all of Shakespearean literature and was uttered by the main character, Hamlet, of the play “Hamlet” written by Shakespeare. It demonstrates his instability and suicidal thoughts. Throughout the play he comes off as a very unpredictable and complex character. He makes many rash decisions, but at the same time often takes a lot of time to contemplate many of his choices. Through Hamlet’s language and voice, we can examine what type of character Shakespeare created. Hamlet acts differently towards people in contrast to his actual thoughts, which are projected through his soliloquies. Due to the insanity caused by his father’s death, Hamlet becomes a very complex and surprising character, which is apparent through Hamlet’s actions and words. The feelings presented by Hamlet in his soliloquies gives insight into his forever-troubled mind.

A soliloquy is when a character in a play says out loud what they are thinking and nobody in the room can hear it. Throughout this story, the majority of the soliloquies were said by Hamlet, who used them to project his deep emotions and feelings that would have never been spoken to other characters. However, they also demonstrated his insanity. The first of these was near the beginning of the story. Hamlet’s father has just died and his uncle has just married his mother, there is much troubling him. Hamlet says, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt” in the first line of his first soliloquy (1.2.129). This immediately shows how dramatic a character Hamlet is and is an example of how he often uses figurative language to present his emotions. In the same soliloquy he says how his father love his mother so much he prevented the “winds of heaven” from blowing on her too hard (1.2.144). In his most famous soliloquy he begins with, “to be, or not to be” he ironically uses the most basic words... Please sign up to read full document.

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1028 Words | 3 Pages 'To Be Or Not To Be': Hamlet Soliloquy Translation & Facts You are here: Home / Shakespeare Quotes / ‘To Be Or Not To Be’: Hamlet’s Soliloquy To be or not to be – original text, translation, analysis, facts and performances ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. Read Hamlet’s famous soliloquy by Shakespeare below, along with a modern translation and explanation of what ‘To be or not to be’ is about. We’ve also pulled together a bunch of facts about the famous soliloquy, and have the 5 most famous film performances of ‘to be or not to be’. ‘To be or not to be’ is the most famous soliloquy in the works of Shakespeare – probably, even, the most famous soliloquy anywhere. That is partly because the opening words are so interesting, memorable and intriguing but also because Shakespeare ranges around several cultures and practices to borrow the language for his images, and because he’s dealing here with profound concepts, putting complex philosophical ideas into the mouth of a character on a stage, communicating with an audience with a wide range of educational levels.

‘To Be Or Not To Be’: Original Words Spoken by Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1 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 heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. 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, The 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 the 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 undiscover’d 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 pith 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 remember’d. ‘To Be Or Not To Be’: Translation The below translation into modern English of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy is taken from the NoSweatShakespeare Hamlet ebook : “The question for him was whether to continue to exist or not – whether it was more noble to suffer the slings and arrows of an unbearable situation, or to declare war on the sea of troubles that afflict one, and by opposing them, end them. To die. He pondered the prospect. To sleep – as simple as that.

And with that sleep we end the heartaches and the thousand natural miseries that human beings have to endure. It’s an end that we would all ardently hope for. To die. To sleep. To sleep. Perhaps to dream. Yes, that was the problem, because in that sleep of death the dreams we might have when we have shed this mortal body must make us pause. That’s the consideration that creates the calamity of such a long life. Because, who would tolerate the whips and scorns of time; the tyrant’s offences against us; the contempt of proud men; the pain of rejected love; the insolence of officious authority; and the advantage that the worst people take of the best, when one could just release oneself with a naked blade? Who would carry this load, sweating and grunting under the burden of a weary life if it weren’t for the dread of the after life – that unexplored country from whose border no traveller returns? That’s the thing that confounds us and makes us put up with those evils that we know rather than hurry to others that we don’t know about.

So thinking about it makes cowards of us all, and it follows that the first impulse to end our life is obscured by reflecting on it. And great and important plans are diluted to the point where we don’t do anything.” What do you think of the modern translation of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy above? Let us know in the comments below. ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ An Analysis of Shakespeare’s Most Famous Soliloquy The first six words of the soliloquy establish a balance. There is a direct opposition – to be, or not to be. Hamlet is thinking about life and death and pondering a state of being versus a state of not being – being alive and being dead. The balance continues with a consideration of the way one deals with life and death. Life is a lack of power: the living are at the mercy of the blows of outrageous fortune. The only action one can take against the things he lists among those blows is to end one’s life. That’s the only way of opposing them. Death is therefore empowering: killing oneself is a way of taking action, taking up arms, opposing and defeating the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Living is a passive state; dying is an active state. But in order to reach the condition of death one has to take action in life – charge fully armed against Fortune – so the whole proposition is circular and hopeless because one does not really have the power of action in life. Death is something desirable – devoutly to be wished, a consummation – a perfect closure. It’s nothing more than a sleep. But there’s a catch, which Hamlet calls a rub. A ‘rub’ is a bowls term meaning an obstacle on the bowls lawn that diverts the bowl, so the fear of the life hereafter is the obstacle that makes us pause and perhaps change the direction of our thinking. We don’t control our dreams so what dreams may come in that sleep in which we have shuffled off all the fuss and bother of life? He uses the word ‘coil,’ which is an Elizabethan word for a big fuss, such as there may be in the preparations for a party or a wedding – a lot of things going on and a lot of rushing about. With that thought Hamlet stops to reconsider. What will happen when we have discarded all the hustle and bustle of life?

The problem with the proposition is that life after death is unknown and could be worse than life. It’s a very frightening thought. That’s the obstacle on the lawn and it diverts his thoughts to another direction. And now Hamlet reflects on a final end. A ‘quietus’ is a legal word meaning a final definitive end to an argument. He opposes this Latin word against the Celtic ‘sweating’ and ‘grunting’ of a living person as an Arab beneath an overwhelmingly heavy load – a fardel, the load carried by a camel. Who would bear that when he could just draw a line under life with something as simple as a knitting needle – a bodkin? It’s quite a big thought and it’s fascinating that this enormous act – drawing a line under life – can be done with something as simple as a knitting needle. And how easy that seems. Hamlet now lets his imagination wander on the subject of the voyages of discovery and the exploratory expeditions. Dying is like crossing the border between known and unknown geography. One is likely to be lost in that unmapped place, from which one would never return. The implication is that there may be unimagined horrors in that land.

Hamlet now seems to make a decision. He makes the profound judgment that ‘conscience does make cowards of us all,’ This sentence is probably the most important one in the soliloquy. There is a religious dimension to it as it is a sin to take one’s life. So with that added dimension the fear of the unknown after death is intensified. But there is more to it than that. It is not just about killing himself but also about the mission he is on – to avenge his father’s death by killing his father’s murderer. Throughout the action of the play he makes excuses for not killing him and turns away when he has the chance. ‘Conscience does make cowards of us all.’ Convention demands that he kill Claudius but murder is a sin and that conflict is the core of the play. At the end of the soliloquy he pulls himself out of this reflective mode by deciding that too much thinking about it is the thing that will prevent the action he has to rise to. This is not entirely a moment of possible suicide. It’s not that he’s contemplating suicide as much as reflecting on life, and we find that theme all through the text.

In this soliloquy life is burdensome and devoid of power. In another it’s ‘weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,’ like a garden overrun with weeds. In this soliloquy Hamlet gives a list of all the things that annoy him about life: the whips and scorns of time, the 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 the unworthy takes. But there’s a sense of agonised frustration in this soliloquy that however bad life is we’re prevented from doing anything about it by fear of the unknown. Facts About ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ 1. The first performance of Hamlet was by the King’s Men at the Globe theatre between 1600 and 1601. 2. The first actor to perform the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy was Richard Burbage (1567-1619), the famous Elizabethan tragic actor, for whom Shakespeare wrote most of his tragic roles. 3.

The first American performance of ‘to be or not to be’ was by Lewis Hallam, who played Hamlet in The American Company’s production of the play in Philadelphia in 1759. 4. The ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy is 33 lines long, and consists of 262 words. Hamlet, the play in which ‘to be or not to be’ occurs is Shakespeare’s longest play with 4,042 lines. 5. It takes four hours to perform Hamlet on the stage, with the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy taking anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes. 6. There is evidence that William Shakespeare played the ghost of Hamlet’s father in the play. 7. Hamlet is the most frequently performed play around the world. It has been calculated that a performance begins somewhere in the world every minute of every day. 8. Edwin Booth, the older brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin , performed ‘to be or not to be’ for one hundred nights in his role of Hamlet at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, in the 1864/65 season. 9.

The castle, Elsinor, where ‘to be or not to be’ is spoken, really exists. It is called Kronborg Castle and is in the Danish port of Helsingør. It was built in 1423 by the Danish king, Eric of Pomerania. 10. The opening line of the soliloquy, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question,’ is the most searched for Shakespeare quote on the internet. 11. More than 200 women have performed ‘to be or not to be’ in the role of Hamlet on the professional stage. 12. The first woman to have performed ‘to be or not to be’ on the stage was Sarah Siddons, the toast of Dury Lane, and famous in her time for her Lady Macbeth. She first played Hamlet in 1776. 13. The ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy has appeared in over 50 film adaptations of Hamlet since 1900. 14. The storyline of Disney film The Lion King is based on Hamlet. 15.

Tom Stoppard’s acclaimed play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, features two minor characters in Hamlet. 16. At least two films have been named after quotes from the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy – 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (line 24, “The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn“) and 1998’s What Dreams May Come (line 11 “For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come“) 17. In a 1963 debate in Oxford, Malcolm X quoted the first few lines of the ‘to be or not to be’ to make a point about “extremism in defence of liberty.” Any ‘to be or not to be’ facts we’re missing? Let us know in the comments below. Classic Film Performances of ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ Soliloquy As per the above facts, there have been over 50 film adaptations of Hamlet, featuring some of the world’s finest actors.

Below in no particular order) we’ve picked out five of the top performances of Shakespeare’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy from the silver screen: Lawrence Olivier (1948) Soliloquy - definition of soliloquy by The Free Dictionary Soliloquy - definition of soliloquy by The Free Dictionary n. pl. so·lil·o·quies 1. a. A monologue in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts when alone or unaware of the presence of other characters. b. A specific speech or piece of writing in this form. 2. The act of speaking to oneself. [Late Latin sōliloquium : Latin sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Latin loquī, to speak; see tolkw- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] soliloquy 1. (Theatre) the act of speaking alone or to oneself, esp as a theatrical device 2. (Theatre) a speech in a play that is spoken in soliloquy: Hamlet's first soliloquy.

[C17: via Late Latin sōliloquium, from Latin sōlus sole + loquī to speak] Usage: Soliloquy is sometimes wrongly used where monologue is meant. Both words refer to a long speech by one person, but a monologue can be addressed to other people, whereas in a soliloquy the speaker is always talking to himself or herself so•lil•o•quy (səˈlɪl ə kwi) n., pl. -quies. 1. a speech in a drama in which a character, alone or as if alone, discloses innermost thoughts. 2. the act of talking while or as if alone. [1595–1605; < Late Latin sōliloquium= Latin sōl(us) only, sole 1 + loqu(ī) to speak] soliloquy 1. the act or custom of talking to oneself or talking when alone. 2. Drama, a speech in which a character reveals his thoughts to the audience but not to other characters in the play. — soliloquist, n. 1. the killing of oneself. 2. a person who has killed himself.

— suicidal, adj. See also: Self a speech in which a character reveals his thoughts to the audience but not to other characters in the play. — soliloquist, n. See also: Drama soliloquy A speech supposedly unheard by the other actors in which the character confides their innermost thoughts to the audience. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: SparkNotes: Hamlet: Study Questions & Essay Topics Study Questions & Essay Topics Quiz Study Questions 1. Shakespeare includes characters in Hamlet who are obvious foils for Hamlet, including, most obviously, Horatio, Fortinbras, Claudius, and Laertes. Compare and contrast Hamlet with each of these characters. How are they alike? How are they different? How does each respond to the crises with which he is faced? Horatio’s steadfastness and loyalty contrasts with Hamlet’s variability and excitability, though both share a love of learning, reason, and thought. Claudius’s willingness to disregard all moral law and act decisively to fulfill his appetites and lust for power contrasts powerfully with Hamlet’s concern for morality and indecisive inability to act.

Fortinbras’s willingness to go to great lengths to avenge his father’s death, even to the point of waging war, contrasts sharply with Hamlet’s inactivity, even though both of them are concerned with avenging their fathers. Laertes’ single-minded, furious desire to avenge Polonius stands in stark opposition to Hamlet’s inactivity with regard to his own father’s death. Finally, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are all in a position to seek revenge for the murders of their fathers, and their situations are deeply intertwined. Hamlet’s father killed Fortinbras’s father, and Hamlet killed Laertes’ father, meaning that Hamlet occupies the same role for Laertes as Claudius does for Hamlet. 2. Many critics take a deterministic view of Hamlet’s plot, arguing that the prince’s inability to act and tendency toward melancholy reflection is a “tragic flaw” that leads inevitably to his demise. Is this an accurate way of understanding the play? Why or why not? Given Hamlet’s character and situation, would another outcome of the play have been possible? The idea of the “tragic flaw” is a problematic one in Hamlet.

It is true that Hamlet possesses definable characteristics that, by shaping his behavior, contribute to his tragic fate. But to argue that his tragedy is inevitable because he possesses these characteristics is difficult to prove. Given a scenario and a description of the characters involved, it is highly unlikely that anyone who had not read or seen Hamlet would be able to predict its ending based solely on the character of its hero. In fact, the play’s chaotic train of events suggests that human beings are forced to make choices whose consequences are unforeseeable as well as unavoidable. To argue that the play’s outcome is intended to appear inevitable seems incompatible with the thematic claims made by the play itself. 3. Throughout the play, Hamlet claims to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and so convincing that many readers believe that Hamlet actually slips into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this is true, or is Hamlet merely play-acting insanity? What evidence can you cite for either claim? At any given moment during the play, the most accurate assessment of Hamlet’s state of mind probably lies somewhere between sanity and insanity.

Hamlet certainly displays a high degree of mania and instability throughout much of the play, but his “madness” is perhaps too purposeful and pointed for us to conclude that he actually loses his mind. His language is erratic and wild, but beneath his mad-sounding words often lie acute observations that show the sane mind working bitterly beneath the surface. Most likely, Hamlet’s decision to feign madness is a sane one, taken to confuse his enemies and hide his intentions. On the other hand, Hamlet finds himself in a unique and traumatic situation, one which calls into question the basic truths and ideals of his life. He can no longer believe in religion, which has failed his father and doomed him to life amid miserable experience. He can no longer trust society, which is full of hypocrisy and violence, nor love, which has been poisoned by his mother’s betrayal of his father’s memory. And, finally, he cannot turn to philosophy, which cannot explain ghosts or answer his moral questions and lead him to action. With this much discord in his mind, and already under the extraordinary pressure of grief from his father’s death, his mother’s marriage, and the responsibility bequeathed to him by the ghost, Hamlet is understandably distraught.

He may not be mad, but he likely is close to the edge of sanity during many of the most intense moments in the play, such as during the performance of the play-within-a-play (III.ii), his confrontation with Ophelia (III.i), and his long confrontation with his mother (III.iv). Suggested Essay Topics 1. Think about Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia. Does he love her? Does he stop loving her? Did he ever love her? What evidence can you find in the play to support your opinion? 2. Consider Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s role in the play. Why might Shakespeare have created characters like this? Are they there for comic relief, or do they serve a more serious purpose? Why does the news of their deaths come only after the deaths of the royal family in Act V, as if this news were not anticlimactic? Is it acceptable for Hamlet to treat them as he does? Why or why not? 3. Analyze the use of descriptions and images in Hamlet. How does Shakespeare use descriptive language to enhance the visual possibilities of a stage production? How does he use imagery to create a mood of tension, suspense, fear, and despair? 4.

Analyze the use of comedy in Hamlet, paying particular attention to the gravediggers, Osric, and Polonius. Does comedy serve merely to relieve the tension of the tragedy, or do the comic scenes serve a more serious thematic purpose as well? 5. Suicide is an important theme in Hamlet. Discuss how the play treats the idea of suicide morally, religiously, and aesthetically, with particular attention to Hamlet’s two important statements about suicide: the “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” soliloquy (I.ii.129–158) and the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (III.i.56–88). Why does Hamlet believe that, although capable of suicide, most human beings choose to live, despite the cruelty, pain, and injustice of the world? More Help Soliloquies Essay - Critical Essays - eNotes.com Soliloquies Essay - Critical Essays link Link Soliloquies Dramatic soliloquies are generally understood to be words spoken by a character who is alone on stage or seems to be speaking private thoughts aloud.

Yet there are many instances of overheard soliloquies in Shakespeare, in which the character may or may not be aware of other characters who are nearby but concealed from the speaker. Soliloquies are often viewed as a dramatist's way of informing the theater audience about subtleties in the dramatic action or a character's motivation. However, critics invariably emphasize that evaluations of Shakespeare's soliloquies must take into account their dramatic context: while they may be viewed as a means of developing themes and characterization, they should not always be taken at face value—that is, as forthright expressions of what the dramatist intended his audience to infer about the character speaking them. Maurice Charney (1989) asserts that most soliloquies and asides do not “provide a window into the souls of the characters.” A major critical issue is whether soliloquies should be regarded as interior monologues or exterior addresses spoken to an onstage audience, if one exists, or to the theater audience. This is, of course, a crucial question for actors and directors.

The most celebrated—and arguably the most discussed—soliloquy in English literature is Hamlet's “To be, or not to be” speech (III.i). Linwood E. Orange (1965) views it as Hamlet's attempt to convince Claudius and Polonius (who are overhearing his words) that he is truly mad and contemplating suicide. James Hirsh (see Further Reading) also claims that the “To be” soliloquy is not an interior monologue; the critic emphasizes the impersonality of its first section and regards it as an instance in which the speaker knows he is being overheard and uses his words to mislead the eavesdroppers into believing that he does not intend to exact vengeance for the murder of his father. Like Orange and Hirsh, Edna Zwick Boris (see Further Reading) judges this speech to be “a staged soliloquy”; Boris argues that Hamlet is fully aware that he is being observed and overheard, and that the speech is primarily directed to Claudius.

Harold Jenkins (1989) outlines various stages of Hamlet's argument in this speech, from consideration of the alternatives of relief from “the pains of living” to “fear of the unknown.” For Jenkins, the soliloquy is an impersonal debate: the prince's search for a resolution of a universal conflict. Analyzing the juxtaposition of philosophy and religion in this soliloquy, Arieh Sachs (see Further Reading) describes Hamlet here as a “would-be Stoic” who is essentially a Christian. Like Sachs, Francesca Bugliani (see Further Reading) interprets the speech as an expression of Hamlet's doubts about Stoicism, and whether rationality and imperturbability are preferable to passion. During the course of the play, Hamlet has six other extended monologues. In a book that focuses on the way eleven different twentieth-century actors delivered Hamlet's soliloquies, Mary Z. Maher (1992) remarks that directors and performers have frequently interpreted these passages as attempts to woo the audience, to establish ties with it that will turn playgoers into collaborators or, at least, sympathetic judges.

James Cameron Andrews (see Further Reading) links Hamlet's soliloquy in I.ii (“O that this too too sallied flesh would melt”) with the monologue in I.v that begins “O all you host of heaven.” Andrews calls attention to the association of “foul play” in the second soliloquy with Hamlet's suspicions regarding his mother's sexual misconduct expressed in the first. W. Schrickx (see Further Reading) connects Hamlet's “O all you host of heaven” soliloquy to the theme of revenge, asserting that in this speech the prince takes on the burden of avenging his father's death, even though his religious beliefs incline him to leave vengeance to divine providence. Stephen Booth (see Further Reading, 2002) offers a close reading of the “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” soliloquy at the close of Act II, scene ii. Booth emphasizes the complexity of this speech, its lack of clarity, and the richness of its language.

Both Fredson Bowers (1962) and Maurice Charney (1977) evaluate Hamlet's monologue in Act III, scene ii that follows the dumb show of “The Murder of Gonzago” and which begins “'Tis now the very witching time of night.” Bowers argues that the function of this speech is to inform the audience that Hamlet's confrontation with Gertrude in the following scene is linked to his hope that he can make his mother see the incestuous nature of her marriage to Claudius. Charney similarly associates this soliloquy with the closet scene (III.iv), but in contrast to Bowers, he argues that the speech demonstrates that Hamlet has become so contaminated by the idea of revenge that his attitude toward his mother is dominated by cruelty and thoughts of matricide. Gideon Rappaport (1987) analyzes Hamlet's “Now might I do it pat” soliloquy (III.iii), as Claudius kneels in an attempt to pray.

Emphasizing the importance of reading this passage in relation to its dramatic context, the critic contrasts Hamlet's apparent rationality here with the prince's corruption and descent into evil as he struggles to determine how to pursue an ethical course of action in a universe that is “morally complex.” Anthony J. Gilbert (1995) assesses Hamlet's “How all occasions do inform against me” soliloquy (IV.iv) with respect to the question of whether dramatic soliloquies, Shakespeare's and others', represent moments of truth telling. Gilbert calls attention to what he regards as Hamlet's evasive, ambiguous language in this passage, concluding that the speech demonstrates that “Hamlet is incapable of knowing why he does not act.” Ralph Berry (1989) argues that a principal function of Hamlet's soliloquies is to impose “his viewpoint upon the audience” by speaking to it directly, as if its members were psychological counselors or analysts.

Both Berry and Rappaport address the question of why Hamlet has no monologues in Act V; their conclusions are similar: the absence of externalized complaints signals that by this point in the play the prince has matured, finally acknowledging his responsibility to take action. Commentary on soliloquies in other Shakespearean tragedies include evaluations of those spoken by Macbeth, Othello, and Juliet. Horst Breuer (see Further Reading), S. S. Hussey (1982), and Gilbert bring different perspectives to bear on Macbeth's monologues. Breuer analyzes the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech (V.v) with reference to medieval and Renaissance concepts of time; in the Middle Ages, the critic argues, time was a symbol of order and stability, but in the early modern era time is disorderly and fragmented. In Breuer's judgment, a large measure of the despair and alienation Macbeth expresses in this soliloquy is related to a loss of identity and a hopeless view of the future.

In an essay on the development of Shakespeare's soliloquies, Hussey discusses several of Macbeth's, with particular attention to the rhythm and rhetoric of the first, which begins “This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill, cannot be good” (I.iii), and the second, “If it were done when 'tis done” (I.viii). By contrast, Gilbert focuses on this second soliloquy, reading it as a disclosure of Macbeth's “desperate search for security” but also as evidence of his capacity for honesty and self-knowledge. Gilbert also remarks on Othello's “It is the cause” soliloquy (V.ii), calling attention to its ambiguities and fallacious reasoning, and characterizing these as indications of the Moor's evasion or repression of the truth. James Hirsh (2003) evaluates “implicitly overheard” soliloquies and asides in Romeo and Juliet, assessing them in terms of what he claims were the prevailing dramatic conventions for such speeches at the time the play was written. Similarly concerned with dramatic conventions, Gary M.

McCown (see Further Reading) explicates Juliet's soliloquy at the opening of Act III, scene ii in the context of classical and medieval wedding lyrics; the critic proposes that Shakespeare altered the usual style of such lyrics to achieve a deeper sense of sadness and paradox. Among the historical figures Shakespeare recreated, Richard III is an eminent focus of commentators who study Shakespeare's soliloquies. Lawrence W. Hugenberg, Sr., and Mark J. Schaefermeyer (1983), James Schiffer (2000), and Igor Shaitanov (see Further Reading) offer varying points of view of Richard's monologues. Hugenberg and Schaefermeyer discuss Richard's soliloquies in both Richard III and Henry VI, Part 3, contending that in these speeches he has two audiences: himself and the people witnessing the play. Moreover, the critics assert that the soliloquies serve to disclose Richard's motives, to demonstrate his creation of a self-image, and to establish a bond between Richard and the theater audience.

Contrasting Richard's first soliloquy, “Now is the winter of our discontent” (I.i.), with his last, “O outward conscience, how doest thou afflict me!” (V.iii), Schiffer points out that while the first soliloquy is apparently a direct address to the audience, the last is seemingly an interior monologue. The critic suggests that Richard's increasingly fragmented self, reflected in the last soliloquy, mirrors the audience's divided responses to the king: throughout the play we are drawn to and repelled by his persona. Shaitanov centers his attention on Richard's first soliloquy, especially its semantics. The critic urges readers and audiences to pay close attention to the effect of the repetition of vowel sounds in the speech and to its combination of personal and impersonal tones. Another eminent soliloquist in Shakespeare's history plays is Prince Hal; Dale C. Uhlmann (1984) and Marc Grossman (1995) both evaluate his “I know you all” soliloquy in Act I, scene ii of Henry IV, Part 1.

Uhlmann contends that this speech is a complex argument that moves from the general to the specific, and remarks on its sonnet-like structure as well as its rhetoric. Grossman maintains that the prince's argumentation here is specious, pointing out that the passage should be read or heard with close attention to the circumstances in which Hal delivers it. More Content: Soliloquies (hide) What Does To Be Or Not To Be Mean What Does To Be Or Not To Be Mean Why does Hamlet say "to be or not to be" and what does it mean in Hamlet? Asked on William Delaney | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator Posted on September 2, 2012 at 1:42 PM I think it is entirely possible that Shakespeare wrote the “To be or not to be” soliloquy as a separate piece expressing his own personal feelings about life and death and then put it away in the bottom drawer, as writers will do, until he found a convenient spot for it when he was writing his play Hamlet.

What is important in this soliloquy, and what explains its great popularity, is the truths it tells about human existence, not what it reveals about the character of the moody Prince. We have all personally experienced some of the slings and arrows Hamlet complains about, just by being alive and having to deal with people and struggle to keep a niche in the crowded, competitive world. And we have all felt discouraged and wondered whether existence was really worth the trouble. If we haven’t experienced all the slings and arrows personally, we have seen others suffering and have wondered why some people will continue to cling to life when they get nothing out of it but hard work and suffering. If we live in a city we commonly see people who are totally blind trying to find their way by feeling the pavement with long white canes. We see men sleeping in doorways on the cold concrete. We see men rummaging through dumpsters and trash receptacles trying to gather a few cans and bottles they can sell for enough to live on for one more day. We see all sorts of ugliness and deformity. We see old people hobbling along, hoping to survive just a little bit longer, although they have nobody to care whether they live or die.

Shakespeare itemizes some of the negative aspects of human existence in this soliloquy. They deserve more attention than the worn-out questions of what Hamlet is really thinking about or whether he is really contemplating suicide. We have all personally experienced “the proud man’s contumely,” “the pangs of despised love,” and “the insolence of office” (if only at the Department of Motor Vehicles). Charles Dickens’s novels offer excellent examples of some of the “outrageous fortune” which Hamlet summarizes in just a few lines. In his novel Bleak House, Dickens describes the effects of “the law’s delay” in the interminable case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce, during which the lawyers of his day, like a flock of vultures, picked the estate clean and left nothing but the bare bones. In his novel Little Dorrit, Dickens illustrates “the proud man’s contumely” and “the insolence of office” in his characters’ dealings with the Circumlocution Office.

In that great novel, his character Daniel Doyce, who has been trying for years to patent an invention, is an example of “the spurns that patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,” while both Little Dorrit, who loves Arthur Clennam, and Arthur Clennam, who loves "Pet" Meagles, offer good examples of “the pangs of despised love.” Shakespeare was probably talking for himself when he wrote those famous lines beginning with “To be, or not to be.” He had had a rough life and knew—better than any spoiled prince--what it was like to have to struggle for survival in a brutal city like London of the sixteenth century. How could he have written them otherwise? September 25, 2009 at 1:57 AM In the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet wonders whether to live or die, given the pain he feels at his father's death/murder, and his mother Gertrude's hasty remarriage to the murderer. In this soliloquy, he wonders if it is nobler to bear his grief, or to take action.

His father's ghost has told him what happened and demands revenge. Hamlet has two ways of taking arms against the sea of troubles he faces--commiting murder, or committing suicide. In his belief system, both would lead to eternal damnation. Ay, there's the rub. There's the nightmare that troubles the eternal "sleep" of death. Thoughts of what could happen after death "give us pause". He wonders who would bear the injustice and disappoint-ments of life, knowing suicide would end these. It is the "dread of something after death (that) puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have/than fly to others that we know not of..." The next line is one of Shakespeare's famous double entendres, full of irony: "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all": conscience is both knowledge and knowledge of right and wrong. He goes on to say that " thus the native hue of resolution/is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought; enterprises ...lose the name of action." This conflict between thought and action is an oft explored theme in this play. It is perhaps too facile to call it procrastination as it is also about the conflict of reason versus rationalization.

Finally, catching sight of Ophelia, Hamlet asks (whether or not she hears him) that she remember his sins in her prayers (orisons). As this soliloquy reflects, it seems that everywhere he looks, everything he considers--whether inaction, murder, or suicide--he is doomed. like 3 dislike 0 September 20, 2012 at 9:03 PM 'To be, or not to be' is the famous quote from hamlet. It bases itself around the human condition and draws into question; Why do we struggle with life if we know inevitably we are going to die (which is the mark of humanity). Hamlet tries to imagine death as eternal sleep (takes away troubles), but even in sleep we are still active through our dreams. Throughout the play the common theme he asks himself is whether or not it is more noble to just put up with the everything or to fight against hardships. like 2 dislike 0

Question: Which character in a play has a soliloquy that begins "To be or not to be, that is the question."?
Answer: Hamlet