HAMLET BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

„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 traveler 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

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 And lose the name of action
– Hamlet (Act III, Scene I)
One of the most used quotes in the English language it is part of the famous soliloquy by
Hamlet on the moral legitimacy of suicide in an unbearably painful world. This is the starting
of the soliloquy1 and Hamlet wonders: to live or not to live.2 The first line is the most
important because what is next depends on it. The next lines underline that in life you must
fight ”against a sea of troubles /And, by opposing, end them. ” After this Hamlet says that is
better to die for the ending of sorrows and pain. What is interesting is the question ” For in
that sleep of death what dreams may come?” as if the dead are dreaming. In the final
sequence he speaks about ”The undiscovered country from whose bourn /No traveler returns”
-death- which puzzle each of us and it is easier to ” bear those ills we have/ Than fly to others
that we know not of?”. In the final lines Hamlet say that because of our conscience we do not
make some actions.
Hamlet, in full Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare,
written about 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603 from an unauthorized text,
with reference to an earlier play. 3
The play can be sub-categorized as a revenge play, the genre popular in the Elizabethan
and Jacobean periods. Elements common to all revenge tragedy include: a hero who must
avenge an evil deed, often encouraged by the apparition of a close friend or relative; scenes of
death and mutilation; insanity or feigned insanity; sub-plays; and the violent death of the
hero.4
Characters
Claudius, King of Denmark
Hamlet
Polonius, Lord Chamberlain
Horatio, friend to Hamlet
Laertes, son to Polonius
Voltimand, Cornelius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Osric, a Gentleman, courtiers

1
The term "soliloquy" (so-lil-o-quee) is generally used as a means of character revelation or character
manifestation to the audience or the reader of the drama. Soliloquy is used as a tool or process by which the
dramatist conveys the secret thoughts and/or intentions of the character, to the audience or the reader of the
drama, but; also while doing so, it preserves the secrecy of those thoughts from the other characters of that drama
.A soliloquy is generally made when the character is alone, or when he/she thinks to be alone, in order to
preserve the secrecy from other characters. https://owlcation.com/humanities/What-does-a-Soliloquy-mean
2
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-hamlet-quotes
3
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hamlet-by-Shakespeare
4
http://pritibagohil1416.blogspot.ro/2014/09/critical-appreciation-of-hamlet.html
2
A Priest
Marcellus, Barnardo, officers
Francisco, a soldier
Reynaldo, servant to Polonius
Players
Two Clowns, grave-diggers
Fortinbras, Prince of Norway
A Captain
English Ambassadors
Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and mother to Hamlet
Ophelia, daughter to Polonius
Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Messengers, and other Attendants
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Hamlet opens after the death of King Hamlet. His brother has succeeded him to the throne
and quickly married the late King’s widow, Gertrude. The ghost of the old King returns to tell
his son – Prince Hamlet – that he was murdered by his brother and must be avenged. Needing
to establish whether the ghost speaks the truth, Hamlet feigns madness and arranges for a
group of players to enact a dramatised version of the ghost’s accusations in front of the court
in order to ‘catch the conscience of the King’ (3.2.604). When Hamlet sees the King’s
outraged reaction, his suspicions are confirmed, but as he tries to act on them, he mistakes the
court councillor Polonius for the King and kills him. The King sends Hamlet to England with
orders that he should be killed, but Hamlet manages to escape.
Believing Hamlet’s madness to be a symptom of love for his daughter Ophelia, Polonius
had constructed his own plot of surveillance, using Ophelia as bait to draw out Hamlet’s
feelings. The emotional strain of being used in this way, combines with her bereavement to
drive her to distraction, and she is found drowned. Her brother Laertes demands revenge. A
fencing-match is staged between Hamlet and Laertes, with the King and Laertes planning to
kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword and drink. But Gertrude unwittingly drinks the poison,
and, having been fatally wounded with the sword, Hamlet also kills Laertes and the King.
Finally, Fortinbras of Norway assumes the throne.
The title of the tragedy is entitled Hamlet which is the main character of the play. Hamlet
is the son of Gertude and king Hamlet the one who is dead. Hamlet the prince is called by
critics the procrastinating prince because:

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Commanded by his father’s ghost in Act 1 to ‘Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder’ by his
brother Claudius, who has robbed him of his wife and throne as well as his life, Hamlet swears that
‘with wings as swift / As meditation, or the thoughts of love,’ he will ‘sweep to [his] revenge’
(1.5.25, 29–31). He then spends almost the entire play spectacularly failing to keep his oath, despite
the ghost's reappearance in Act 3 to remind him: ‘Do not forget! This visitation / Is but to whet thy
almost blunted purpose’ (3.4.110–11) Indeed after his departure for England, Hamlet’s obligation
to avenge his father seems all but forgotten, and on his return he shows no sign of planning to take
his uncle’s life. When he does at last kill Claudius in the dying moments of Act 5, he does so
suddenly, without forethought, poisoning the King in revenge for conniving to poison him and for
accidentally poisoning Gertrude.5

5
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/hamlet-and-revenge
4
 BIBLIOGRAFIE

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hamlet-by-Shakespeare
https://www.bl.uk/works/hamlet
http://pritibagohil1416.blogspot.ro/2014/09/critical-appreciation-of-hamlet.html
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/hamlet-and-revenge
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-hamlet-quotes