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This essay will be exploring the themes discussed in Hamlet’s soliloquy ‘to be or not to be’ found in the Shakespearean play ‘Hamlet,’ and the themes discussed in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s exchange about death that begins on page 62 of Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.’ It will attempt to understand the meaning behind the words of the two texts, and explain the themes that they relate to or present.

Many different themes are presented in Hamlet’s soliloquy ‘to be or not to be.’ It discusses suicide; death; and the unknown that lies after death.
In the lines “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 up against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them.” Hamlet is considering the idea of suicide and contemplating whether it is better to suffer a life of pain, or instead to end the pain, by killing himself. This obviously tells us that Hamlet is not enjoying life, and is most likely depressed. He questions which of these two choices is “nobler in the mind.” An inference that can be made from this is that Hamlet wants to do the right (noble) thing, but is very confused and doesn’t know what the right thing to do is.
When expressing death, Hamlet refers to sleep. This seems to be an indication that to Hamlet, death, like sleep, is an escape or retreat where Hamlet can be at peace and not have to face his troubles. By sleeping, we have the chance to leave the world as we know it, and enter a world of dreams.
In the lines “To sleep, perchance to dream – aye there’s the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come?” Hamlet is expressing his fear of the unknown. For if death were to be like sleep, one would enter a dream-like world after death and Hamlet doesn’t know what this world would be like. This uncertainty is a strong reason why Hamlet is reluctant to act upon his suicidal thoughts.
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