Hamlet’s Soliloquy Essay: “To Be Or Not To Be…”

906 Words4 Pages
In Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy, the tones of grief and misery overtake him at that very moment and reveal his fears of the ongoing situation in his life. He is anguished and tormented, and complexly contemplates the decision of whether or not to commit suicide because of the way it would stand as a morality issue. Throughout the scene he is constantly deliberating whether taking the pain and suffering of his life would be worth the consequences he would receive after death. The diction used in Hamlet’s soliloquy is important to understand the true depth and complex meaning behind his words. Hamlet begins with the ever so famous line: “To be or not to be,” for at that moment, Hamlet literally poses the question of “life and death”. Shakespeare formulated this speech very carefully by using the most simplistic yet complex formatting of words: “To be” as in to live “or not to be” which suggests death, suicide, and non-existence. The first sentence he is debating whether or not to keep his pain within himself, and the second sentence he poses suicide as an option to lead him out of his misery. In the soliloquy, Hamlet states "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished", stating that he wants his suicidal thoughts fulfilled. He wants to end all the pain and grief that his father's death brought upon him. But then again, he might just be saying all this because he knows that Polonius and Claudius are listening in. But in fact, nobody will ever know if Hamlet’s intentions to commit suicide were in any way, shape, or form true. Shakespeare carefully manipulates his language with abundant detail and imagery to illustrate the development of Hamlet's mind in this famous speech. After Hamlet makes this shocking announcement, Hamlet goes into a dreamlike world producing many images such as “The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea
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