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The phrase "to be, or not to be" comes from Shakespeare 's ''Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark'' , Act III, scene I, and it is often used in reference to the whole speech the line opens. The Soliloquy , spoken in the play by the Eponymous Character , follows in its entirety:
In the popular imagination the speaking of this soliloquy is often conflated with the action of Hamlet thoughtfully holding a skull ( Yorick's ), although the two actions are nowhere near each other in the play. It is also important to note that Hamlet is not alone on the stage (which is the standard for a soliloquy): Ophelia is onstage (editors and various productions disagree about whether Hamlet sees her or not), while Polonius and the King are hidden behind an arras. INTERPRETATIONS German philosopher Schopenhauer said:
Thus, the lines "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" is the ''to be'' option, and "to take arms against a sea of troubles/and by opposing end them" is the ''not to be'' option. The possibly paradoxical concept of equating taking arms with not being is usually explained by that taking arms against an irresistible sea of troubles is suicidal — our troubles, resisted rather than borne, will destroy us.Jenkins (1982), p. 490 Another take on these lines is that the only way to take arms against an ungovernable tide is by the "constructive act of suicide".Edwards, 2003, p. 48 But both these contemporary views of that passage recognize that one's own death is the result of taking arms. Although the " Conscience " that "does make cowards of us all" is often linked to the excerpt that follows and interpreted as an odd use of the word to mean "consciousness of the possibly bad unknown that awaits", it can be also understood as the sense of right and wrong. Indeed, E. Prosser said that "This soliloquy is a meditation on the central theme of the duties and temptations of a noble mind in an evil world". By that interpretation, it's the moral injunction against suicide that would be ultimately decisive, rather than the "dread of something after death", which only symbolizes the usual fires of Hell .Edwards, p.48Lewis(2002) says that here it means 'nothing more or less than "fear of death"', p. 207 However, the next five lines (starting with "and thus the native hue of resolution...") do not refer any longer to ''moral judgements'', but are saying that in a similar way ''anything'' (not just suicide) can become problematical from too much thinking about it. This (along with Hamlet's indecisiveness and uncertainty of knowledge being major themes throughout the play) inspired many commentators to read the choice between the life of action ("to be") and life of silent acceptance ("not to be") as a primary focus of Hamlet's dilemma. According to that interpretation, "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" would get associated with '' not to be'' alternative, while "to take arms against a sea of troubles/and by opposing end them" with the ''to be''. In this take, the Prince's further pondering the nature of death can be seen in yet a different light (in addition to the aforementioned two proposals, ie. the inevitable failure to win the fight against the "sea of troubles" or the only way to actually defeat it). Namely, death could be considered as a ''third'' option - the route which allows to avoid choosing between ''to be'' and ''not to be'' altogether. Regardless of whether the focus is placed on "life vs. death" or "action vs. no action", the themes tackled by the soliloquy (and by Shakespeare's play in general) led to the character of Danish Prince often getting compared to Existentialists after the term was introduced in the Twentieth Century . INFLUENCES It is often thought that Shakespeare was influenced by his contemporary, albeit late, fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe when he wrote this soliloquy; even partly paraphrasing a line from Marlowe's final play, '' Edward II :
REFERENCES IN LATER WORKS OF FICTION AND MUSIC See Also: References to Hamlet There have been several films entitled ' which has a number of references to the works of Shakespeare. As ''Hamlet'' has been translated into "original" Klingon , the Klingon translation of the term is ''taH pagh taHbe. Additionally, the original title for the classic sci-fi/horror film Invasion Of The Body Snatchers was "Sleep No More." A Boston-based band, Stray Bullets, had a CD titled ''The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune.'' In the Reduced Shakespeare Company 's production The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (abridged) , the speech is omitted from the Hamlet portion of the production, not for time constraints, or because the speech is so well known, but because the group states that they dislike the speech for momentum and motivation reasons. The What A Piece Of Work Is A Man speech is delivered in its stead.
Translating the key phrase into Danish , Hamlet's language, it becomes ''at være, eller ikke at være.'' SEE ALSO NOTES REFERENCES
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