Analysis not to is the most famous line in English literature. What does it mean? Why are these words and “To be, or be” what follows special? One reason is that they are a stunning example of to make his characters seem Shakespeare’s ability The audience senses that there is more to words than meets the ear—that there is something Hamlet’s behind his words that is never spoken. Or, to put it another way, the audience witnesses signs of something within mind that even he Hamlet is a fictional character who seems to possess a subconscious Hamlet’s isn’t aware of. mind. How does Shakespeare manage to accomplish this? In the first place, Hamlet about what really talking about. When he questions whether it is doesn’t talk directly he’s be, or not to the The entire soliloquy strongly suggests better “to be,” obvious implication is, “Should I kill myself?” that he is toying with suicide and perhaps trying to work up his courage to do it. But at no point does he say that he is in pain or discuss why he wants to kill himself. In fact, he never says or in the entire not “I” “me” speech. He’s trying to himself at all; instead, he poses the question as a matter of philosophical debate. When he claims “express” that everybody would commit suicide if they about the afterlife, it sounds as an weren’t uncertain if he’s making argument to convince an imaginary listener about an abstract point rather than directly addressing how the question applies to for characters in plays to say something other than what they mean to him. Now, it’s perfectly ordinary other characters (this suggests that they are consciously hiding their true motives), but Hamlet does it when he’s talking to himself. This creates the general impression that there are things going on in mind that he Hamlet’s can’t think about directly.
Analysis “To be, or not to be” is the most famous line in English literature. What does it mean? Why are these words and what follows special? One reason is that they are a stunning example of Shakespeare’s ability to make his characters seem The audience senses that there is more to Hamlet’s words than meets the ear—that there is something behind his words that is never spoken. Or, to put it another way, the audience witnesses signs of something within Hamlet’s mind that even he isn’t aware of. Hamlet is a fictional character who seems to possess a subconscious mind. How does Shakespeare manage to accomplish this? In the first place, Hamlet doesn’t talk directly about what he’s really talking about. When he questions whether it is better “to be, or not to be,” the obvious implication is, “Should I kill myself?” The entire soliloquy strongly suggests that he is toying with suicide and perhaps trying to work up his courage to do it. But at no point does he say that he is in pain or discuss why he wants to kill himself. In fact, he never says “I” or “me” in the entire speech. He’s not trying to “express” himself at all; instead, he poses the question as a matter of philosophical debate. When he claims that everybody would commit suicide if they weren’t uncertain about the afterlife, it sounds as if he’s making an argument to convince an imaginary listener about an abstract point rather than directly addressing how the question applies to him. Now, it’s perfectly ordinary for characters in plays to say something other than what they mean to other characters (this suggests that they are consciously hiding their true motives), but Hamlet does it when he’s talking to himself. This creates the general impression that there are things going on in Hamlet’s mind that he can’t think about directly.
Act-3-Hamlet-Summary-and-some-analysis-1e3ytgk.docx