what act and scene is to be or not to be
"To be, or not to be, that is the question." It'south a line we've all heard at some point (and very likely quoted as a joke), just practice y'all know where information technology comes from and the meaning behind the words? "To be or non to be" is actually the commencement line of a famous soliloquy from William Shakespeare's play Hamle t. In this comprehensive guide, we requite you the full text of the Hamlet "To be or not to exist" soliloquy and talk over everything in that location is to know nigh information technology, from what kinds of themes and literary devices it has to its cultural bear on on society today. The famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy comes from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (written effectually 1601) and is spoken past the titular Prince Hamlet in Human activity iii, Scene 1. It is 35 lines long. Here is the full text: To be, or not to be, that is the question, You tin also view a gimmicky English translation of the spoken language hither. The "To be or not to be" soliloquy appears in Deed 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare'south Hamlet. In this scene, oft called the "nunnery scene," Prince Village thinks almost life, death, and suicide. Specifically, he wonders whether it might exist preferable to commit suicide to end one's suffering and to leave behind the hurting and agony associated with living. Though he believes he is alone when he speaks, King Claudius (his uncle) and Polonius (the king's councilor) are both in hiding, eavesdropping. The first line and the near famous of the soliloquy raises the overarching question of the oral communication: "To exist, or not to be," that is, "To alive, or to dice." Interestingly, Hamlet poses this as a question for all of humanity rather than for just himself. He begins by asking whether it is better to passively put up with life's pains ("the slings and arrows") or actively stop it via suicide ("take artillery against a sea of troubles, / And past opposing end them?"). Hamlet initially argues that decease would indeed be preferable: he compares the act of dying to a peaceful sleep: "And past a sleep to say we end / The middle-ache and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to." However, he speedily changes his melody when he considers that nobody knows for sure what happens after decease, namely whether there is an afterlife and whether this afterlife might be even worse than life. This realization is what ultimately gives Hamlet (and others, he reasons) "break" when information technology comes to taking action (i.eastward., committing suicide). In this sense, humans are then fearful of what comes after death and the possibility that it might be more than miserable than life that they (including Hamlet) are rendered immobile. Shakespeare wrote more than three dozen plays in his lifetime, including what is perhaps his most iconic, Hamlet. But where did the inspiration for this tragic, vengeful, melancholy play come from? Although cipher has been verified, rumors abound. Some merits that the graphic symbol of Hamlet was named after Shakespeare'south only son Hamnet, who died at historic period 11 just 5 years prior to his writing of Hamlet in 1601. If that's the case, the "To be or not to exist" soliloquy, which explores themes of expiry and the afterlife, seems highly relevant to what was more than likely Shakespeare's ain mournful frame of listen at the time. Others believe Shakespeare was inspired to explore graver, darker themes in his works due to the passing of his ain begetter in 1601, the aforementioned twelvemonth he wrote Village. This theory seems possible, considering that many of the plays Shakespeare wrote after Hamlet, such as Macbeth and Othello, adopted similarly dark themes. Finally, some have suggested that Shakespeare was inspired to write Hamlet past the tensions that cropped upwardly during the English Reformation, which raised questions as to whether the Catholics or Protestants held more than "legitimate" beliefs (interestingly, Shakespeare intertwines both religions in the play). These are the three key theories surrounding Shakespeare'southward creation of Village. While we can't know for sure which, if any, are right, evidently there are many possibilities —and just as probable many inspirations that led to his writing this remarkable play. Incertitude and doubt play a huge role in Hamlet'southward "To be or not to be" soliloquy. By this indicate in the play, we know that Village has struggled to decide whether he should kill Claudius and avenge his father's death. Questions Hamlet asks both before and during this soliloquy are as follows: There are no clear answers to whatever of these questions, and he knows this. Hamlet is struck by indecisiveness, leading him to straddle the line betwixt activeness and inaction. Information technology is this general feeling of doubt that also plagues his fears of the afterlife, which Hamlet speaks on at length in his "To be or not to be" soliloquy. The incertitude of what comes after death is, to him, the main reason virtually people practise non commit suicide; information technology's also the reason Hamlet himself hesitates to kill himself and is inexplicably frozen in place. As the opening line tells usa, "To be or non to be" revolves around complex notions of life and death (and the afterlife). Up until this point in the play, Village has continued to debate with himself whether he should impale Claudius to avenge his father. He also wonders whether it might be preferable to kill himself—this would allow him to escape his own "bounding main of troubles" and the "slings and arrows" of life. But like so many others, Hamlet fears the incertitude dying brings and is tormented by the possibility of catastrophe up in Hell—a place even more miserable than life. He is heavily plagued by this realization that the just fashion to discover out if death is better than life is to become ahead and cease it, a permanent conclusion ane cannot take back. Despite Hamlet'south attempts to logically sympathise the world and death, in that location are some things he will simply never know until he himself dies, further fueling his ambivalence. The entirety of Hamlet can be said to revolve around the theme of madness and whether Hamlet has been feigning madness or has truly gone mad (or both). Though the idea of madness doesn't necessarily come to the forefront of "To be or not to be," it nonetheless plays a crucial office in how Hamlet behaves in this scene. Earlier Hamlet begins his soliloquy, Claudius and Polonius are revealed to be hiding in an attempt to eavesdrop on Village (and afterward Ophelia when she enters the scene). At present, what the audience doesn't know is whether Hamlet knows he is being listened to. If he is unaware, as most might presume he is, then we could view his "To be or not to exist" soliloquy equally the simple musings of a highly stressed-out, mayhap "mad" man, who has no idea what to think anymore when it comes to life, expiry, and religion equally a whole. Withal, if we believe that Village is aware he'south being spied on, the soliloquy takes on an entirely new pregnant: Hamlet could actually be feigning madness every bit he bemoans the burdens of life in an effort to perplex Claudius and Polonius and/or make them believe he is overwhelmed with grief for his recently deceased father. Whatever the case, information technology's clear that Village is an intelligent man who is attempting to grapple with a hard conclusion. Whether or not he is truly "mad" here or afterwards in the play is upwardly to you to decide! In the "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Shakespeare has Hamlet employ a wide array of literary devices to bring more power, imagination, and emotion to the speech. Here, we look at some of the key devices used, how they're being used, and what kinds of effects they have on the text. Shakespeare uses several metaphors in "To be or not to be," making information technology by far the most prominent literary device in the soliloquy. A metaphor is when a thing, person, place, or thought is compared to something else in non-literal terms, usually to create a poetic or rhetorical event. One of the kickoff metaphors is in the line "to take arms against a bounding main of troubles," wherein this "body of water of troubles" represents the agony of life, specifically Hamlet'south own struggles with life and death and his ambivalence toward seeking revenge. Hamlet's "troubles" are so numerous and seemingly unending that they remind him of a vast body of water. Another metaphor that comes later in the soliloquy is this 1: "The undiscover'd state from whose bourn / No traveller returns." Here, Village is comparing the afterlife, or what happens afterward death, to an "undiscovered country" from which nobody comes dorsum (pregnant y'all can't be resurrected once you lot've died). This metaphor brings clarity to the fact that expiry truly is permanent and that nobody knows what, if anything, comes later life. A metonym is when an thought or matter is substituted with a related thought or thing (i.eastward., something that closely resembles the original idea). In "To exist or non to be," Shakespeare uses the notion of sleep as a substitute for expiry when Village says, "To die, to sleep." Why isn't this line just a regular metaphor? Because the act of sleeping looks very much similar death. Remember well-nigh it: we often draw decease every bit an "eternal sleep" or "eternal sleep," right? Since the two concepts are closely related, this line is a metonym instead of a plain metaphor. The phrase "to die, to slumber" is an example of repetition, as it appears one time in line 5 and once in line 9. Hearing this phrase twice emphasizes that Hamlet is really (admitting futilely) attempting to logically define death past comparing it to what we all superficially know it to be: a never-catastrophe sleep. This literary device also paves the way for Village's plow in his soliloquy, when he realizes that information technology'southward actually better to compare death to dreaming because nosotros don't know what kind of afterlife (if any) there is. A far less common literary device, anadiplosis is when a word or phrase that comes at the terminate of a clause is repeated at the very beginning of the adjacent clause. In "To be or not to be," Village uses this device when he proclaims, "To dice, to sleep; / To sleep: mayhap to dream." Here, the phrase "to sleep" comes at the end of 1 clause and at the offset of the next clause. The anadiplosis gives the states a clear sense of connectedness betwixt these ii sentences. We know exactly what'due south on Hamlet'due south mind and how of import this idea of "slumber" equally "death" is in his oral communication and in his own analysis of what dying entails. The "To be or not to exist" soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet is i of the nigh famous passages in English literature, and its opening line, "To be, or not to exist, that is the question," is one of the virtually quoted lines in modern English language. Many who've never even read Hamlet (even though it's said to be ane of the greatest Shakespeare plays) know about "To be or not to be." This is mainly due to the fact that the iconic line is so oft quoted in other works of art and literature—fifty-fifty pop culture. And it's not just quoted, either; some people employ it ironically or sarcastically. For instance, this Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1994 depicts a humorous utilise of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy by poking fun at its dreary, melodramatic nature. Many movies and TV shows accept references to "To be or non to be," also. In an episode of Sesame Street, famed British player Patrick Stewart does a parodic version of the soliloquy ("B, or not a B") to teach kids the letter of the alphabet "B": There's also the 1942 motion picture (and its 1983 remake) To Be or Not to Be, a war one-act that makes several allusions to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Here's the trailer for the 1983 version: Finally, here's one AP English language student's original song version of "To be or not to be": Every bit yous can encounter, over the more four centuries since Hamlet starting time premiered, the "To exist or not to be" soliloquy has truly made a name for itself and continues to play a large role in society. William Shakespeare'due south Village is one of the most popular, well-known plays in the world. Its iconic "To be or not to be" soliloquy, spoken by the titular Hamlet in Scene 3, Act 1, has been analyzed for centuries and continues to intrigue scholars, students, and full general readers akin. The soliloquy is substantially all most life and decease: "To exist or not to be" means "To alive or not to alive" (or "To live or to dice"). Hamlet discusses how painful and miserable human life is, and how death (specifically suicide) would exist preferable, would information technology non exist for the fearful uncertainty of what comes subsequently death. The soliloquy contains 3 main themes: It likewise uses four unique literary devices: Even today, we tin see testify of the cultural impact of "To exist or not to be," with its numerous references in movies, Boob tube shows, music, books, and fine art. It truly has a life of its own! In social club to analyze other texts or fifty-fifty other parts of Village effectively, you'll demand to be familiar with common poetic devices, literary devices, and literary elements. What is iambic pentameter? Shakespeare often used it in his plays—including Village. Learn all nearly this blazon of poetic rhythm here. Need assistance understanding other famous works of literature? Then bank check out our expert guides to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Cracking Gatsby, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and quotations in Harper Lee's To Impale a Mockingbird. 
Full Text: "To Be, or Not to Be, That Is the Question"
Whether 'tis nobler in the listen to endure
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To dice: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The middle-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To dice, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there'due south the rub;
For in that slumber of death what dreams may come
When nosotros accept shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give united states interruption: in that location'due south the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would deport the whips and scorns of fourth dimension,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of role and the spurns
That patient merit of the 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,
Merely that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd state from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes united states of america rather bear those ills nosotros 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 stake bandage of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents plough awry,
And lose the name of action.—Soft you at present!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Exist all my sins remember'd."To Be or Not to Be": Meaning and Assay
Championship page of Village, 1605 printing Inspiration Behind Village and "To Exist or Not to Be"
3 Critical Themes in "To Be or Not to Be"
At that place are many critical themes and questions contained in Hamlet'south "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Hither are iii of the nearly important ones:
Theme 1: Doubt and Uncertainty
1789 depiction of Horatio, Hamlet, and the ghost Theme 2: Life and Death
Theme 3: Madness
4 Key Literary Devices in "To Exist or Non to Be"
#ane: Metaphor
#ii: Metonymy
#3: Repetition
#4: Anadiplosis
The Cultural Impact of "To Exist or Not to Be"
Decision: The Legacy of Village's "To Exist or Not to Be"
What's Next?
Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the Academy of Michigan and holds a available's caste from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Nippon via the JET Program. She is passionate about didactics, writing, and travel.
Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/to-be-or-not-to-be-soliloquy
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