Hamlet Essay

Hamlet's To Be or Not to Be

600 years later, Shakespeare is still able to deliver a powerful theme of our inner thought in his play, Hamlet. The prince’s “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy contributes to the understanding of the tone and thesis of the play through its multiple meanings and expressions of deep thoughts. The speech that Hamlet expresses contains powerful themes on both the literal and deeper meaning. The deep and complicated thoughts influence the tone and the theme of the play.

On the surface level, the first line can translate to simply live or to die. Hamlet contemplates on committing suicide due to his father’s death and other influences. However, the entire soliloquy has multiple meanings. “To Be or Not to Be” can metaphorically translate to “act or not to act” on a given thought. Hamlet struggles with this concept, as his numerous thoughts cannot be easily translated into action. Also, when Hamlet says “to die, to sleep”, one may simply interpret it as death. However, it can mean that Hamlet would like to escape from his problems, or even ignore them. These double meanings of his speech give a sense of how complex one’s thought can get. It also reveals that putting one’s mind into direct action can be extremely difficult. These suggestions make the backbone of the theme in Hamlet. It also signifies how complex and human the fictional character, Hamlet is. These human like qualities helps the audience understand how emotional and thoughtful the main character is.

This soliloquy greatly impacts the tone and thesis of the play. Hamlet delivers this reflective and bitter speech when he became overloaded with his father’s murder and mother’s remarriage. He constantly refers to being decisive with his actions in lines such as “the native hue of resolution”.  He also expresses his hate for Lord Polonius and King Claudius. The word “die” and “sleep” are constant throughout the speech and gives a bitter tone. The revenge and hate that Hamlet has built up is also evident in the overall tone of the play. To be true to your actions and thoughts is one part of the thesis in Hamlet. This speech underlies how human like Hamlet is compared to the other characters. From Hamlet’s point of view, he experiences the most emotional moments compared to the other characters. Hamlet, in this way, represents how tactful and emotionally complex people can be and ultimately the central message of the story.

“To Be or Not To Be” in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one significant soliloquy that helps the reader understand the tone and thesis of the play. The young prince lets out his deep and literal thoughts through double meaning, and in effect allows the audience to get a sense of how complex he is. The words that Hamlet says are bitter and extremely reflective, as suggested in his speech. Through “To Be or Not To Be”, Hamlet is able to deliver the central theme of the play.