Who said these 2 phrases.
"To be or not to be, that is the question?"
"To be.......what is to be?"
What are they referring to and what do they mean?
2006-09-10 03:53:09 · 21 answers · asked by Forward 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It's from Hamlet by Shakespeare. It's from a famous soliloquy where Hamlet is contemplating suicide because his father is dead, and his mother married his uncle very quickly after the funeral. Therefore, it means "to live or to die."
Hamlet thinks that his father was murdered because his father's ghost has returned to him to tell him so. Hamlet has decides to pretend to be crazy to flush out the murderer. Some people think that in this soliloquy Hamlet isn't actually contemplating suicide...he's actually pretending to contemplate it because there are people spying on him. Shakespeare never makes it clear if Hamlet knows whether or not he's being watched, and so it's a little ambiguous. Therefore actors playing Hamlet must decide if Hamlet is actually thinking about suicide, or if he's just playing crazy.
2006-09-10 04:08:44 · answer #1 · answered by mbm244 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hamlet said "To be or not to be, that is the question...." in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet".
I'm not sure where the other quote comes from.
Hamlet is in a very difficult situation. He has been told that his father, the king, was murdered, so obviously he should avenge his father's death and put things right. There are several things making a decision to act very difficult. Therefore he is also considering suicide, but is afraid to do it because God has made it illegal. ("to be "= to take action....."not to be" = to kill himself so he can escape his problems.)
He wonders should he take up arms and fight to put things right or not, etc., etc. A classic situation.
Some of the things making the active option difficult for Hamlet are:
1) His informant ( that his father was murdered ) is a ghost
2) His mother has married the alleged murderer
3) The alleged murderer is his uncle
4) The alleged murderer is now the king.
He was in a right pickle wasn't he? Didn't know what to do. At least he was not UK PM, but a Danish prince ( of yore).
( I have studied this play several times too).
I wonder if the other quote might be by Ophelia, Hamlet's former love-interest,who went crazy because he rejected her?
If not, what about the porter in Macbeth?
2006-09-10 06:42:09 · answer #2 · answered by mutaali t 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is from a play called 'Hamlet' written by William Shakespeare, some years ago.
They mean:
'to be'- to live and carry on
'not' to be'- die and not carry on.
Read the book it's very good.
It is an excellent peace of English literature.
Oh by the way i'm sure that writing out the whole play on the internet is against some form of copy write.
2006-09-10 15:45:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Shakespeare
2006-09-10 23:37:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Shakespeare, Hamlet.
He is wondering about the meaning of life.
To be is to live
Not to be is not to act as an alive person with enough strongness and willingness to life.
2006-09-12 06:35:39 · answer #5 · answered by Alessandra C 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
2 points
2006-09-10 04:00:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
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2014-09-10 22:31:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
To be or not to be, that is the question
I think this means to exist, or not to exist? to be alive, or dead? as he was holding poor Yorrik's skull at the time.
Something to do with the meaning of life
I don't know the second one
2006-09-10 04:10:11 · answer #8 · answered by used to live in Wales 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The first is Hamlet and he is pondering the futility of life as he saw it at that moment.He was also pondering suicide. The author was William Shakespeare I do not know the second.
2006-09-10 05:41:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hold on, I'm getting my Enigma machine out from under my bed.
2006-09-10 03:58:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋