2006-12-16 04:59:49 · 16 answers · asked by rom_1367 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I know what it means EXACTLY...however, whether I can share the meaning with you OR not, is my question....
2006-12-16 09:21:31 · answer #1 · answered by deevoonay 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we're talking the famous Shakespeare passage from Hamlet, it is a soliloquy - which is to say that it is a monologue of deep introspection about death's relative merits over life.
Hamlet had lost his father through murder, and his mother had taken up - in unseemly and somewhat suspicious haste - with his uncle. Obviously, he was feeling a little sad, a little sorry for himself, and basically he said "is it worth going on with this doodah, and suffer the slings, arrows and whatnot, or to throw a seven and wander off into realms unknown, to, as it were, buy the farm sight unseen.
2006-12-16 13:28:48 · answer #2 · answered by Phantom1174 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the hardest question that has been unanswered for the longest time. I guess that it means that you are confused about something and you don't know whether to choose that or shouldnt. Meaning if you choose one path what will be the consequences but if you dont then someone else or something could happen they could get hurt. This is what I think anyways
2006-12-16 13:02:06 · answer #3 · answered by Aby 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means that the real, most important, hardest to decide, and most meaningful question is whether or not to live. It is a decision Hamlet is about to make in one of Shakespeare's famous tragedies.
2006-12-16 13:02:19 · answer #4 · answered by dolphinluver 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"To be or not to be, --that is the question:--
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"
- From Hamlet (III, i, 56-61)
Perhaps the most famous soliloquy in literature, these words reflect the state of desperation in which Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, finds himself as he contemplates suicide. His father, the King, has died. His mother, the Queen, has remarried within a month of the King's passing, an act which has disturbed young Hamlet in and of itself. To make it worse, she has married the King's brother, Hamlet's uncle, who is now the King of Denmark. As Hamlet's despair deepens, he learns (through the appearance of an apparition of his dead father) that the old King was murdered by the new King. Hamlet's growing awareness of the betrayal of his mother and evil of Claudius leads to a deepening depression and madness. This soliloquy contains the famous words "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all", hinting that the "dread of something after death"-purgatory, hell, perhaps-is what keeps Hamlet alive to avenge his father.
2006-12-16 13:06:59 · answer #5 · answered by Inquisitive 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In this situation Hamlet was asking whether or not he should commit suicide. This famous line comes from a shakespearean tragedy.
2006-12-16 13:02:13 · answer #6 · answered by stick man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To BE means to continue living and leave things the ways they are and NOT TO BE means should he die and forget all his problems
2006-12-16 13:04:40 · answer #7 · answered by newsboy005 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its from Hamlet's soliliquoy (sp?) where he is contemplating either staying alive (to be) or committing suicide (not to be).
2006-12-16 13:01:46 · answer #8 · answered by Paul H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
to know the real meaning of that .....2 EXPERIENCE that .......turn ur view 2 look inside yourself......not at the outter world around, when u see ur TRUE SELF you will KNOW.............. b aware of what u r doing ,thinking, saying...........
2006-12-16 13:17:05 · answer #9 · answered by kris 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamlet's debating whether to continue living (to be) or to kill himself (or not to be)
2006-12-16 13:01:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋