SHAKESPEARE FANATICS!!: what does "Ay, theres the rub. For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come"?

Question

i know its from hamlet but what does it mean

Answer 1

Well, if you put it in context it's easier to understand/interpret:

"To die, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream, ay, there's the rub. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause. There's the respect that makes calamity of so long life..."

Hamlet is talking about a lot of stuff in this soliloquy... I think the whole premise of "To be or not to be" is founded on the idea that Hamlet is unsure whether he really wants to go through with his plan of revenge. He also speaks of the futility and pain of life.

What he's getting at in this passage, I think, is his uncertainty of what happens after death. He mentions dreaming after death, as if wondering whether dreaming is possible after death. He goes on to say that it should make us stop and think ("give us pause") and that it makes enduring life hard ("calamity").

Specifically, he's trying to understand what might happen to him after death, as well as what might happen to Claudius after his death. Hamlet knows that if he kills Claudius, he too will die one way or another.

Of course, there's many interpretations, but there's mine. Hope it helps.

God bless.

Answer 2

Hamlet is basically saying that if death were just a matter of killing oneself and so being free from pain and suffering, then everyone would do it. But most people are afraid of what will happen to them after death. And so, they aren't in a hurry to die. And hence most people do not die by committing suicide.

Answer 3

Hamlet knows it sucks to be alive, and is wondering if he would be better off dead . . . .
but he thinks, maybe it is like sleep, perchance to dream . . . but what dreams? Hamlet doenst know what death is like after all. . . he wonders if death is worse than being alive. Its the uncertainty of what follows death that is the "rub" or problem for him.

Answer 4

That's the bummer, you can't be certain what will happen in or after death and if you will be held responsible for what you did in life.

Answer 5

In short; he is wondering if madness exists in the afterlife.