Hamlet's famous speech.?

Question

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.....ect.

What is the meaning of this speech. the true meaning. what is he trying to say. give me your opinion. I do believe he is talking about well...death. but im sure there is more to it then that. What does this speech mean???

Answer 1

Let me explain this to you once and for all and you will "get it" immediately.

FACT - YOU know about as much about this speech as Hamlet did when he was making it.

(Insert a sigh of relief here)

Let me explain it the way I always did to students. Do you recall as a child when a grandparent or someone died and you suddenly made that association - "If Grandpa died, then that means mom and dad will die, too, and if mom and dad will die, then so will I." It's called your moment when you acknowledge mortality.

What you see here is Hamlet's moment. He realizes his father has died and questions his own mortality. Remember, he is a spoiled brat, bred to be King of Denmark only now he isnt going to be. Awww - poor kid. He has to remain a prince.

Think of Prince Charles - over 60 and still not gainfully employed because the only thing he has been trained to be is King of England.

Hamlet is talking about death - but he is also talking about life. He is talking about right and he is talking about wrong. He is talking about black and he is talking about white. In short, he is a troubled man who hasnt got a CLUE as to what he wants or what he should do next.

He refers to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" that he has to suffer. What? That he will remain a prince and not be a king? Wow that's tough isnt it?

Sure, he considers suicide. But the reality is he has not got the guts to do it. He is feeling utterly and completely sorry for himself here. It is a speech of pure indulgement. Poor Hamlet - pity Hamlet. No different than you telling your mother you will hold your breath until you die if you don't get a Wii.

Reality - There is very little difference between Shakespearean times and right now. Learn that and Shakespeare will become ten billion times easier to understand. The characters act pretty much like people act today only for different reasons.

Lastly, most playwrights come across times in their plays when they have to "stretch" because people need time to change costumes or stage hands need time to change sets. True, this is one of Shakespeare's most beautiful speeches, but it is also a little bit of stretching for the sake of the theatre.

Hamlet is a complicated man at first glance, but when you look deeper, he really isnt all that complicated. He is selfish, spoiled, demanding, the list goes on and on. He is one of Shakespeare's most brilliant characters for EXACTLY that reason -- because he conveys simple human emotions and acts like most people would act in situations.

Take a deep breath now and allow yourself to admit that Hamlet isnt overwhelming and impossible to understand. He is just a person like you and me.

You now have permission to state clearly that Hamlet really hasnt got a clue what he means when he speeks that speech. Think of the song - Should I Stay or Should I Go? That's pretty much how Hamlet responds to life. He asks a lot of questions that really havent got answers - at least not answers he wants to hear. No, he would never kill himself. He lacks that kind of courage. C.

Answer 2

Hamlet ... And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them; for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though, in the mean time, some NECESSARY QUESTION OF THE PLAY be then TO BE considered...

Taking revenge against the king would be suicidal because it might get Hamlet killed, or even worse he would survive to be a king like his father and his uncle, with a dead soul.
"To be or not to be..." "...so like the king THAT was and IS THE QUESTION of these wars." For the lines in the play that back up this radical interpretation, please see my essay "When Your Clowns Speak," at
http://academia.wikia.com/index.php?http://academia.wikia.com/wiki/Motifs_in_Hamlet#When_Your_Clowns_Speak

Answer 3

comments in caps

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
TO LIVE OR TO COMMIT SUICIDE
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
BASICALLY THE TWIST AND TURNS IN LIFE
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
AND TO PUT UP WITH THEM
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
BY OPPOSING THEM IS THE SUICIDE TALK, MEANS TO IGNORE LIFES CHALLENGE AND GIVE UP
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
SLEEP, LITERALLY IS DEATH IN THIS CASE
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
THERE'S THE RUB MEANS THE CATCH,THAT WHEN IN DEATH YOU MAY HAVE MANY REGRETS THAT YOU CANNOT DEAL WITH
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
HE WORRIES THAT HE WILL DREAM NIGHTMARES OF NEVER GETTING REVENGE FOR HIS MURDERED FATHER
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
TO LEAVE OUR BODIES IN DEATH
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
THE POINT OF WHY WE CHOOSE TO LIVE
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
THE IDEA OF NOT HAVEING JUSTICE FOR BOTH HIM,BEING THE HIER TO THE THROWN, AND HIS FATHER
The insolence of office 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,
BODKIN IS A DAGGER AND A FARDEL IS A BURDEN
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
AGAIN TALKING ABOUT DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
NOT KNOWING WHAT DEATH IS EVEN WHEN HUMANITY HAS SET A CERTAIN UNDERSTANDING
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
BEING SCARED OF DEATH
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.-- Soft you now!
LOSING ALL HOPE
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

Answer 4

He wanted to know who ate crackers in his bed and didn't clean up the crumbs.

Answer 5

From what I remember, he's talking about suicide.

Answer 6

He's considering suicide.