I always wonder about this.
2007-05-16 00:52:10 · 11 answers · asked by .. 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
The author was Shakespeare, and the line is from Hamlet, which is perhaps the greatest of Shakespeares' plays.The main character, Hamlet, is trying to decide whether it is better for him to live a life with some very difficult decisions to make or to take the cowards way out by commiting suicide. Like many Shakespeare passages, this one also has a double meaning, as Hamlet talks about how thinking too much (not to be) gets in the way of pure action (to be). Hamlets biggest problem is just that --- he thinks way too much and when he finally decides to take action (in this case kill the evil king) its too late, and he ends up not only killing the king, but causes almost every other main character in the play, including himself, to die.
2007-05-16 01:07:20 · answer #1 · answered by Jeffrey P 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The popular interpretation of the speech holds that it is a debate on suicide. Hamlet rather impersonally considers the attractions of death ("not to be"), which he likens to a sleep, over life ("to be"), whose pain seems unavoidable. But in the end he notes that the fear of possible suffering in the afterlife "that we know not of" (as opposed to the known evil that is life) tends to stop human beings from actively ending their existence.
2007-05-16 07:58:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
William Shakespeare in the play Hamlet. Read the rest of the soliloquy and you will know.
2007-05-16 07:58:38 · answer #3 · answered by Ted 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shakespeare and Hamlet. Hamlet is debating about committing suicide. In this case 'be' is taken to mean 'existence'. To exist or not to exist.
If you read the rest of the soliloquy, it is obvious he means death or life.
2007-05-16 08:02:38 · answer #4 · answered by lexie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The thin line there exists between life and death. The alternative between remaining alive or committing suicide.
2007-05-16 07:55:17 · answer #5 · answered by Lady Annabella-VInylist 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He was pondering life and was it worth living. Read the rest of his dialogue. It is pretty clear.
2007-05-16 08:00:45 · answer #6 · answered by TAT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamlet is contemplating suicide, so when William Shakespeare wrote "To be, or not to be", he is saying "to live or not to live".
wl
2007-05-16 08:30:38 · answer #7 · answered by WolverLini 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To live or to die - he was considering the possibility of suicide.
2007-05-16 07:59:41 · answer #8 · answered by oldhippypaul 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To exsist or not in that society...to die or to live...its easy, well, i was always thinking so.
2007-05-16 08:04:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the question lol
2007-05-16 07:58:27 · answer #10 · answered by Redhead 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋