I'll be completely honest: before reading Hamlet, I was entirely unaware that the famous phrase "To be, or not to be" comes from this Shakespearean play. I had heard the phrase of course but was clueless as to its whereabouts. To be fair, though, I don't think I'm in the minority in this regard. When I asked my parents about this quote, they both responded that they are entirely familiar with it but neither knew its origins. My sister, too, admitted that she only became aware of this famous adage's origins after reading Hamlet her senior year.
All that being said, however, I still believe these words and the soliloquy in which they're found invoke some intriguing existential thought. In the most simple of explanations, Hamlet essentially asks whether it is better to live or to die. He speaks this soliloquy when he is suicidal, so he seems to believe that death is better than life. Hamlet says the only thing stopping him (and others) from suicide is the fear of the afterlife. He feels that life is awful but that he and others are too weak to commit suicide.
While I appreciate the thought that Hamlet's speech engenders, I don't like how Hamlet extends his depression to humanity as a whole. Hamlet seems to associate his hatred of life with everybody else hating life. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Hamlet is acting out of emotion here or that he truly believes that all humans hate life?
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3 comments:
Bennett, I too was unaware of the soliloquys origins. I find the words to be extremely moving even without the context of Hamlets situation and the reasons behind his contemplation. I agree that Hamlet is partially responding in such a pessimistic manner due to internalized shame; he's angry at himself for not acting fearlessly, and therefore places his grief on the entirety of humankind. That being said, I think he poses an intriguing question that can't be dismissed by his personal emotions. One thing in particular I found interesting was his idea that humans are condemned by knowledge, or more specifically, by the knowledge of death.
The quote, " to be or not to be," is such an interesting way of putting suicide. And it's more than just whether or not he should kill himself. He is asking whether or not his existence, his being, is worth anything. It is interesting to see how little Hamlet cares for his own life. He says at one point how he doesn't want to kill Claudius while he is praying because his final moments will be in a state of repent. So he obviously is religious in some aspects but seems to care more about getting revenge than about his own afterlife. He seems to be blinded by the present. If the afterlife truly is eternal, which I would assume he believes, he would know that any desires for revenge would not be worth it when he could forget it and ultimately seek to go to heaven. It would be mean that he wouldn't get what he wants short-term, but long-term (for eternity) he would be in peace and in happiness. His desire for revenge seems to have gotten the best of him and clouded his mind.
I was also blown away by this line because I also did not understand its origins. Unlike your family that did not know of the quote's origins, my dad was actually familiar with it because he took a Shakespeare class in college. In fact, a couple weeks ago, when I told him that we were starting Hamlet, he said that one of the most famous lines of all time can be found in Hamlet. I am surprised that I actually recognized the famous quote he alluded to because I usually do not pick up or have exposure the references that he considers popular. I can not think of any line more prominent that so few people understand its origins. (Note for Mrs. King: this is my second blogpost of the week because I made my first one answering a question Ben had for me on the post I made last week.)
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