PRESENTATION OUTLINE
To be, or not to be, that is the question
It seems that hamlet is thinking if he should live or die
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
Hamlet wonders whether to keep on suffering , or to fight against e pain by ending things altogether.
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune
“Slings” and “arrows” are weapons; “outrageous” here means “brazen” or “infuriating.” Hamlet feels that fate is waging a war against him.
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles
it is the same one as the slide before, but the question is, Should he accept things as they are or fight?
And by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep
Hamlet is contemplating the “not to be” option a little further. Death would mean “no more” than the ultimate sleep. The advantage to this would be no longer having to endure the pain that comes with waking life.
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
It’s as though he’s saying: “Let’s say death is a sort of sleep: even so, it doesn’t represent an escape from the suffering of existence.”
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
Hamlet acknowledges that life is tough for all living creatures but that doesn’t lessen the brutality of the experience.
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Hamlet’s use of the word “heir” is both as a universal heir to suffering and his own personal status as heir of Denmark. The play constantly reminds me of the political tensions surrounding the court.
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep
Hamlet presents the sleep of death as something desirable, but also something you’d better be serious about—a consummation devoutly to be wished.
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub
To die is to sleep, yes, but sleep always brings the possibility of unknown dreams. What if those dreams turn out to be nightmares, horrors exceeding the life he was attempting to escape?
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come
Hamlet has already admitted in that he suffers from “bad dreams”; his fear of death as the ultimate nightmare is therefore a unforgiving one.
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
In 16th-century English, “coil” referred to tumults or troubles. these troubles is to get rid of them.
Must give us pause. There's the respect; That makes Calamity of so long life
We suffer in life, but we have to, because the alternative is so dark and unknowable. It’s our respect for the possibility of something worse after death that keeps us bound to life.
What inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet?
Some opinions that Shakespeare used Hamlet as a metaphor to highlight the tensions that existed and arose. Others say that Shakespeare simply copied and plagiarized another play which went under the title of ‘Ur-Hamlet’. Hamnet was Shakespeare’s only male child and his untimely passing away left the father in a state of despair.
