The soliloquy is a fine example of Shakespeare’s ability to express a character’s torment with just the use of language. Obviously, in performance, the speech’s power is even more potent, but the words alone adequately express the tumultuous workings of Hamlet’s mind.
Clearly, it is not the words alone that create such an extraordinary effect, the type of verse is crucial too. The soliloquy is written in iambic pentameter with a feminine ending, meaning that each line has eleven syllables rather than ten, the last of which is unstressed. This a popular choice of Shakespeare’s and is used to similar effect in Macbeth’s “Tomorrow” speech.
“To be or not to be?” Within the Context of the Play
Perhaps the most well known soliloquy, the speech comes during the third act of Hamlet, by which point the eponymous hero’s sanity is beginning to unravel, or at least, this is what the audience is led to believe. Whether or not Hamlet is feigning madness is still hotly debated, but it would certainly seem that by Act Three he cannot be described as being of sound mind.
The audience is aware of Hamlet’s determination to avenge the death of his father, but it is clear that he is unsure (to put it mildly) of the best course of action. In the interim, his peculiar behaviour has resembled that of a spoilt teenager and his mother, Gertrude, describes “…Hamlet’s wildness…”(III.i) to Ophelia.
Content of Hamlet’s Famous Soliloquy
A large part of the appeal of the “To be or not to be?” speech is that Hamlet is not speaking of suicide or the choice between life and death. Instead, he is addressing the issue of existence, which may seem to be the same thing, but it is a much more philosophical discussion and is actually, what we would now consider, a metaphysical debate.
Another reason that the soliloquy is so memorable and well loved is that Shakespeare has posed a dichotomy. In other words, the first lines present questions with diametrically opposite choices, for example, “To be or not to be?” and “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles…”(III.i).
In addition, although Hamlet seems to draw the conclusion that death is a “…consummation Devoutly to be wish’d…”(III.i), he finds himself with a reason to doubt his conclusion. This is not only typical of Hamlet’s character, but it is also indicative of the human condition, because death is inevitable, but it also the big unknown. As Hamlet puts it, “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.”(III.i).
Towards the end of the speech, Hamlet claims that “…conscience does make cowards of us all: 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.”(III.i) These final lines rather neatly describe the character of Hamlet. In fact, it could be argued that it is a moment of very clear self-recognition. Subsequently, Hamlet finds that, yet again, hesitancy has prevented him from acting.
- For an insight into the performance of "To be or not to be?", see Kenneth Branagh's 1996 adaptation.
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