“To be, or not to be,
that is the question,” Hamlet thinks to himself as he tries to decide if it is
better to continue on with life or to end it all together. He struggles between
the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, and the reward and the consequence
of committing suicide. He wonders if “to die” is only “to sleep, but if he
happens “to sleep” he will only “dream”.
“For who would bear the
whips and scorns of time… But that the dread of something after death, the
undiscovered country… And makes us rather bear those ills we have, than to fly
to others that we know not of.” “To be, or not to be…” Life seems to only offer
mankind a “sea of troubles”, “hearth- ache”, a “thousand natural shocks”, and a
mind that only suffers. The thoughts in Hamlet’s mind goes back and forth
between what could happen and what will happen if he chooses to live, or if he
chooses to die.
Death, however, is just
as appealing as life itself. Hamlet wonders what happens after “we have
shuffled off this mortal coil”. The land of the dead is “the undiscovered
country, from whose bourn no traveler returns”. That, for Hamlet, is more
terrifying than having to live “a weary life”.
The unknown is a thing
man- kind does not wish to discover, and often the question “to be, or not to
be” can only offer a simple answer- “To be”- to know.
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