DWD
“To be or not to be” – What is that soliloquy about?
A lot of critics suggest that this soliloquy is about suicide, but I (and my former Shakespeare prof) don’t
agree with that interpretation. I think it is about fear and why we are sometimes afraid to take a chance
— the fear of failure, the fear of the unknown, the fear of upsetting the comfort that we have with how
things are.
I like to think of it as “To be Hamlet, or not to be Hamlet” — that is, as prince and son of a murdered king
he is honour-bound to avenge his father’s death and protect his country. Is he willing to take the steps
necessary for this or does he retreat to the safety of knowing that he hates his uncle but is not willing to
do anything about it? Keep in mind that he also knows how important the role of king is and that to kill a
king is a sin against God (remember the feudal pyramid and the king as God’s chosen ruler) and that he
needs to have proof that others can verify: Horatio and Marcellus saw the ghost but did not hear what it
told Hamlet. Everyone knows that he hates his uncle so to kill him without tangible proof would be
dismissed as jealousy and not accomplish the goal.
Suicide? I don’t think so because Hamlet has already dismissed that as an option in his first soliloquy
(“Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d / His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter!” I.ii. 131-32). It certainly sounds
like he might be thinking of that (“When he himself mighyt his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?” III.i.
76-7) but I believe he thinking in generalities about all of mankind and wondering about why anybody
puts up with the injustices of this life when it could all be ended quickly (but knowing that this is not the
best option).
I think more than anything it is a meditation on inaction and fear of the unknown. The idea of “better
the devil you know than the one you don’t” that makes people unsure of taking those risks. Hamlet
wants to avenge his father’s death but he is aware of the great responsibility that rests on his shoulders
as prince and heir to the throne.
