Hamlet Soliloquy

Hamlet delivers what is perhaps the most famous soliloquy in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet: “To Be or Not To Be”. Hamlet has a lot going on in his life during the play: the late King Hamlet recently died, his uncle, Claudius, married his mother a short time after his father’s death, and Hamlet is having problems in his relationship with Ophelia. One night, a ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and instructs Hamlet to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. This confusing time in Hamlet’s life causes him to think irrationally about some topics. In the soliloquy, Hamlet discusses if life's worth suffering through, how death is inevitable, and how no one knows what comes after death. Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is relevant throughout the play through Hamlet’s erratic behavior and constant contemplation of suicide. The most prominent topic in the soliloquy is suicide. Hamlet contemplates suicide throughout the play, and the first time he brings up the topic is when he asks himself, “O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ …show more content…
One time when Hamlet seems out of sorts, Ophelia explains to Polonius, “Pale his shirt; his knees knocking together;/ And with a look so piteous in purport/ As if he had been loosenèd out of hell/ To speak of horrors- he comes before me” (II, i, 81-84). Hamlet begins to act crazy towards Ophelia so his family sees him as being love sick, but in talking with Ophelia, he takes it one step too far. A. Shaw says in "Depressive Illness Delayed Hamlet's Revenge", “His comments on women to Ophelia are bitter… According to Ophelia, he neglects his appearance” (Shaw). Although these are only minor details in Hamlet’s overall scheme, this scene is important because it gives a distraction to everyone in Hamlet’s life so they do not realize the his actual