To be, or not to be

In the very first line of Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be, or not to be”, is summarized the conflict which is tearing him apart: he has to decide whether to revenge his father’s death or to go on living pretending he does not know the truth, thus behaving like a fool. However, Hamlet’s words do not refer to any particular event or circumstance in his life, so they assume a general meaning and symbolize all the conflicts, or “natural shocks”, that have always tormented mankind.

Once human beings are aware of the unjust features of life and decide not to cope with them, the only solution seems to be suicide, thus ending the “sea of troubles” life involves. Committing suicide, however, is making a decision itself and compels to act, which makes the same dilemma arise again. Moreover what prevents people from killing themselves is also the fear of the beyond, because it is an unknown world. Hamlet actually softens death’s terrible image by comparing it to sleep or using some metaphors: “shuffled off this mortal coil” (l.12), “quietus make” (l.20). In line 28 Hamlet states that what makes all of us “cowards” is conscience and that the doubts it arise prevent our thought from turning into action.