To be or not to be, that is a question

“To be or not to be, that is a question.” Hamlet speaks to him self. This is a question that has no answer. It is a question that can’t be shared with others. Only the person who speaks knows the answer. Hamlet was sitting next to the king, he was almost about to kill him, but after this solo monologue, he puts down his knife.

I agree what Benedict Cumberbatch has said:” It allows the audience to empathize with Hamlet in this speech.” I also empathize with Hamlet because Hamlet’s situation at that time was really hard. The whole speech of “to be or not to be” shows the struggle of Hamlet when he thoughts about whether he should kill his uncle with a short knife immediately or wait for another chance. Hamlet is the only one who knows the truth of the old king’s death but he couldn’t tell it to anyone. He could only pretend to be mad and watch other’s reaction to him. He was lonely and helpless, no one is trustworthy, and everyone left him, betrayed him. In his speech, he was struggling between being death and being alive. No one would not empathize with a person who suffers many mishaps in his life. If he kills his uncle as he was speaking, there will be no pressure, no whips, and no scorns for his uncle. But Hamlet doesn’t want to him to die so easily, he wants a truly revenge.

Having this speech as a solo monologue is important to this speech. Imagine in this speech, Hamlet was not speaking alone but saying this speech to others, audiences would expect the others’ reaction and audiences’ mood would also being affected. On the other hand, there is no way to keep continuing what Hamlet has said in his speech. Hamlet him self has already answered his own question and already made his decision. When Hamlet said this speech, he was about to kill finish his revenge and kill his uncle, but he putted down his knife. His enemy was so close to him but Hamlet couldn’t let him die so easily. His chance to revenge was never so close to him, but he has to put down his anger and find a more harmful way to revenge. This solo monologue shows how entangled Hamlet was. He was not only angry but also despairing. Without this solo, the reason Hamlet put down knife is not clear and makes Hamlet less immature.

Moreover, Hamlet knows he should finish his father’s mission, to kill his uncle. But if so, the problem is too basic. Hamlet his self also doesn’t sure whether killing his uncle is right or wrong. If he kills his Uncle, then the criminals are not only his uncle but also him self. So after this speech, Hamlet decided to omit suicide so that he could get out of trouble. What a wretch Hamlet is. To be or nit to be, this is never a choice.