Thursday 25 September 2008

Hamlet's soliloquy

To be, or not to be--that is the question: 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles 
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep-- 
No more--and by a sleep to say we end 
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep-- 
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give us pause. There's the respect 
That makes calamity of so long life. 
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, 
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely 
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, 
The insolence of office, and the spurns 
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, 
When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, 
To grunt and sweat under a weary life, 
But that the dread of something after death, 
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will, 
And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of? 
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, 
And thus the native hue of resolution 
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, 
And enterprise of great pitch and moment 
With this regard their currents turn awry 

And lose the name of action.


..have you seen this mologue before?What is the main idea of this part of Hamlet?We can think in two ways. First is the idea according to the content of the drama.

 Hamlet who's father was killed by his uncle can't decide  what to do: either to do nothing and just wait

[Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune ]

or to rebel against difficulties of life

[He Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.]


He thinks about the possibility of suicide,he says that the death can be compared to dream because death may end all difficulties

[ To die, to sleep-- 
No more--and by a sleep to say we end 
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wished.]

But right after that he thinks that when you are dead you can't see dream.

[To die, to sleep-- 
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give us pause. There's the respect 
That makes calamity of so long life.]

In the end he thinks about the fear(dread) of something after death and so he forgets about suicide.

[But that the dread of something after death, 
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn 
No traveller returns, puzzles the will, 
And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
Than fly to others that we know not of?]

That's one understanding of this internal monologue.
Reading my notes to this verse,you may notice that in the beginning Hamlet is thinking about suicide quite seriously while in the end he refuses this idea. He says:

[And thus the native hue of resolution 
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, 
And enterprise of great pitch and moment 
With this regard their currents turn awry 
And lose the name of action. ]

Language of the second part of 16 century may seem a bit complicated. In the other wodrs he wanted to say that if you have an idea to take a plunge(to do something risky) and you think about it more and more, the "color" of your idea will soon become gloomy and you won't do the risk. So what's the sense here?Maybe you shouldn't always think about the consequences of this or that action?But that may cause negative results of the whole action. so......what do YOU think?

2 comments:

chris sivewright said...

Do you think George Bush read this speech before he invaded Iraq?

Dimka said...

I Don't think that he has ever read this,especially when he refused to cansel military operations in Pakistan(29/09/2008)