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'To Be or Not to Be' by William Shakespeare

If someone asked you to recite a line from Shakespeare, which line would you choose? Not unlikely, you would answer "To be, or not to be ..." This is one of the most famous lines in Shakespeare's work — and possibly in all of literature. The line comes from a soliloquy found in the play Hamlet.
Painting: In the background we see a crowned couple seated, they are dressed in red. In the foreground we see a young woman with long. blonde hair and a pink dress, and a long haired young man dressed in black and purple. The boy is lying down, leaning his head against the young woman. In the background we also see more people crowding round to watch the play.
Hamlet has inspired artists and writers for centuries. Here we see the painting The Play Scene in 'Hamlet', Act III, Scene II by Edwin Austin Abbey (1897). Image: Edwin Austin Abbey / Public domain

Pre-reading task:

Before you start reading, discuss in groups or in class:

  1. Do you know anything about the life of William Shakespeare?

  2. Why is William Shakespeare considered one of the most important playwrights of all time? What makes him different from other writers?

  3. Mention as many of his plays as possible. What do you know about these plays?

  4. Did Shakespeare write in other genres, or did he just write plays?

A photo taken inside The Globe Theatre in London. People are waiting for the play to start. Most people are standing in front of the stage.
The Globe Theatre in London. This is a copy of the original Globe Theatre where the plays of William Shakespeare were first performed. Image: Matthew Kirkland / CC BY-NC 4.0
Play summary:

William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet some time between 1599 and 1601.

Hamlet is a Danish Prince. As the play opens, Hamlet is mourning his father, the king, who has recently died. He has returned home to attend his father's funeral, only to find that his mother has married his uncle Claudius, his father's brother, and that Claudius is the new king.

Hamlet grieves, and he suspects foul play. His suspicions are confirmed when late one night, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to him. The ghost accuses Claudius of murder and urges Hamlet to avenge its death.

Hamlet decides to fake madness in an attempt to find proof that the ghost is telling the truth. He has had a love affair with Ophelia, who is the daughter Polonius, one of the king's advisers. While pretending to be mad, he rejects Ophelia, and tells her she should give up on the idea of marriage and instead get herself to a nunnery.

The psychological effects of all these upheavals lead up to one of the greatest soliloquies in world literature, which takes the audience deep into the mind of Hamlet: “To be, or not to be, that is the question” …

Aided by his friend, Horatio, Hamlet persuades a travelling band of actors to re-enact the story of the king’s murder in front of Claudius. Claudius reacts by leaving the room in haste, convincing Hamlet that what the ghost said was true.

During an argument with his mother, Hamlet kills Polonius, the king’s adviser, who is spying on them. Now fearing for his own life, Claudius sends Hamlet to England, where he has arranged for Hamlet to be murdered.

Hamlet escapes and returns to Denmark where he learns that Ophelia went mad and drowned. He is challenged to a duel by her brother, Laertes, who blames Hamlet for the deaths of his father and sister. The king persuades Laertes to dip his blade in poison, to be sure Hamlet is killed.

The play does not have a happy ending - Hamlet dies, along with the king, the queen, and Laertes.

What is a soliloquy?

In a soliloquy, a character speaks to themselves, relating their inner thoughts and feelings out loud and debating their inner arguments with themselves. The thoughts are shared with the audience, but not with other characters in the play. Soliloquies were commonplace in drama for a long time, but they went out of fashion when drama shifted towards realism in the late 18th century.

In Shakespeare's plays, you will find several soliloquies, and they contain some of his most powerful writing. The soliloquies are essential to the presentation of the stories. They provide the opportunity to tell the audience specific pieces of information that cannot be disclosed through normal conversation. Also, they give the audience unique glimpses into the personalities of the characters. Through these speeches, we see how the characters wrestle with their private thoughts, often failing to perceive the flaws in their own thinking. They dive deep into the character's soul, exploring their hopes, despair, and desperation.

A photo of Hamlet holding a white skull. The actor is dressed in black and he's standing in front of a black background.
For some reason, the image of Hamlet holding a skull has become associated with the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. However, Hamlet holding the skull actually takes place in another scene, where Hamlet and Horatio come across a gravedigger. He has just found the skull of Yorick, a court jester that Hamlet remembers well from his childhood. Image: Cape May MAC / CC BY-NC 4.0

Soliloquies in Hamlet

In Hamlet, there are five soliloquies spoken by the main character. Each soliloquy advances the plot by revealing Hamlet’s inner thoughts to the audience, step by step. In act 3, scene 1, we find the most famous soliloquy, not only in Hamlet, but in all of Shakespeare's writing: "To be, or not to be, that is the question...". Hamlet struggles to make sense of all the chaos in his head and everything that happens around him, and through this important passage in the play Shakespeare allows us to hear exactly what the protagonist is going through. The audience becomes his confidant.

In order to understand the meaning and depth of this soliloquy, you also have to understand the context in which it is delivered. The best way to understand the full story is to watch Hamlet on stage or film; there are several good film adaptations of the play.

While reading, you may want to watch a recitation of the soliloquy. Below, you will find a link to a video on YouTube where David Tennant is doing his version of the speech:

Link to YouTube: David Tennant performing the soliloquy "To Be or Not to Be"

Note that we have divided the text into passages to illustrate where one thought ends and a new thought begins.

Study the vocabulary before you read:


"To be or Not to be ..." Act 3, Scene 1

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 heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.

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,
The 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 the 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 undiscover'd 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 enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd

Vocabulary and phrases

  • noble = excellent, special, admirable

  • slings and arrows of outrageous fortune = injuries life gives us for no reason

  • consummation = completion or finalising

  • perchance = perhaps

  • rub = problem

  • shuffled off this mortal coil = died and left our bodies behind

  • calamity = disaster

  • whips and scorns = injuries

  • contumely = rudeness

  • pangs = sharp pains

  • insolence = rude and disrespectful behaviour

  • spurns = insults

  • quietus = finishing stroke, anything that ends an activity

  • bodkin = knife, dagger

  • fardels = burden

  • bourn = border

  • native hue of resolution = natural way of deciding

  • sicklied o’er with = damaged by

  • enterprises = projects or plans

  • awry = crooked or out of place


Painting: We see a woman floating down a river. She is wearing a light coloured dress, and she is clutching flowers. There are reeds in the river and flowers and trees along the bank of the river. From the title we realise that this is Ophelia. She has drowned, or is drowning.
Ophelia by John Everett Millais (1851-1852). Image: John Everett Millais, Tate London / Public domain

Read the play

If you would like to read more of Hamlet, you will find the entire play on Project Gutenberg.

Link to Project Gutenberg: Hamlet by William Shakespeare


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