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Act 3 Scene 1 – Key Scene Hamlet is in a state of shock and grief as he has discovered that his father has been murdered by his uncle. Throughout this soliloquy, which happens at the start of Act 3 Scene 1, he thinks about whether he should face life’s hardships head on or end them by dying. Hamlet is alone on stage as he asks these questions about his purpose and life. You can take a look at an extract from this scene and watch it in performance here. Using these steps, remember to look at it line by line and if you’re looking at the speech for the first time don’t worry if you don’t understand everything at once. Look Take a look at the scene. Is Hamlet using prose or verse? Actors at the RSC often put the language into their own words to help them understand what they are saying. We’ve added some definitions (in green), questions (in red) and paraphrased some sections (in blue) to help with this. You can click on the text that is highlighted for extra guidance. Hamlet To be, or not to be - that is the question; Close The question is: Should I live or should I die? Is it more noble to face up to life’s hardships or to fight them head on and ultimately put an end to them. Close Hamlet uses the phrase ‘to die, to sleep’ twice in this speech. Why do you think he uses the images of death and sleep at the same time? What does this reveal about Hamlet’s attitude to death? Close To die. To sleep. To sleep and perhaps dream. Ah there's the problem. In death who knows what kind of dreams we might have after we’ve left this life. That's something we have to consider. All this thinking makes us stretch out our sufferings, making our life feel longer. Close Life’s humiliations - abuse from bosses, insults from arrogant men, pangs of unrequited love, a broken law system, rudeness of people in power, good people receiving mistreatment from bad people. Close A dagger. Close Who would carry burdens, that make them grunt and sweat through an exhausting life unless they knew that life after would be worse. Close Hamlet calls life after death 'The undiscovered country' but what do you think he believes exists after death? Is he thinking about killing himself here or could he also be thinking about the consequences of his own actions? Close Our conscience makes us fear death and that fear means we don't act fast enough on our instincts. Close Hamlet is questioning whether or not fear of death or consequence can make us slow to act. How might he relate to this in terms of his own life? What has he been slow to act upon? (Text edited for rehearsals by Simon Godwin) Listen Read the speech aloud. Are there any words or lines that really stand out? Watch Take a look at Paapa Essiedu performing this speech. How does the character come across in this version? Imagine Explore some images from past versions of Hamlet at the RSC. Which sets and staging choices for this scene feel right to you? To be or not to be
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 enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.