“To be, or not to be. That is the question.”
These words are present all throughout western culture. I don’t remember when I first heard them, yet, I remember using them when I was younger. Kids would mockingly say the first line of Hamlet’s soliloquy to portray themselves as if deep in thought. Whilst I wasn’t aware of the true meaning of the words; I knew they represented some sort of intellectual exercise.
In grade 10, my english teacher suggested that I read Hamlet. She said that the prince himself, Hamlet, was a sarcastic and witty character that I might enjoy reading about. I had never read a play before, but I was excited to get a big name like Hamlet under my belt. The reading was painstaking, but rewarding. After some time, I reunited with the first line of the soliloquy:
“To be, or not to be. That is the question”.
The first thing I noticed about the scene was that there was no skull. All my life I had seen images of a young man holding a skull, looking into the middle distance, and saying the famous line. While the imagery was disappointing, the text exceeded my expectations.
My mind was enraptured by Shakespeare’s words. The dialogue was a battle between life and death: “Wether ’tis nobler to suffer the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune. Or to take arms against a sea of trouble, and by opposing, end them. To die”. The words bear the pain of a man trying to rationalize all the suffering in his life: “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time… When he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin… but the thought of something after death”. The soliloquy’s culmination is the epitome of pessimistic tragedy: “and thus conscience doth make cowards of us all… and enterprises of great pith and moment, with this regard their currents turn awry, and loose the name of action”.
Hamlet’s tragic contemplation of suicide is, at it’s core, a philosophical exercise. Hamlet explores two mindsets to approach suffering. Is it nobler to withstand the suffering of life, or is it more honorable to rebel against the pain, and through death, kill it? The latter, Hamlet tells us, may seems more preferable. But, he is not shortsighted. What will happen after you have died? What will it be of you now? No one knows! And the fact that it is a mystery should stop us from pursuing it to harshly. This is the only explanation of why people don’t just end it all more often!, Hamlet says, for who would bear the pain of life instead?
This themes of choice are present all throughout our history. Marcus Aurelius, the roman emperor and notable stoic writes to himself: "If you feel yourself drifting and unable to hold you course... hold your own; or even bid farewell to life altogether." (Meditations, 10.8). To be, or not to be. For a more contemporary example, one can turn to Lois Lowry's book, The Giver. (Spoilers forThe Giver) In a world where a single person has to carry all the memory of human emotion, Lowry explores Hamlet's exercise in the setting of a dystopian future. One of the previous receivers (person that receives human memories), Rosemary, can't withstand the memories of human loss and grief. She willfully applies to be "released" (which we later learn is in reality, euthanasia), instead of completing her duties as a receiver (which would transfer even more painful memories unto her). To be, or not to be.
Hamlet’s soliloquy should be explored as historical art, and one that, although insightful, is outdated. We now know that suicide neither as romantic as Shakespeare portrayed it, or a positive solution to the trial and tribulations of the human experience. If you, our some one you know is suicidal, please contact a suicide prevention lifeline immediately. For other mental health aid, contact a professional near you. Help is just a phone call away.
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