In this well-known soliloquy, which is probably the most famous speech in the English language, Hamlet contemplates the question of death in the abstract. The line that everyone remembers—"To be, or not to be, that is the question"—implies very strongly that this question is for humanity as a whole. The possible answers to death, however, can only be provided by individuals themselves, taking into account their own unique circumstances.
Everyone is engaged in a perpetual struggle for existence and must ask themselves whether or not it is worthwhile, whether or not they should continue to "take arms against a sea of troubles." Ultimately, our choice in the matter is determined by what is "nobler in the mind." Once again, Hamlet highlights the wholly subjective nature of suicide, a choice that only we can make for ourselves. In making that decision, we will tend to do what is right by us rather than blindly following the dictates of some universal ethical system. Death may be an abstract question, but the manner of its determination, its answer to the question, if you will, is always concrete and particular.
Hamlet is contemplating suicide and death itself. To exist or not to exist is the question he debates aloud to himself.
This is not the only time Hamlet considers death, and this theme permeates the play. He is depressed over Claudius's murder of his father, an act he learns of from the ghost of his father. He talks to Yorick, the skull of a court jester he was fond of. In the speech, he compares death to a permanent sleep, which he thinks would be fine. However, he fears the possibility of it being a terrible never-ending dream.
Hamlet mulls over whether enduring the bad parts of life is better than risking the unknown territory of death. Hamlet chooses not kill himself, and the soliloquy is an example of his tendency to be indecisive.
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