The Question of Hamlet

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.

What Shakespeare (The creator of Hamlet and the words of wisdom in which he spoke), The most influential writer in all of literature,

meant by these well spoken words was whether it was nobler to live life through all the suffering and calamity or to commit suicide.

This choice is fairly easy to make for us now-a-days for our lives are a lot easier than Hamlets was (or well MOST of us).

Hamlet's mother had married his father's brother after his father had died in battle. His mother and  father were very much in love,

therefore Hamlet felt that his mother was betraying that love that she had for his father. When Hamlet spoke to his father's ghost he

found out that his uncle was the murderer of his father (by poison in the ears while he slept) he was mortified. This, coupled with the fact

that Polonius refused to let the fair Ophelia give into Hamlet's love, made Hamlet's life a wreck to say the least. So Hamlet, the noble hero of the story,

considered suicide..... Of course, he decided that he was going to live through the suffering and take his revenge on his uncle and his mother.

And, as in most Shakespearian plays, they all die. But the moral of his saying is that we should not ever even consider suicide no matter how harsh our lives may seem.

For, if we do good in our lives, then they may take a turn for the better. So in conclusion I think 'tis much nobler to live and fight for good in life. What will YOU do?

Your friend, classmate, comrade, or anything else you wish to call me (within reason),