Many people associate Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy with him holding the skull, but this is not true. The skull scene comes much later in the play. Even though Hamlet does not hold a skull during that soliloquy, it is still a very powerful scene. Before I read the play I had heard of that speech, but never understood what was going on. Hamlet is struggling with thoughts of suicide. "To be or not to be" translates to the question of whether to live or to die. My personal thoughts are that suicide is an easy way out of life. It is much better to face many challenges and failed, than kill yourself and never know what you could have accomplished. I understand why Hamlet feels he should kill himself, but I do not agree with it. His emotions are torn apart with the death of his father. Even though his father's death hurt him, why does he feel that killing himself is the right answer? His death would not solve any problems or bring his father back, so why do it? Granted, I have not lost a parent and do not know how I would react in that situation, but I still would not possibly consider suicide as an option.
I think the main reason Hamlet contemplated suicide was because he found out Claudius had murdered his father and was now married to his mother. But even then, suicide shouldn't have been an option. I think it's different for Ophelia, however. Suicide may have helped her in her case.
ReplyDelete