Friday, January 22, 2016

What are the personal grievances Hamlet expresses in his "to be or not to be" speech?

The "to be or not to be" soliloquy is a general question about whether it is better to live or die. Hamlet doesn't mention any specific personal grievances except "slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes". This seems to be a reference to Hamlet's encounter with the ghost and the subsequent discovery that his father was killed by his uncle. At this point in the play, however, Hamlet has no definite proof that the ghost is telling him the truth. He is left with trying to figure out what happened and what to do about it. He struggles with the idea that it might be better to just end it all than to continue to suffer. He mentions general grievances like oppression, hatred, rejected love, and justice delayed. These may be things Hamlet thinks he has suffered or will suffer in the future, but they are not specific events at this point in the play. However, they do foreshadow events that are about to happen, indicating Hamlet knows the battles and obstacles he is about to face.

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