Hamlet “To Be or Not to Be….” Analysis
1. Which statement seems most accurate about the speaker?
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;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
5
10
15
20
25
30
He feels rejected by both his friends and family.
He is uncertain about either living or dying.
He is pining for both an unrequited love and unfulfilled plans.
He is mourning the deaths of both a hated enemy and a beloved relative.
He is fatigued by the stress and rountine of life.
2. The choice he refers to in lines 2-5 can best be summed up by which of the following pairs?
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;
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
passivity v. assertiveness
war on land vs. war at sea
armed combat vs. unarmed combat
sensitivity vs. coldness
moderation vs. intemperance
3. Starting with the phrase "To die, to sleep," lines 5-13 demonstrate
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
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
choices the speaker faces.
fearful fits of sleep experienced by the speaker.
a way of looking at sleep.
a way of looking at death.
the speaker's open-mindedness.
4. In lines 10-14, the conflicting ideas are
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;
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
that sleep is soothing, but death can be horrifying
that mortality is frightening, but immortality offers hope
that death is comforting, but what may come after is troubling
that life is coiled with trouble, but we may have moments of pleasure.
that we must pause to reflect, but take action after reflecting.
5. In lines 15-21, to whom does "he himself" (line 20) refer? (Look on Question 6 for lines)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
"the unworthy" (line 19)
"despised love" (line 17)
"the proud man" (line 16)
"The oppressor" (line 16)
"who" (line 15)
6. What does the question in lines 15-21 propose?
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of dispriz'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear,
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
15
20
that death seems relatively easy in the face of life's various hardships
that some avocation may distract one from life's dulling routine
that revenge is the best response to the many wrongdoers in one's life
that the only way to survive life's hardship is to become as heartless as others
that the many roles which one plays in his life will ultimately ends with death
7. What is the subject for the predicates "puzzles the will" (line 25) and "makes us rather bear the ills we
have/Than fly to others that we know not of" (lines 26-27)?
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
"traveler" (line 25)
"The undiscovered country" (line 24)
"death" (line 23)
"dread" (line 23)
"Who" (line 21)
25
8. The phrase "The undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns" (lines 24-25) is
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a symbol of the narrator's hope.
a metaphor for "death" (line 23).
a foreshadowing of revelation
a reason for the "action" named in line 33.
an analogy to "conscience" (line 28).
9. Following the question in lines 15-21, the next question in lines 21-27 does all of the following
EXCEPT:
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
continue to discuss life's difficulties
answer the question in lines 15-21.
offer a way to mediate the problems of life.
rationalize why we prefer life to death.
suggest that the afterlife may be as difficult as life itself.
10. The entire soliloquy can best be summed up as
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
25
a perverse death wish.
an unresolved contemplation.
a plea for change.
a diatribe against society.
an incoherent polemic.