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Sarah Jensen
Mr. Dye
10th Grade Core B
11 November 2013
Let It Be
To be or not to be that is the question. This famous monologue delivered in
Shakespeares renowned play, Hamlet, is often understood to be Hamlets debate on whether or
not to commit suicide. However, when studied deeper it can be discovered that it is rather a
meditation on whether suffering through the unpleasantness of life or taking up arms against it,
no matter the consequences, is the nobler choice. The actions of the plays characters answer
Hamlets question. Choosing not to be by dividing against oneself leads to self-destruction.
Hamlets To be or not to be monologue can be interpreted as whether to suffer or take
up arms against that suffering, by being true to oneself or by dividing against oneself. At the
beginning of Act 3, Hamlet delivers this monologue which sets the stage for the rest of the play.
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 (3.1.64-68). Hamlets ultimate question is whether it is nobler to suffer the misfortunes of
life or to fight against them and stop them from occurring. Suffering the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune is to experience all of the unpleasant as well as the pleasant things in life.
Essentially choosing to live life truthfully is choosing to be. It is choosing to be truthful to
oneself by not seeking to alter or change ones being or the path of life. Taking up arms against
a sea of troubles and by opposing them, end them is choosing not to be. It is choosing to divide
against ones better judgment by seeking to avoid the pain and sorrow in life. Dividing against

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oneself is ceasing to be, and when one has ceased to be they have become corrupt. It is a greater
suffering to cease to be oneself than to experience the natural suffering that comes with life. This
analysis of Hamlets To be or not to be soliloquy allows a way of determining which characters
in Hamlet chose to be or not to be.
Through consistently denying the truth before her, Queen Gertrude chose not to be. In
Act 3s final scene, Hamlet scolds his mother and forces her to recognize the wrongs she has
ignored and committed. Hamlet tells her, Such an act that blurs the grace and blush of modesty,
calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose from the fair forehead of an innocent love and sets a
blister there, making marriage vows as false as dicers oaths (3.4.49-54). Hamlets words to
his mother are harsh and cut deep. He says take off the rose from the fair forehead of an
innocent love and sets a blister there, accusing his mother of harlotry and of being unfaithful to
his father. Harlotry is a form of corruption; therefore, he is accusing her of becoming corrupt
of choosing not to be. He expands upon this accusation when he says, makes marriage vows as
false as dicers oaths. Her vows to King Hamlet were untruthful. They divided her from her true
self. Gertrudes response to Hamlets accusations confirm that she has chosen not to be. She says,
Ay, me what act that roars so loud and thunders in the index? (3.4.61-62), asking him what act
deserves such a violent introduction even after she has been told the act. She denies and fights
against the truth and reality of her corruption and, therefore, chooses and continues to choose not
to be. Corruptions role in choosing not to be is also seen in the character, Ophelia.
By allowing her father, Polonius, to be her mind and make choices for her rather than
being true to herself, Ophelia eventually ceases to be. A gentleman in Act 4 describes to the
Queen Ophelias insanity after the death of Polonius. He says, She speaks much of her father,
says she hears theres tricks i th world, and hems, and beats her heart, spurns enviously at

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straws, speaks things in doubt that carry but half sense. Her speech is nothing yet the unshaped
use of it doth move the hearers to collection. They aim at it and botch the words up fit to their
own thoughts; which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them, indeed would make one
think there might be thought, though nothing sure, yet much unhappily (3.5.5-17). Polonius was
Ophelias mind so when he died she truly did lose her mind; She didnt know how to act and
choose for herself after choosing not to be for so long. The gentleman says she spurns enviously
at straws, speaks things in doubt that carry but half sense meaning she is offended over
unimportant matters but will also speak nonsense. The gentleman tells the Queen that her
nonsense draws others to make conclusions about themselves by saying, It doth move the
hearers to collection. They aim at it and botch the words up to fit to their own thoughts.
Ophelias words hold up a mirror to others actions which makes it seem as though there could be
sanity in her. In a way, even after losing her sanity she chooses to be more than she ever did. Her
words are unfiltered and have sense and truth to them, yet, they are still senseless. Though the
consequences of choosing not to be are clearly seen in Ophelia, she also is able to bring truth to
others by at last striving to choose to be. However, her efforts of choosing to be did not fully
work. The loss of Ophelias mind caused her to crack. Choosing not to be drove her to
madness and ceasing to be, the ultimate corruption as it is the corruption of being.
Hamlet chooses not to be by seeking to carry out his revenge and damn Claudius soul.
After postponing the murder of Claudius upon seeing him repenting in Act 3, Hamlet concludes
to kill Claudius while he is in sin. He says, When he is drunk asleep, or in the rage or in the
incestuous pleasure of his bed, at game, a-swearing, or about some act that has no relish of
salvations in t Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, and that his soul may be as
damned and black as hell, whereto he goes (3.3.96-100). Hamlets desire is to have revenge on

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his uncle by taking up arms and killing him. This is Hamlet choosing not to be. Rather than
killing him then and there, Hamlet decides to wait to be sure that his soul may be as damned
and black as hell. Hamlet doesnt want to risk killing Claudius while his is praying because he
doesnt want to be damned himself. He wants to trip him or in other words kill him while he is
about some act that has no relish of salvation to be sure he is damned. This act of choosing to
kill Claudius and have him damned proves Hamlet has chosen not to be and corrupted himself.
From these examples it is clear that choosing not to be leads to self-destruction. The
dying words of Laertes, the brother of Ophelia, confirm this truth in the final scene of the play.
He states, I am justly killed with mine own treachery (5.2.337). Choosing not to be brings
corruption and destruction to oneself. The blade of Laertes, poisoned to kill Hamlet, was also the
cause of his own death. The drink poisoned by Claudius for Hamlet was his own downfall as
well as his beloved Queens. The play, Hamlet, is trying to show that the consequences of
choosing not to be are the corruption and destruction of oneself. It came through madness as
shown by Hamlet and Ophelia, but each character became mad in a different way as they ceased
to be. Madness is the proof of corruption. Madness is ceasing to be. It is a corruption of ones
being. By examining the characters in Hamlet it is seen that each ceased to be at some point in
the play. None truly ever chose to be except one.
Horatio is the only character that chose to be true to himself in Hamlet. As many die in
the final scene of Act 5, Horatio takes the poisoned wine, about to drink but is stopped by
Hamlet. Hamlet says to Horatio, As thourt a man, give me the cup. Let go! By heaven Ill ha t.
Oh God, Horatio, what a wounded name, things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind me!
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, absent thee from felicity awhile and in this harsh world
draw thy breath in pain to tell my story (5.2.74-384). Horatio spent the whole play remaining

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true to himself amidst the suffering of others. He chose to be. At this point in the play he nearly
falls as well saying, I am more an antique Roman than a Dane heres yet some liquor left
(5.2.374-375). In Roman society it was more honorable to commit suicide than to fall captive to
ones enemy. Horatio nearly chooses not to be by seeking to end his life rather than live through
the turmoil, but Hamlet stops him. He tells Horatio, If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart . . .
tell my story. He tells him that if he loves him he will tell his story. Hamlet wants all to know
the self-destruction choosing not to be brought upon him. He says the words let it be (5.2.370)
as he lay dying to those in the courtroom as words of guidance, compelling them to choose to be
and learn from the mistakes he made.
Choosing not to be carried out the downfall of many characters in Hamlet. Dividing
against oneself and better judgment leads to corruption. The only way to avoid becoming corrupt
is by remaining true to oneself even through sorrows and suffering. Doing otherwise brings the
consequences of corruption of being as one ceases to be their true self. Hamlets dying words,
let it be, are a plea for all to choose to be and avoid the pain, suffering, and sorrow of selfdestruction.