Hamlet's Soliloquy Essay

Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy remains arguably the most famous soliloquy in the history of the theatre. For the character at that moment, the most important phrase, “To be or not to be” literally means to live or not to live. The soliloquy must convince those secretly listening to Hamlet that he will not seek revenge for his father’s death. Although Hamlet appears mad during his rant, he achieves his goal of convincing everyone he will most likely commit suicide. First, Hamlet does not commit suicide because he would not know the outcome.
“Who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will,
The Interpersonal Psychological Theory suggests that people desire death because they experience burdensomeness along with failed belongingness (432). Hamlet, being afraid, that death may bring him more pain as well as suffering than his current heartache chooses to live. Additionally, some critics suggest that Hamlet wants people to believe he wants to commit suicide. For example, James Hirsh argues that, “Hamlet’s soliloquy is not a private meditation but part of the prince’s strategy to mislead Claudius into believing that he does not intend to exact vengeance on the king” (5). Hirsh discusses the speech in relation to numerous other Shakespearean soliloquies delivered by characters which know they are not alone as they speak while being aware their words will be overheard (6). Finally, the most important reason he does not want to commit suicide, he wants to seek revenge for his father’s death. Hamlet told Horatio that Claudius planned to have him killed when he arrived in England. If Hamlet wanted to die before seeking revenge on Claudius he would have stayed on the ship, but instead he came back to Denmark (5.1.