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Playlist Shakespeare's Hamlet: Shmoopversations 16 videos
Crack open your copy of Hamlet, because it's time to discuss what happens during the course of Act I. Sadly, it has nothing to do with ham.
What is the setting of Hamlet, and how does it contribute to the overall feel of the play?
What does the line "to thine own self be true" mean in the context of the play? And why do so many people use it as their senior yearbook quote? Pe...
Shakespeare's Hamlet 8 To Be or Not to Be 167 Views
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Description:
What does Hamlet's "to be, or not to be..." speech reveal about his character? Besides the fact that he's super comfortable talking to himself, of course.
Transcript
- 00:00
Thank you We sneak in Shakespeare's Hamlet To be or
- 00:07
not eyelash What does hamlet's to be or not to
- 00:13
be speech reveal about his character so it's it's hamlet
- 00:17
contemplating whether it's worth living or basically and the problem
- 00:22
he's running up against is that as a christian believer
Full Transcript
- 00:25
he's brought in a church that believes that if you
- 00:28
commit suicide you go to hell So you're saying to
- 00:31
be or not to be if if i exist that
- 00:34
i have to deal with all this struggle right it's
- 00:36
like life is nothing but this endless log of pain
- 00:40
And if i kill myself and just free myself in
- 00:42
the pain well then i go to hell and burn
- 00:44
eternally for all forever right So he's trying to figure
- 00:47
out what he's going to do with himself and actually
- 00:50
offering like a very touching in some ways explanation of
- 00:54
of how someone at the time might have contemplated suicide
- 00:56
and what would have kept them from suicide But at
- 01:00
the same time claudius and polonius are actually eavesdropping on
- 01:03
him Remember they're trying to figure out what is going
- 01:05
on with hamlet Claudius for obvious reasons is really anxious
- 01:09
about hamlet because he's the son of the guy he
- 01:11
just killed And wants to make sure that he's kind
- 01:13
of under control And polonius is just like a stodgy
- 01:16
old jerk who wants to control everything kind of be
- 01:20
big man on campus So right so they're both spying
- 01:23
on him So there has been some critical interpretations that
- 01:26
believe that the whole to be or not to be
- 01:27
speech is actually performing right it's not a genuine soliloquy
- 01:32
in which he's actually talking himself maybe it's a monologue
- 01:35
in which he's actually putting on a show to kind
- 01:38
of make claudius and polonius think that he is suicidal
- 01:41
when in fact he's not because it definitely does direct
- 01:44
attention away from his desire to get revenge and more
- 01:48
towards his figure out whether it's like worthwhile to exist
- 01:51
Right so less of the anger more of the angst
- 01:58
What does hamlet's to be or not to be Speech 00:02:00.697 --> [endTime] reveal about his character
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