William Shakespeare s Hamlet - A Close Reading Of A Passage

A Close Reading of a Passage in William Shakespeare s â€Å"Hamlet† â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question,† said by Hamlet at the beginning of his soliloquy, and it has become a quite well known phrase since Shakespeare s time. Even though the phrase is well known, the meaning behind it isn’t always fully interrupted or considered. The phrase can also be known as a representation of the Hamlet play itself, but the phrase is actually the words of someone whom is truly depressed and questioning life all together. â€Å"To be, or not to be,† in other words to live or to die, and at this time for Hamlet that is the ultimate question. However, is Hamlet truly depressed and crazed, or is he merely trying to fool everyone around him by playing the part? That will be the true question throughout this essay, and the following will question and explore Hamlet and his questioned sanity. I will do so by exploring events that lead up to Hamlet’s questioning of suicide, a close reading and reasoning behind Hamlet’s sol iloquy, events resulting from Hamlet and his feelings, and how this passage of Hamlet reflects upon William Shakespeare himself. When the play begins, King Hamlet has died and his son is distraught and sorrowful while it seems all the rest of the kingdom has moved on. In fact, the king’s wife, Gertrude has moved on to another husband already. Who is the king’s brother, and the uncle of the mourning Hamlet. Hamlet continuously wears dark clothing in which he claims revealsShow MoreRelated Barkovs Hamlet: A Tragedy of Errors Essay6762 Words   |  28 Pages William Shakespeare authorship: The text of Hamlet contains indications that Shakespeare portrayed himself as an allegedly dead university graduate. 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