The Dramatic Context and Meaning of Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" Soliloquy

Author(s): Alex Newell

Source: PMLA , Mar., 1965, Vol. 80, No. 1 (Mar., 1965), pp. 38-50
Published by: Modern Language Association

Stable URL: [Link]

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 THE DRAMATIC CONTEXT AND MEANING OF HAMLET'S
"TO BE OR NOT TO BE" SOLILOQUY
BY ALE}x NEWELL

Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,

Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused.
Hamlet

DISCUSSIONS of Hamlet's "To be or not to with and helps form the action developing at the
be" soliloquy are almost as varied and point in the play where it occurs-is a logical and
divergent as interpretations of the play itself.' necessary step in any attempt to understand the
Different understandings of the play and differ- passage and define the vantage from which
ent formulations of Hamlet's character naturally Hamlet speaks or has his thoughts.
affect interpretations of the soliloquy, but inter- There are, of course, reasons why critics have
pretations which fail to consider the dramatic largely overlooked the dramatic context. The
context of the speech are surely faulty in critical fact that the passage is a soliloquy is one of them,
procedure. Unfortunately, most discussions of since this convention enabled a playwright to
the passage overlook or minimize the relevance of make a character reveal his thoughts and feelings
the surrounding action to it, an error that may without necessarily having his speech connect
then lead to problems of coherent or thorough with the immediate action. Because Hamlet's
analysis of meaning. The fault of ignoring the speech is deeply reflective and philosophical, it
dramatic context, for example, may be seen in G. has sometimes been accepted as a soliloquy of
Wilson Knight's approach to the speech in this kind, one that is dramatically detached from
"Hamlet Reconsidered": the continuity of the play. "Unlike the other
The soliloquy (iii.i.56-88) at first seems reasonably
soliloquies, this one shows no signs of belonging
clear, but difficulties multiply on close inspection. to the particular scene in which it appears," says
Commentators differ as to whether Hamlet's L. L. Schiicking.8 And he explains that "although
... this soliloquy does not really fit naturally
To be, or not to be; that is the question
into its context, it accords remarkably well with
refers to the proposed killing of Claudius or to the the general psychological attitude of the
killing of himself. Hitherto I have supported the latter
Prince."4 Implicitly or explicitly, Hamlet's "gen-
reading, but I now think that both are somehow in- eral psychological attitude" is probably the most
cluded, or rather surveyed from a vantage not easy common basis for non-dramatic understandings
to define. Let us leave the opening until we have
of the speech, particularly of interpretations that
studied the remainder.
find the prince considering suicide. John Dover
The thinking is enigmatic and its sequences baffling;
and our analysis cannot avoid complexity. It will be Wilson, for example, uses Hamlet's mood in his
the more easily followed if we remember the root first soliloquy to explain his mood in the "To be"
dualism of the play: that of (i) introspection, deathlyspeech:
melancholia, and a kind of half-willing passivity and He is back again where he was when we first had sight
(ii) strong government (the king), martial honour
(Fortinbras) and lively normality (Laertes).2
I The range of discussion before 1933 is well represented in
the abundant documentation of Irving T. Richards, "The
Here Knight establishes "the root dualism of the
Meaning of Hamlet's Soliloquy," PMLA, XLVIII (September
play" in an attempt to clarify the meaning of the 1933), 741-766. With the exception of Samuel Johnson's
soliloquy a priori; dramatic considerations have comments on the soliloquy, comments that modern critics
been eclipsed by thematic ones. If "the thinking have frequently referred to, only criticism since 1933 is dealt
is enigmatic and its sequences baffling," the with directly in this paper, which has as its main purpose the
presentation of a detailed interpretation, not a review of
confusions may possibly come from trying to
criticism. Line references for Hamlet are to The Complete
impose a thematic formula from the outside Works of William Shakespeare, ed. Hardin Craig (Chicago,
instead of allowing the soliloquy to yield its 1951). Citations of lines are usually omitted for the well-
thematic relevance, its illumination of Hamlet's known "To be" soliloquy, iiii.56-88.
character, and its meaning from within the play. 2 The Wheel of Fire (New York, 1960), p. 304.
J The Meaning of Hamlet, trans. Graham Rawson (Lon-
A consideration of the dramatic context of the don, 1937), p. 115.
soliloquy-how the soliloquy possibly connects 4Ibid., p. 116.

38

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 Alex Newell 39

of his inner self; back in the mood of the soliloquy hypothetical cancellation. The speech would not
which begins seem detached from the developing action, and
Oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt the dramatic context-the continuum of action
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, before and after the soliloquy-would help define
Or that the Everlasting has not fixed the vantage from which Hamlet speaks or thinks
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter. to himself. The speech would make much less
sense as a suicide deliberation than as a non-
But he is no longer thinking of his own "sullied flesh,"
suicidal disclosure of Hamlet's state of mind and
still less of the divine command.... and the only
emotion in reaction to his enterprise against
thing that holds his arm from striking home with
"the bare bodkin" is the thought of "what dreams Claudius. The soliloquy would certainly not
may come," "the dread of something after death."5 make sense as a suicide deliberation to the exclu-
sion of everything else, as Harry Levin, Laurence
Abetting such non-dramatic views of the solilo- Olivier, and others have interpreted it.
quy is the history of the text. In the "bad" But Hamlet says "speak the speech" and does
Quarto of 1603 the soliloquy and the nunnery not cancel The Murder of Gonzago. This fact in no
scene come directly after Polonius formulates his way changes the dramatic context or the mean-
plan to "loose" Ophelia. In the "good" Quarto of ing of the soliloquy. Like the hypothetical cancel-
1604-05 and in the First Folio of 1623, this ma- lation, the decision to proceed with the enterprise
terial appears where we now have it and keep it. of "great pitch and moment" is one of two pos-
The seeming dramatic looseness of the soliloquy sible resolutions of the central problem explored
makes Schucking believe that its position in the in the soliloquy-the problem of acting-a prob-
first Quarto is better.6 Harry Levin also mentions lem Hamlet could not comprehend until he was
the history of the text in explaining his view that actually involved in it and it had produced a
the soliloquy seems "detached" from the action. crisis. Just as the hypothetical cancellation would
"Its tone is quietly meditative," he says, "and so relate to the soliloquy, so Hamlet's proceeding
detached that the whole episode has been mis- with the play has its own relevance to the mean-
placed in the First Quarto, where the Nunnery ing of his speech and helps form its dramatic
Scene precedes the Fishmonger Scene. But its context. The interpretation that follows will test
obvious place is the still midpoint of the play."7 the assumption that the "To be" soliloquy, like
Neither of these critics, in speaking of the textual the other six soliloquies, also reveals Hamlet
history, adequately considers the basic question reacting to what has most immediately affected
involved here: what dramatic view of the mate- him-in this instance, his first intended action
rial, since the faulty "bad" Quarto was pirated, against Claudius. While he does not mention
seems to have guided Shakespeare's location of particular events or individuals in the "To be"
the soliloquy in the authorized "good" Quarto?' speech, what he says shows that he is grappling
If we ask what development in the play has with a particular problem that is an outgrowth of
most recently involved Hamlet when he enters in the developing event, the presentation of the
the deeply reflective mood of the "To be" solilo- mousetrap play.
quy, we arrive at his spontaneous decision, the Hamlet's thoughts in the soliloquy are clearly
day before, to use The Murder of Gonzago to try
I What Happens in Hamlet (Cambridge, Eng., 1956), p.
to catch the conscience of the king. Suppose that 127. A. C. Bradley makes the same point: "He is meditating
later, in his address to the players, we found on suicide.... Hamlet, that is to say, is here, in effect, pre-
Hamlet not telling them how to "speak the csely where he was at the time of his first soliloquy ('O that
speech" but explaining that instead of The Mur- this too too solid flesh would melt')." Shakespearean Tragedy
(London, 1960), p. 132.
der of Gonzago they will present The Coward
6 Schticking, The Meaning of Hamlet, pp. 115, 180-184.
Prince or some other play they have ready. How 7 The Question of Hamlet (New York, 1959), p. 68.
would we explain this hypothetical reversal? We ' On the surface, Professor Levin appears to have made
would surely point to the "To be" soliloquy and such a consideration, but he really has not. His description of
say that here we find Hamlet reacting to the the dramatic environment of the soliloquy as "the still mid-
point of the play" is unclear and misleading because he does
dangerous project he has undertaken in his dis-
not explain what he means by "still." The "To be" speech is
turbed condition and discovering why people preceded by Polonius' preparation to use Ophelia to sound
sometimes fail to act. Even though the speech Hamlet, by the brief report of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
does not mention particular events or individ- to Claudius, and by Hamlet's agitated soliloquy at the end
of Act Two; it is followed by the commotion of the nunnery
uals, there would be no question in our minds
scene and by Hamlet's enthusiastic advice to the players
about its dramatic relevance, for the speech pnor to their performance. There is nothing "still" at this
would seem essential to an understanding of the point in the play.

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40 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

conditioned by his disturbed emotional and measure also determined by the steady rhetorical
mental state brought on by the sudden death of growth of the passage as Hamlet finds his
his father, the hasty and incestuous marriage of thoughts. Although the structure makes use of
his mother, the abrupt aloofness of Ophelia, the the logic-chopping features of Hamlet's dis-
rotten situation in Denmark, and the alarming course, it transcends them and produces the
visitation of his father's ghost with the injunction fluidity of his stream of thought.'0 The beginning
to act against the murderer, Claudius, who has and end sections, comprising five lines each
usurped the crown. Starting with his very first (56-60; 84-88), are the most subjective portions
soliloquy, before the ghost and Ophelia further of the speech. The absence of first person pro-
compound and complicate his problems, the play nouns in these sections and the absence of refer-
shows that the cumulative effect of Hamlet's ences to particular persons or events intensify
troubles has already produced in him a neurotic their subjectivity by producing the authentic
melancholy, as the echoes from Timothy Bright's quality of the very deepest current of personal
Treatise of Melancholy were surely meant to thought, which flows without making conscious
indicate. The "To be" speech, precipitated over- or specific designations such as "I" or time,"2
night by his first move against Claudius, sud- "Claudius" or "the king"; such concrete refer-
denly reveals Hamlet in a crisis concerning ac- ences are subsumed within the concentrated
tion, a crisis complicated by a fear of death, or subjectivity of Hamlet's thought. Shakespeare's
more accurately by "a fear of being dead," as language here is perfectly right to help express
C. S. Lewis puts it.' (The fear, the dread is of the acuteness of Hamlet's dilemma, a dramati-
"something after death," "when we have shuffled cally relevant crisis; and the language coinciden-
off this mortal coil.") Four main currents may be tally has the kind of ambiguity that prevents
identified in the emotional flow of Hamlet's Claudius and Polonius from being sure they
crisis: (1) the conflict of making an important understand what they overhear-another dramat-
decision, which is a problem of acting related to ically relevant matter, if it is assumed (it need
(2) the way life feels to Hamlet, (3) his quasi- not be) that Claudius and Polonius hear what
philosophical view of life as a chance-afflicted, Hamlet says. In between the beginning and end
losing enterprise, and (4) his ambivalent feelings sections, Hamlet's statements rise above strictly
towards death, which is the danger on which his personal application, forming a kind of arch
problem is counterpoised. Within these currents whose apogee is the generalization beginning,
flow the meanings in Hamlet's speech, and even "For who would bear the whips and scorns of
before one discovers that the soliloquy is not as time." The first part of the soliloquy, down to
simple to understand as it seems, certain salient this line, applies specifically and primarily to
features make a strong impression and enter into Hamlet, though when he introduces the pro-
any understandings that subsequently take nouns "we" and "us" his statements also acquire
shape. These are features of language expressing the quality of generalizations, a quality which
currents (2) and (3) and reflecting Hamlet's then develops into the completely generalizing
troubled condition most directly. There is, for section that starts the second half of the solilo-
example, the profusion of words connected with quy. This second part opens with a phrase and an
the feeling that life is a terrible burden: "suffer," idea-"the whips and scorns of time"-that
"troubles," "heart-ache," "shocks," "calamity," parallel the phrasing and idea of "the slings and
"fardels," "weary," "bear," and others. And arrows of outrageous fortune" near the beginning
there is the language expressing the quasi-philo- of the first half. The parallelism defines the fol-
sophical foundation for these feelings, a view of lowing relationship between the two parts: rather
life that sees it exposed to the chaos of malicious than pursue an action that could lead to his
chance happenings: "the slings and arrows of death, Hamlet may be willing to suffer the out-
outrageous fortune," "the thousand natural rages of fortune for the same reason that people
shocks that flesh is heir to," "the whips and
9 "Hamlet: The Prince or the Poem?" Proceedings of the
scorns of time." These features make a distinct
British Academy, xxxviii (1942), 149.
impression and under their influence we try to 10 Light pointing is more suitable than heavy to render the
understand more clearly not only what Hamlet is appropriate movement. The textual studies of John Dover
saying but also especially what his statements Wilson in The Manuscript of Shakespeare's Hamlet (London,
say about him. 1934) and of Thomas Marc Parrott and Hardin Craig in
The Tragedy of Hamlet: A Critical Edition of the Second
The soliloquy has a subtle organic structure
Quarto, 1604 (Princeton, 1938) indicate light punctuation as
that helps to unify it poetically and give it the closest to what Shakespeare probably used in writing the
effect of a set piece, an effect that is in large speech.

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 Alex Newell 41

bear the afflictions of time rather than escape example that is only a portion of all the thought
through self-inflicted death. In the second por- that develops. The parallelism between "con-
tion of the speech, Hamlet's generalization, sig- science" and "thought" defines separateness as
naled clearly by "For who" and cast in the im- part of their relationship. The full significance of
personal third person, is strictly an example thought as the essential dramatic mode of the
growing out of the idea preceding it. The example speech, a mode especially suited for soliloquies,
(including its "bare bodkin") does not apply will be discussed later, for the occurrence of
directly to Hamlet himself, except perhaps coin- thought is very important to the meaning of what
cidentally in a point or two of the long enumera- Hamlet says.
tion that he makes. Only when the general ex- The opening line of the speech cannot be
ample mentions "the dread of something after understood until one determines the issues that
death" and how this "puzzles the will"-in the come within its scope. The sharp duality of "To
parallel question that also begins, "Who would be or not to be" leads immediately into a parallel
... bear ... "-does the speech begin to return duality and then, through implications and asso-
to Hamlet's actual predicament. The return is ciations, other matters blossom in Hamlet's mind
completed in the transition from the conclusion of in a quasi-logical progression that is emotionally
the example, "Thus conscience does make cow- governed. Hence the whole soliloquy is sus-
ards of us all," to the emphasized, parallel re- pended from the enigmatic opening line, and
capitulation, "And thus the native hue of resolu- since Hamlet himself seems to discover his way
tion / Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of step by step through his discourse rather than to
thought." Here, at the end of the speech, the traverse an intellectually or emotionally charted
concluding point about the abandonment of ac- region, at the end of his speech more meaning has
tion returns to the issue of acting or not acting accrued in his key question than was there when
that began Hamlet's deliberation after the open- he started out. Because the two statements paral-
ing line. Thus the speech begins and ends with lel each other through the use of infinitives in
explicit considerations concerning the problem binary "or" constructions, "To be or not to be"
of acting. seems rhetorically intended as an abstraction of
Special emphasis needs to be given to the the supposedly concrete notion that follows, yet
important return Hamlet makes at the end of the we find that the consideration
speech to an acute awareness of his own situation.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The general example has given rise to the con-
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
cluding point, but the purpose of the parallel
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
recapitulation and amplification of the point is And by opposing, end them?
not to keep the example in focus but to shift the
focus from the example to Hamlet's predicament is also abstract to us because of its concentration
in the terms that concern him. This turn in the of figurative language and because only one of the
speech is signaled strongly by "And thus," is terms of Hamlet's dilemma is specified concretely
carried forward by the shift from "conscience" at -"to suffer." But to Hamlet, who is experiencing
the level of the example, to "thought" at the the dilemma and who employs the figurative
level of Hamlet's situation, and is climaxed by expression and makes the parallelism, the whole
the word which tells what Hamlet's dilemma is "Whether 'tis nobler" consideration is appar-
all about-"action." In between the beginning ently concrete because it brings the particular
and end sections, the body of the soliloquy grows notion "To die" into his mind. To Hamlet, "to
out of the thought about acting at the beginning. take arms," which expresses figuratively a vari-
Hence "thought" in the conclusion does not ety of notions of "acting against" ("to fight," "to
merely parallel "conscience" but refers to all the oppose," "to assault," "to employ force," "to use
thought activity that has occurred from the one's arms"l as in swimming against "a sea of
beginning. Indeed, there are phrases that express troubles")-to Hamlet, "to take arms" could
the very idea of thought occurring: "must give us readily be a metaphor for his plan to act against
pause" (must make us stop and think) and Claudius by conducting the dangerous investiga-
"there's the respect" ("respect" in the sense of a tion, an action conceived in the spirit of oppos-
consideration, which is thought, or of a view- ing, exposing, and ultimately getting revenge on
point, which implies it). Because it embraces a murderer and usurper. This meaning of "to
everything in the passage that develops from the take arms" is the one most relevant to Hamlet in
opening line, "thought" separates itself from dramatic terms, and it brings "to die" to his
"conscience," which pertains mainly to the mind. At this point in the speech whatever clarifi-

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42 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

cation the parallel duality of the "whether 'tis futility of effective opposition and the probability
nobler" section has begun to make of "To be or of death as a result of taking arms. "To die" is
not to be" is complicated by the ensuing rele-
vance of "To die," and in this manner the open- 11 An example from Sonnet 18 will illustrate the technique
in a different context. The open phrase is "every fair" in the
ing line receives simultaneously its clarification
first of the following lines:
and complexity of meaning. Setting up words
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
that remain open to receive meaning created By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;
along the way is not an unusual poetic technique But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
with Shakespeare."' Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Because the whole "Whether 'tis nobler" Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
consideration is not a simple explicit particular- In the next-to-last line the iterative use of "fair" in referring
ization of "To be or not to be," it constitutes a to the person causes a backtracking to "every fair," where
"fair" seemed at first to be an adjective in a phrase speaking
major crux in the soliloquy. "To be or not to be"
of every fair summer day. Shakespeare uses it substantively,
cannot have clarification until it receives it from however, and by backtracking we realize that he is definitely
the parallel binary consideration that is rhetori- speaking of every type of fairness. As a result of seeing that
cally intended to provide it-and the relationship the scope of "every fair" includes "That fair thou owest"
(the specificity of "that" also points back relatedly to the
turns out to be not a simple one-to-one equation.
comprehensiveness of "every"), the line "By chance, or na-
The critical problem is to clarify the "Whether ture's changing course, untrimmed" acquires poignant human
'tis nobler" statement with a minimum of exte- relevance as a description of how "Death" in the last line may
rior (albeit cogent) supposition and a maximum come. That whole line, in addition to "every fair," has re-
of dramatically interior explanation. Since the mained open to receive-and thereby yield-additional mean-
ing created along the way. How the poetic flux can be blocked
statement seems to have definite meaning for
off may be seen if the open phrase is eliminated by substitut-
Hamlet, the ultimate task is to arrive at the par- ing "And summer's day from fair sometime declines," a line
ticulars that he has in mind, if this is possible. which is metrically correct and fits the immediate context.
The problem involved here has been well de- 12 Johnson on Shakespeare, ed. Walter Raleigh (London,
1959), p. 191.
scribed by Samuel Johnson in his interpretation
19 Johnson's method is to project himself into Hamlet's
of the speech: "This celebrated soliloquy, ... mind in an attempt to trace the movement and fill in the
bursting from a man distracted with contrariety unexpressed connections of his thoughts. Hamlet, Johnson
of desires, and overwhelmed with the magnitude says, "meditates on his situation in this manner: Before I can
of his own purposes, is connected rather in the form any rational scheme of action under this pressure of dis-
tress, it is necessary to decide, whether, after our present state,
speaker's mind, than on his tongue."''2 Although
we are to be or not to be. That is the question, which, as it
Johnson has described the problem well, and has shall be answered, will determine, whether 'tis nobler, and
a sense of the dramatic relevance of the passage, more suitable to the dignity of reason, to suffer the outrages
his own interpretation is troubled by a faulty of fortune patiently, or to take arms against them, and by
method of finding the connections of thought in opposing end them, though perhlaps with the loss of life."
Ibid. [Johnson's italics.] Johnson is quite mistaken in thinking
Hamlet's mind to form an understanding of the
that the prince has any doubt "whether, after our present
speech.'" state, we are to be or not to be." Johnson's words express the
The connections in Hamlet's mind are deter- doubt, not Hamlet's, for Hamlet has no such problem of be-
mined by all the implications of his expression in lief, and his thought and expression in the soliloquy are
the "Whether 'tis nobler" consideration, implica- predicated on a belief in existence after death. For a discus-
sion of the soliloquy in terms of renaissance Christian out-
tions that complicate the central issue confront- look, see Bertram Joseph, Conscience and the King: A Study
ing him: to act ("take arms") or not to act ("to of Hamlet (London, 1953), pp. 111-116. By wedging "after
suffer"). In his present experience of life he is not our present state" into his own "whether" construction,
sure which course is "nobler." He sees life fatalis- and by harnessing "whether" and "we are" onto Hamlet's
opening words, Johnson has seriously distorted Hamlet's
tically exposed to the outrages of hostile fortune,
expression and has diverted us away from what Hamlet
and within this tragic view of life he entertains actually says, to Johnson's statements utilizing some of
the idea of the nobility of suffering. If to "take Hamlet's words and adding others. What is faulty in John-
arms" against them would end the troubles fa- son's method is that he attempts to fill in meaning rather
vored by fortune, it would unquestionably be than to arrive at it through analysis.
L. C. Knights makes a similar error by adopting Johnson's
nobler to eliminate evil than to endure it. But
method. Knights believes that Johnson not only defined the
Hamlet feels that he has a "sea of troubles," a problem correctly but also used the right procedure in trying
figure that expresses his sense of the multitude to solve it. But he does not accept Johnson's interpretation
and overwhelming magnitude of his problems. and attempts to fill in differently: "Now I feel sure that
Johnson is right in implicitly rejecting the idea of suicide
Who can hope to be victorious against the sea?
at this point, and I think that the idea of immortality is
Hence "by opposing end them" is clarified by indeed very close to the forefront of Hamlet's consciousness.
"To die" and expresses Hamlet's sense of the But there is that in Johnson's phrasing which partially oh-

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 Alex Newell 43

the grim implication of acting, but his troubles of whether or not to proceed with the action
feel so oppressive to him that he associates "To conceived the previous day. It is less important
die" with "to sleep," and would welcome such a to try to specify all the possible stratifications
tranquil release from the afflictions of life-" 'tis than to see how the statement functions as a
a consummation devoutly to be wished." But complex symbolic abstraction.15 It is very impor-
tant, however, to point out that one meaning
because his death, which seems almost inevitable
which cannot stratify itself is the idea of suicide.
to him if he acts, would be another triumph for
"Take arms" and "opposing" cannot mean to act
outrageous fortune, and because his death would
against Claudius if they are taken to mean to act
not end the present evils, it may be nobler to
against life by committing suicide; both are not
suffer passively in defiance of outrageous fortune
"somehow included," as G. Wilson Knight thinks
rather than to die in active but futile defiance.14
Whether Hamlet has accurately assessed his
situation and the predicament of life is beside the scures the full implications of the crucial phrase. The primary
point, since his feelings are real to him. His acute thought is not whether 'after our present state' we are to be
sense of danger and the great risk of death are or not to be; it is the question of present being." An Approach
to Hamlet (Stanford, 1961), pp. 75-76.
certainly objective enough, for by opposing
Johnson's arbitrariness in filling in meaning is revealed by
Claudius, the murderer who has inundated his the same arbitrariness of Knights, with its opposite point of
life with troubles, Hamlet may well end those view. Instead of analyzing the language and structure of the
particular troubles by losing his life. As his passage to formulate the connections of thoughts in Hamlet's
thoughts progress in the soliloquy, the idea of the mind, both Johnson and Knights have tried instead to
imagine what the connections might be. In adopting this
nobility of suffering is compromised (as, indeed,
method, both critics make the initial error of assuming that
the idea of the nobility of dying in action is also the opening line necessarily has a single fixed meaning that
compromised) by his discovery that thought may can be ascribed to it from the outset.
be a symptom of fear. But at the end of the 14 L. C. Knights provides a stimulating and valuable dis-
speech he makes an implicit evaluation that cussion of the philosophical idea of suffering as a means of
dealing with evil, an idea that derives from Boethius and
again puts him in touch with the question of that Knights explains had currency in Shakespeare's time.
whether it is nobler in the mind to act or not to "It is clear from Mabeth," he says, "that Shakespeare was
act. deeply familiar with the traditional doctrine of the nothing-
There is sufficient basis now to clarify the ness of evil." The essential points of this doctrine may be
summarized as follows: good is the only mode of positive
opening line of the soliloquy. The analysis up to
existence; evil in any absolute sense is nothing; suffering is
this point has shown that thematically and rhe- superior to the evil brought by fortune, because it is a posi-
torically the structure of the speech is guided by tive act related to good. As Knights rightly points out: "It
Hamlet's dilemma concerning the problem of is for this very reason we may notice, that Hamlet admires
action. The examination of the opening section Horatio:

has shown that the meaning of "To be or not to Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice
be" is governed most immediately by the And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath seal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been
"Whether 'tis nobler" consideration and the "To
As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing;
die" ramification. The meanings and implications A man that Fortune's buffets and rewards
of the "XVhether 'tis nobler" consideration have Hath ta'en with equal thanks; and blest are those
been seen as facets of the central question con- Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled
fronting Hamlet: to act or not to act, to oppose That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man
Claudius or to suffer. The meaning of "To be or That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
not to be" is thus determined by the implications In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of hearts,
of the action against Claudius, an action which is As I do thee.
just developing and which has yet to be fully Hamlet's deep underlying concern is with essential being."
executed. The implications may be seen to crys- An Approach to Hamlet, pp. 76-80.
tallize into questions that stratify "To be or not 15 G. Wilson Knight is the only critic I have read who senses
to be" with meaning: Is the play to be or not to the multiplicity of meanings in the opening line, but he does
not attempt to clarify how they are "somehow" contained:
be?-to act or not to act? Is Claudius to be or not
"t 'To be' can scarcely just mean 'to act'; nor, surely, does
to be?-can evil, which fortune apparently fa- Hamlet mean anything so simple as 'to live or die' and
vors, possibly be conquered? Am I to be or not to nothing more. He might mean 'to exist or not to exist after
be?-shall I choose to live and suffer or shall I death,' but that makes no proper opening to a speech cer-
choose probable death by going ahead with this tainly concerned deeply with this thought but containing
others that tend to interrupt the sequence such an opening
business? In other words, the opening line is a
demands; if this be its whole meaning, then it is a poor
highly subjective abstraction of the major impli- opening. Probably all these meanings are somehow con-
cations Hamlet senses and finds in the dilemma tained . . . " The Wheel of Fire, p. 308.

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44 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

is possible in the quotation at the beginning of speech, and the contemplation of suicide as its
this discussion. A look at the erroneous view of central concern. The one fits coherently into
the soliloquy as a suicide deliberation will be place in the total structure of the speech; the
helpful in clarifying some of the points of the other makes a steamroller out of reductive gen-
present interpretation. erality and crushes poetry, dramatic relevance,
Interpretations of the passage as a deliberation and the finest patterns of thought and language.
or meditation upon suicide turn out to be defi- If one fails to consider the total structure of the
cient in dramatic relevance and faulty in explain- soliloquy as a guide to its meaning, one encoun-
ing Hamlet's behavior. Those who make such ters problems like those that beset G. Wilson
interpretations usually do not try to explain why Knight's interpretation. On the one hand he says
Hamlet has suddenly forgotten about or lost that "the central thought is suicide''l7 and on the
interest in his impending action against Claudius, other hand he says of the last three lines of the
or why he has overnight had an abrupt relapse speech that "no one can conceivably suppose
into the extremely morbid state of a reflection on that suicide is here intended."'8 Surely one would
suicide. Such behavior may be faithful to the expect the central concern to have something to
extreme emotional fluctuations of disturbed do with the strong climactic ending of the speech.
people, but it is for the most part dramatically The last three lines do in fact bring the central
incoherent. In view of Hamlet's relatively good concern of the passage to a climactic end. The
spirits the day before and his resolve to proceed lines come in the section of the speech that Har-
to catch the conscience of the king, there is no ley Granville-Barker comments upon, and his
reason to accept the arbitrary notion of an abrupt remark shows that he is aware of the pattern of
relapse as the basis of suicide interpretations of the subjective movement: "Only towards the end
his speech, interpretations which also fail to of the soliloquy," he says, "with
explain Hamlet's abrupt recovery in the nunnery And thus the native hue of resolution
scene and his lively advice to the players. Such Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
interpretations close the lines to meanings that And enterprises of great pitch and moment
are dramatically more pertinent and that enter With this regard their currents turn awry,
into the lines more legitimately because they are And lose the name of action.
not forced in. Suicide explications have three
does its thought turn a point or so inward-to
general characteristics: (1) an oversimplified view
regain touch with the main trend of the action."'9
of the speech as a whole and a reduction of the
Knight is quite correct in saying that "no one can
opening line to mean "To live or not to live"-
conceivably suppose that suicide is here in-
shall I not kill myself or shall I? (2) a failure to
tended." It would be very awkward to conceive
see that the "For who" section develops as a
of suicide as a developing enterprise that has a
generalization and is not a personal suicidal
moving current and fulfills ultimate ends of "great
reflection; and (3) a basic misunderstanding of
pitch and moment." Such language, however,
the intense weariness of life that Hamlet ex-
expresses perfectly the kind of enterprise Hamlet
presses in his speech.'6
has initiated against Claudius. The awkwardness
Hamlet's life-weariness, which underlies his
of trying to understand these lines in relation to
problem of acting, materializes in his soliloquy
the preceding generalization about suicide is not
into a distinct death-wish as a result of his feeling
that to pursue his investigation of Claudius prob- 16 One of the most thoroughgoing and reductive interpreta-
ably means "To die." The section from "To die, tions of the "To be" soliloquy as a suicide deliberation is
to sleep" until the repetition of these words con- presented by Harry Levin, whose interpretation exhibits all
the characteristics specified. "The ontological question be-
stitutes the materialization of the wish, which
comes an existential question," says Levin, who sees Hamlet
arises from the "To die" implication of acting. It confronting the one philosophical problem that Albert
is necessary, however, to distinguish between a Camus says is "really serious"-suicide. The Question of
death-wish, which is essentially a chronic, passive Hamlet, pp. 67-73. If one wishes to retain it, the existential
mode of life negation, and the contemplation of question is no less present in seeing Hamlet confronted by
the problem of action, for action (actively chosen or chosen
suicide, which requires an active, direct assault
passively by default of an active choice) determines the es-
on one's life. The two may resemble each other in sence of existence in the general terms of existential philos-
the painful feeling of life each involves, but for ophy. The philosophy of Boethius and the renaissance
the fullest and dramatically most pertinent Christian outlook, however, should also be retained and are
more essential.
understanding of Hamlet's soliloquy it is ex-
17 The Wheel of Fire, p. 307.
tremely important to distinguish between a 18 Ibid., p. 306.
death-wish as a limited expression within the 19 Prefaces to Shakespeare (Princeton, 1952), p. 77.

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 Alex Newell 45

entirely without significance, for the awkward- bler" consideration at the beginning, a balance
ness constitutes another force helping to effect that includes "conscience" (as reflection) looking
the shift of the concluding point from the level of back to "suffer in the mind," and "resolution," in
the example, which has to do with suicide, to the the next line, relating to the earlier "take arms."
level of Hamlet's situation, which does not. The implicit evaluation made in the deeply sub-
The lines that recapitulate the concluding jective ending, where Hamlet returns to what
point of the general example are of special impor- concerns him most intimately, is another feature
tance to the meaning of the soliloquy. "I cannot of the patterned structure and poetic order of the
resist the thought that Hamlet's evasion of the passage. John Middleton Murry's notion does
question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to not stand up. Hamlet ultimately did not evade
suffer. . . or to take arms? was deliberate on the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to
Shakespeare's part," says John Middleton suffer. . . or take arms? On the contrary, he
Murry. "By which I mean that Shakespeare thought the question through to a definite,
meant the question to come before Hamlet's though implicit, conclusion. As he seems to con-
mind, and meant that his mind should slide away firm in the lines quoted from his next soliloquy,
from it. "2O In the lines what Hamlet may have evaded, at least at the
And thus the native hue of resolution beginning of the "To be" speech, is the full recog-
nition of his fear of acting. In his thinking about
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought
whether it was nobler to suffer or to take arms,
it is possible to see that Hamlet's mind returns in
any wisdom in Hamlet's considerations may have
its deep subjectivity to the issue of what is "no-
been more apparent than real, with perhaps only
bler." In its parallel relationship to "conscience"
one-fourth wisdom in relation to the three-
the word "thought" has something to do with
fourths of his thought that might have been and
cowardly fear, and just as "conscience" in the
probably was an unconscious symptom of fear.
suicide example is related to the fear people have But this last point gives entirely the wrong
of "something after death," so "thought" is
impression of the significance of deeply subjec-
related to the same fear in Hamlet, a fear deriv-
tive thought as the pronounced dramatic mode of
ing from the "To die" implication of action. In
a speech about a dramatically crucial question-
his next soliloquy, in which he chastises himself
to act or not to act. As I have said, Hamlet seems
for not having acted against Claudius, Hamlet
to discover his way step by step through his
says explicitly that thought may be a means of discourse rather than to traverse an intellectually
disguising cowardly fear-
or emotionally charted region. By the time that
Now, whether it be he discovers that thought may be a symptom of
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple fear, he has seen more deeply into the mystery of
Of thinking too precisely on the event, human personality, for as Professor Kenneth
A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom Muir points out, "In one aspect, Hamlet is a play
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
about the mystery and impenetrability of human
([Link].39-43) personality.""2 The mystery of human personal-
This passage confirms the association of thought ity is inextricably related to the mystery of the
with fear as indicated by the parallelism of meaning of human behavior, which is governed
"thought" with "conscience" in the "To be" by-and points to-the deepest currents of per-
speech (indeed, Hamlet seems to restate his sonality. This is why the problem of action that
previously acquired insight about "thought"). In Hamlet faces in the "To be" speech registers so
the lines under consideration, "pale" is thus profoundlv as a fundamental confrontation of the
related on one side to cowardly fear ("thought") mystery of personality-and of life-which seeks
and on the other to "sicklied." The hue that is to have its mystery relieved and its significance
native to resolution is necessarily a color asso- confirmed by significant action. Suicide is the
ciated with health because this hue contrasts the negation of the significance of action as a means
"pale cast" which occurs when resolution is of having an accord with the sometimes very
"sicklied o'er" by thought. The implicit value is painful mystery, which threatens to become over-
that the healthy hue is preferable to the sicklied whelming. Hamlet's -soliloquy shows him not
state, and it follows that resolution is preferable contemplating suicide, but wrestling with the
to pale fear, and that to act is nobler than not to
act out of fear, even if there is the risk of death in
20 Shakespeare (London, 1954), p. 262.
action. This implicit evaluation made at the end 21 Shakespeare: The Great Tragedies, ed. Bonamy Dobr6e
of the soliloquy revives and balances the "no- (London, 1961), p. 11.

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46 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

painful complexities of his experience of life and may be seen to lead psychologically to his climac-
trying to determine the course of action that will tic use of this striking phrase in the "For who"
be the most noble resolution of those complexi- generalization which, as has been seen, proceeds
ties, which cumulatively are almost too much for from and returns to Hamlet's thoughts about the
him. In the course of his thoughts he gains in- problem of acting. "Puzzles the will" has a
sight into how a terrible dilemma "puzzles the unique effect in its context because, like a double
will"-renders us unable to exercise will actively mirror, it reflects back to the questions puzzling
and decisively-"And makes us rather bear those Hamlet when he starts his deliberations, and it
ills we have / Than fly to others that we know reflects forward to the approaching concluding
not of." Such insight into how a passive, unwilled point of the soliloquy. In its brilliant double
endurance may result from an acute dilemma reflection the phrase artistically helps to inte-
enables him to recognize that thinking may be grate the structure. Its unique effect is rhetori-
three-fourths fear in disguise. But, ironically, cally determined because the phrase ends a
thinking has produced this important insight lengthv periodic construction. When "puzzles the
about thought as a symptom of fear, and it is thiswill" finally comes in toward the end of the gen-
insight that enables Hamlet to solve his immedi- eralization, its distinct periodic quality sets the
ate crisis by reviving the resolution to act that phrase off and brings emphatic attention to its
had spontaneously emerged the previous day. own contents, which clearly exceeds relevance to
Hence in the nunnery scene Hamlet warns Po- the generalization alone. In its reflection forward,
lonius, "Those that are married already, all but the phrase anticipates the approaching turn
one, shall live," and Claudius, who is also listen- toward the concluding point, with the recapitula-
ing, detects "some danger." And when Hamlet tion that will shift over almost completely to
gives instructions to the players, there is the toneHamlet's situation. It should be clear that the
of decisive resolve in his telling them: "Speak point I am making about "puzzles the will"-
the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, that it stands out with great thematic import,
trippingly on the tongue." Proceeding with his transcending the general example in which it
planned action resolves Hamlet's major crisis, for occurs-in no way compromises the view that the
he never again faces such an acute dilemma. "For who" example does not apply to Hamlet,
In the preceding paragraph it might be ob- who discovers why other people do not choose to
jected that the interpretation I have presented die and escape their troubles. There is surely no
does not allow the phrases "puzzles the will" and doubt that Hamlet's dilemma puzzles his will and
"makes us rather bear those ills we have / Than that the soliloquy as a whole reflects that condi-
fly to others" to be applied to Hamlet because tion in him as he thinks the problem through.
they occur in the context of the general example. One can see psychological determinism in Ham-
The test of an interpretation is undoubtedly in itslet's use of the phrase without putting a "bare
just handling of details. While I have not con- bodkin" in his hands or against his breast. It is
sidered all possible details in this discussion, I only after we see that the "For who" section is a
have attempted to be thorough in the examina- generalization that it is possible to point out and
tion of the most essential matters, even at the account for the unique status of certain phrases.
risk of sometimes appearing laborious. The rele- Another matter that should be considered
vance to Hamlet of "makes us rather bear those before concluding this discussion is whether or
ills we have / Than fly to others" is most immedi- not Hamlet's "To be" soliloquy shows him delay-
ately explained by the terms of the relationship ing his pursuit of revenge against Claudius. In his
clarified above in discussing the general structure article, "The Meaning of Hamlet's Soliloquy,"
of the soliloquy: rather than pursue an action which also presents a non-suicide interpretation
that could lead to death and what is fearful after (and strongly and admirably affirms such a view
death, Hamlet may be willing to suffer the ills of of the speech), Irving T. Richards tries to show
fortune for the same reason that people bear the that the basic meaning of the soliloquy concerns
ills they have rather than escape through suicide, Hamlet's fear of committing a sinful murder if he
which would lead to unknown, perhaps more acts against Claudius before verifying the ghost.
dreadful ills.22 The duality of the phrases is also in "Act I closes with this conviction" says Rich-
touch with Hamlet's earlier binary terms: "bear
those ills we have" ("to suffer") or "fly to others"
("take arms")-not to act or to act. 1' Although he does not refer to it, there is no reason to
The case of "puzzles the will" is rhetorically thiik that Hamlet has forgotten about the "canon 'gainst
self-slaughter" ([Link].132), which would assure bad things
different. The complexities of Hamlet's dilemmaafter death for suicides.

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 Alex Newell 47

ards: "Touching this vision here, / It is an honest testing the king's guilt and checking the ghost's
ghost, that let me tell you" (i.v.137-138). identity by means of the play, it is hard to under-
But the soliloquy at the end of Act II, in which Hamlet stand why, in his "To be" speech at the begin-
conceives the idea of testing the king's guilt by the ning of Act iII, the prince should be so worried
dramatic representation of the crime the ghost has about committing a sinful murder that he has
recounted, shows clearly that the old problem is still already recognized as a dangerous pitfall which
uppermost in his mind. he will definitely avoid. There is no reason for
. . . The spirit that I have seen him to be troubled about a problem that "puzzles
May be the devil: and the devil hath power the will." Although Richards is properly con-
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps cerned with trying to achieve a dramatically
Out of my weakness and my melancholy, coherent interpretation, in seeing the "To be"
As he is very potent with such spirits, speech mainly as an amplification of the "old
Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds problem," he vitiates the note of crisis that reso-
More relative than this: the play's the thing
nates throughout the speech. As I have at-
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
tempted to show, Hamlet's problem of acting is
Hamlet next appears-before he has tested the king, full of complexities, including the fear of acting,
and while this same problem of the ghost's identity and quite possibly the fear of sin also enters into
and the consequent validity of its accusation must still the problem. If it does, and if my analysis is
be the determining factor in his future action-in sound, the fear of sin is one more complexity in
the famous soliloquy:
the meaning of the speech, not its entire signifi-
To be, or not to be,-that is the question;23 cance, and is probably related to the idea of
thought as a symptom of fear. Be this as it may,
"The antithesis expressed in the first line,"
Hamlet's dilemma concerns the possible complete
Richards says, "is not. . . a contrast of life
abandonment of action, but it does not involve
versus suicide; but appears rather to be a con-
any notion that an action against Claudius is in
trast of passive existence versus a vital activity of
the process of being delayed, either by "moral
opposition that in its consequences is expected to
integrity," as Richards says, or by cowardice. For
lead to death." The main reason why Hamlet
the presentation of the -play itself constitutes the
does not choose "the vital activity of opposition"
action Hamlet undertakes, an action that could
-which Richards apparently assumes must
have been completely cancelled but not delayed.
consist of immediately attempting to kill the king
Why should anyone conceive the notion that the
-is not that he is "afraid to die, but afraid to die
play is a form of delay, when Hamlet conceives
in sin."24 Concluding his explication of the
and regards it as a positive first effort in dealing
speech, Richards says:
with Claudius, a stratagem that may even cause
Thus the complete development of the soliloquy him to confess outright, just as "guilty creatures
shows that the full implication of "To be, or not to sitting at a play" have "proclaim'd their male-
be" is not a simple choice between passive endurance factions" "by the very cunning of the scene"
and vitally destructive activity, as at first appears, a
([Link].619-621)? Is any act short of the terminal
choice that Hamlet, who has no fear of death itself,
act of revenge-death of the enemy-to be con-
could make unhesitatingly; but that the choice is
strued as "delay"?
rather between a distasteful passive endurance and a
destructive activity that may bring the stain of deadly With or without the report of the ghost-and
sin. His fear of sin causes Hamlet to choose reluctantly even if he had believed the ghost without any
"To be" for a time-passively to await developments subsequent reservations-Hamlet would need to
-"to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous obtain evidence against Claudius (or anyone
fortune." . . His delay . . . is actually occasioned . . . else) in order to be justified in public for taking
by his scrupulous regard to conscience, by his moral his life and claiming the crown. A secret murder
integrity, that forbids action till all possibility of doingwould undoubtedly point to the person "most
wrong is eliminated.25
immediate to our [Claudius'] throne" ([Link].109),
The interpretation that I have arrived at has and he would not want to demean his revenge by
an altogether different main focus: the problem making it appear like an assassination to obtain
of acting that suddenly confronts Hamlet after power: "Report me and my cause aright to the
he formulates a plan to investigate Claudius. It is unsatisfied" ([Link].350-351), he tells Horatio with
the complex problem of acting, I believe, that his failing breath. Until he learns about the cir-
best accounts for the sense of crisis that the "To
'3 PMLA, xizvm (September 1933), 744.
be" soliloquy universally communicates. If, at 24 Ibid., pp. 751, 752.
the end of Act ii, Hamlet conceives the idea of "I Ibid., pp. 757, 758.

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 48 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

cumstances of his father's death from the ghost, also be a means of checking on the character of
Hamlet has no clues to help him uncover the the ghost. As the enthusiasm of the concluding
truth. Much as he senses something ominous in lines suggests, the latter idea seems to come as a
all that has happened, without clues he cannot confirmation that he has indeed struck upon a
begin to act: "It is not nor it cannot come to very good plan of action. After he has berated
good: / But break, my heart; for I must hold my himself and formulated his plan, the idea seems
tongue" ([Link]. 158-159). When Hamlet learns to come as an important additional thought, not
about the ghost from Horatio and the guards, he as something "uppermost in his mind," as Rich-
senses that "all is not well," and suspecting ards states; it comes as an expression of fear, fear
"some foul play," says almost intuitively: "Foul of a damning sin, but it conceivably arises also as
deeds will rise, / Though all the earth o'erwhelm a symptom of a more general fear, for in berating
them, to men's eyes" ([Link].255-258), an idea that himself, he asks, "Am I a coward?" ([Link].598).26
expresses an Elizabethan belief in providence. Although the form of his strategy thus enables
The ghost's report about Claudius awakens a him to allow for the possibility that the ghost
suspicion which was somehow dormant in Ham- may be a devil, Hamlet still seems to believe in
let's earlier forebodings-"O my prophetic soul! / the ghost, who continues to guide his behavior as
My uncle!" (i.v.140-141)-but which has not yet though the prince fully accepted his disclosures.
prompted him to attempt any investigation, Indeed, Hamlet's formulation of his plan to
presumably because he has not sufficiently re- investigate Claudius is initially predicated on his
covered from the heartache and disillusionment of complete conviction that he is "the son of a dear
his recent shocks, but also because he clearly has father murder'd" ([Link].612) and that Claudius is
no justification or definite direction for conduct- a "bloody, bawdy villainl" (608). And the next
ing an investigation. The alarming appearance of day, when Hamlet tells Horatio, "One scene . . .
the ghost provides the former, and his report comes near the circumstance / Which I have told
about Claudius (exonerating Gertrude and, im- thee of my father's death" ([Link].81-82), he is
plicitly, Polonius and others) provides the latter. speaking as though he fully believes what the
On the strength of his initial confidence in the ghost told him about the "circumstance." When
ghost, Hamlet decides without delay that he will Claudius arrives to see the play and asks, "How
be able to operate better and find more safety as fares our cousin Hamlet?" the prince chooses to
a detective by pretending to be mad. Hamlet's take "fares" in the sense of "eats" and replies,
putting on an "antic disposition" is in itself an "Of the chameleon's dish: I eat the air, promise-
immediate first step to deal with the situation, crammed" (98-100); Hamlet knows he has been
and his decision to regulate his conduct on the changing his appearance like a chameleon, and at
basis of the ghost's report surely indicates that at the moment, like a chameleon darting its tongue
first he has considerable faith in the honesty of
" In the "Now I am alone" soliloquy, the idea of thought
the ghost. When the players arrive, he sees a way
as a symptom of fear, which Hamlet is to arrive at the next
of conducting the potentially very dangerous day, may establish a psychological connection between
investigation of Claudius, a way to expose the Hamlet's wondering "Am I a coward?" and then, after
truth by obtaining "grounds more relative" than formulating his plan of action, thinking that "The spirit
the ghost. His seemingly unqualified faith in the that I have seen / May be a devil." This connection seems
very possible as the germinal beginning of the idea that
ghost lasts, interestingly, until he formulates his
Hamlet gains insight into in the "To be" soliloquy and then
first concrete act against the king, an investiga- states explicitly in his next soliloquy, in the lines that have
tive move which overnight produces the crisis been quoted above in the text. The relevance of the idea
reflected in the "To be" soliloquy. for the "To be" soliloquy-and the idea itself-seems
further validated by being thus traceable in a progressive
It is a mistake, I believe, to think that the
course through three successive soliloquies in which Hamlet
mousetrap play is primarily a check on the verac- reveals himself most intimately. A. C. Bradley recognizes the
ity of the ghost, as Richards suggests, rather than inconsistency of Hamlet's doubts about the ghost at the end
an action against Claudius to make him betray of the "Now I am alone" soliloquy, but Bradley explains it
himself and thus provide some palpable evidence as "an excuse for his delay": "The doubt which appears at its
close, instead of being the natural conclusion of the preceding
that might be of use to Hamlet as he plans his
thoughts, is totally inconsistent with them. For Hamlet's
revenge. To be sure, Hamlet's strategy acquires a self-reproaches, his curses on his enemy, and his perplexity
definite second purpose that is also important to about his own inaction, one and all imply his faith in the
him, but in his "Now I am alone" soliloquy, the the identity and truthfulness of the Ghost. Evidently this
sequence in which he gets his ideas strongly sug- sudden doubt, of which there has not been the slightest trace
before, is no genuine doubt; it is an unconscious fiction, an
gests that he first devises a plan to make Claudius
excuse for his delay-and for its continuance." Shakespearean
expose himself, and then discovers that it will Tragedy, p. 131.

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 Alex Newell 49

into the air to catch insects (during the play scene is on the idea of making Claudius betray
Hamlet darts words at Claudius), he has a sense himself, not on the idea of testing the ghost, who,
of thriving because the air seems "crammed" in balanced antithesis to Claudius, remains
("stuffed" in a cookery sense?) with promise of honest until proven false. Since Shakespeare had
success in his investigation. And in the speech in an audience to catch and dramatic action to de-
which he tells Claudius to his face that the play is velop, he lets the audience see Claudius make
"The Mouse-trap" (247-253), the dramatic irony the trap snap. Hamlet's first plan of action
expresses the certitude in his suspicion and he brings the expected results, a "blench," how-
seems to anticipate positive results. He never ever, not the improbable confession. When Ho-
speaks or thinks directly about Claudius' possible ratio tells Hamlet's story as the prince requests
innocence. From its inception, then, Hamlet's ([Link].356-359), he will make people, especially
strategy is grounded on the expectancy produced witnesses at the play, understand the mean-
by his aroused and focussed suspicion, not on the ing of Claudius' reaction to The Murder of Gon-
skepticism or neutrality of unbiased investiga- zago. Hamlet's stratagem involved no notion of
tion. delay in acting against Claudius because the play
Indeed, Hamlet is so confident of his plan that itself was an undelayed, dangerous thrust to
he may even jump to an extravagant and unwar- catch the king. I do not find that the idea of
ranted conclusion if it fails. If the plan should "delay" is relevant to the meaning of the "To
fail, "If his occulted guilt / Do not itself unkennel be" speech or that it is a real issue in the dramatic
in one speech" (the one Hamlet wrote?), he seems action of the play until Hamlet decides not to kill
ready to go so far as to conclude, "It is a damned Claudius when he sees him kneeling in prayer.
ghost that we have seen / And my imaginations The final matter that needs to be considered is
are as foul / As Vulcan's stithy" ([Link].85-89). whether or not the interpretation that I have
Hamlet's expression here, which further empha- presented of Hamlet's "To be" soliloquy can be
sizes his black view of Claudius, is hardly a logi- acted out on stage. I believe it can be acted out
cal proposition to which we must hold him in with much more dramatic effect than the conven-
strict account. If the mousetrap play had not tional rendering of the speech as some kind of a
succeeded, would Hamlet necessarily have had to contemplation of suicide, an interpretation that
conclude that the ghost was a devil and Claudius is not only dramatically faulty (because it is
innocent? Surely the prince is intelligent enough dramatically incoherent) but also substitutes
to realize that one unsprung mousetrap, even maudlin melodrama for the fullest communica-
with the best of bait, would not by itself prove
the non-existence of a mouse in Elsinore. After 27 My understanding of this particular matter is the exact
the play, in comparing notes with Horatio about opposite of Sister Miriam Joseph's in her article, "Discerning
the king, "In censure of his seeming" ([Link].92), the Ghost in Hamlet": "If the king does not reveal his hidden
guilt, Hamlet must conclude that it was 'a damned ghost'
Hamlet might have logically entertained the
that wrought in him 'imaginations ... As foul / As Vulcan's
possibility that if the king had not betrayed stithy' ([Link].88), imaginations that Claudius is a murderer,
himself, it might have been because the smiling in order to impel him to action that would damn his soul.""
villain had a hardened, remorseless heart, not Her footnote says: "For the impact of the disjunctive syl-
because the ghost had lied. Since Hamlet had logism implicit here see my Shakespeare's Use of the Arts of
Language (New York, 1947), p. 186." PMLA, LXXVI (De-
allowed that some ghosts, but not all, may be
cember 1961), 497. On page 186 of her book, Sister Miriam
devils, could he not have concluded that only Joseph states: "The disjunctive syllogism is important in
some murderers, but not all, will respond to the Hamlet. The prince must know whether the ghost is 'a
reenactment of their crimes at the theater?27 spirit of health or goblin damn'd' (1.4.40). Hamlet later
puts the issue more concretely: either the king will unkennel
Hamlet's illogical proposition suggests that he
his guilt, or the ghost is a damned spirit (3.2.85). The king
seems to be expressing something more than is does unkennel his guilt by his agitation at the play, thus
conveyed to us on the literal level of his words- supplying the minor premise. Hamlet thereupon concludes
that is, something more than his intended con- that the ghost is not evil: 'O good Horatio, I'll take the
clusion if Claudius does not respond-for his ghost's word for a thousand pound! Didst perceive ... Upon
the talk of the poisoning?' (3.2.297-300)." I do not think
extravagant lack of logic, which resembles that my non-technical analysis of the logic and import of
rhetorical hyperbole, seems to arise from and re- what Hamlet says is refuted here. In his words to Horatio,
flect expectations of positive results from his Hamlet's enthusiasm further expresses the strong bias of his
stratagem, expectations based on his belief in previous expectations; he has received the confirmation he
anticipated. He is more justified in concluding that the
Claudius' hidden guilt. He expects a confirma-
ghost is not evil because Claudius became agitated than he
tion of his belief, not a refutation of it, and the would be justified in concluding that the ghost was evil if
main dramatic focus of the stratagem and of the Claudius had not unkenneled his guilt.

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50 Hamlet's "To be or not to be" Soliloquy

tion of Hamlet's language in relation to his cir- hand, a gesture that would help to express the
cumstances. If I were a director, I would have the special significance of the prop. The manuscript
soliloquy relate to a manuscript Hamlet would be as a prop might thus be associated with Claudius
reading when he enters, a manuscript that the who is also eavesdropping, and the play to come
actor would look up from and then handle in such could be suggested. The juxtaposition of Polo-
a manner (perhaps tap it worriedly against the nius' scheme to observe Hamlet alongside Ham-
palm of his hand) as to make it symbolize Ham- let's scheme to observe Claudius constitutes a
let's problem of action and its implications. The piquant and dramaticallv ironic interrelationship
speech would end with some emphasis on the that should be heightened by focussing the solilo-
presentation of the play as the immediate mean- quy on the problem of action. The failure of
ing of the soliloquy's last word-"action"-but Claudius and Polonius to learn the truth about
the range of implication in the word would not be Hamlet produces a forward thrust that intensifies
driven out by Hamlet's sawing the air too the suspense of Hamlet's impending project to
much with the script of "some dozen or sixteen expose the truth about Claudius. The "To be"
lines" he has written. His bodkin would remain speech fits into and its meaning enriches a defi-
sheathed, though he might touch it at the appro- nite dramatic context.28
priate moment in a gesture meant to express the
CALIFORNIA STATE COLLEGE
ease people have of attaining death. When he
California, Penn.
casts his warning in the nunnery scene, he would
thrust out his arm and point with the manuscript Is This paper is dedicated to the memory of Henry C.
toward the place where he thinks Ophelia's father Fisher and to my other teachers at the University of Pitts-
burgh. I am indebted to Charles R. Crow, Giles E. Dawson,
is spying on him; or, instead, holding the manu-
Sumner Ferris, Alan Markman, Kenneth Muir, and Richard
script near Ophelia's face, he could confuse her Tobias for reading this paper and providing valuable criti-
further by tapping it emphatically with his free cisms.

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