Hamlet

Read Hamlet's most famous speech in Act 3 from lines 57-91 and explain the significance of his speech.

The beginning of the speech is:

"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,"

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Last updated by Aslan
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Hamlet is musing about whether to live or die. Hamlet is tired of his life and wonders if it might be better to be dead rather than bare, "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." I think the significance lies in the fact that we all have problems in life and wonder how we can continue. Hamlet examines a fundamental question of how much pain, emotional or physical, should a person withstand in life. Is it cowardly to end it prematurely? Hamlet laments over the pros and cons of “self-slaughter”.