The “To be or not to be” speech from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is, unfortunately, the most famous speech in all Shakespeare’s works. I say “unfortunately” because it has become famous for several wrong reasons.
People have thought of the speech as a passionate expression of intense emotion. It’s not. People have thought of it as indicating Hamlet’s suicidal tendencies. It doesn’t. People have treated it as the most important speech in the play. It isn’t.
It is a great speech, true, but its greatness has been obscured by these wrong assumptions arising from reading the speech outside of its context and ignoring its role in the unfolding drama of the play’s plot….
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