Qoutes

To be, or not to be” is the opening phrase qoutes a soliloquy given by Prince Hamlet in the so-called “nunnery scene” of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. Than fly to others that we know not of? And lose the name of Action.

The First Quarto is a short early text of Hamlet. Though it was published in 1603, it was lost or not known until a copy was discovered in 1823. It contains a number of unique characteristics and oddities. When it was discovered, it was thought to be an earlier version than the Second Quarto, but is now considered by scholars to be derivative, or pirated and imperfectly remembered. To Die, to sleep, is that all? The happy smile, and the accursed damn’d. Scorned by the right rich, the rich cursed of the poor?

But for a hope of something after death? Than fly to others that we know not of. Lady in thy orizons, be all my sins remembered. In Q2 the whole nunnery scene including “To be” takes place later in the play than in Q1 where it occurs directly after Claudius and Polonius have planned it. Ophelia thus far during his speech. Then flie to others we know not of. And loose the name of action.

Tragedies, published by Isaac Jaggard and Ed Blount in 1623 and better known as the “First Folio”, includes an edition of Hamlet largely similar to the Second Quarto. Then flye to others that we know not of. And looſe the name of Action. To be, or not to be” is one of the most widely known and quoted lines in modern English, and the soliloquy has been referenced in numerous works of theatre, literature and music. A plot point of the 1942 film comedy To Be or Not to Be involves the first line of the monologue.

In the 1957 comedy film A King in New York, Charlie Chaplin recites the monologue in the shoes of the ambiguous King Shahdov. In 1963 at a debate in Oxford, Black liberation leader Malcolm X quoted the first few lines of the soliloquy to make a point about “extremism in defense of liberty. Jack Slater parody the phrase before blowing up a building behind him just by smoking a cigar. His version has him say “To be, or not to be? Undiscovered Country” line from this soliloquy, albeit the Klingon interpretation in which the title refers to the future and not death. The 1978 novel by Richard Matheson and its 1998 film adaptation What Dreams May Come derive their name from a line from this soliloquy.

Oakland Bay Bridge and notices a rope on the bridge’s ledge, he quotes to the audience “To swing, or not to swing”? The New Zealand television series Outrageous Fortune takes its title from the words of the third line of the soliliquy. A shorter Hindi version of “To be, or not to be” was recited by Shahid Kapoor in the 2014 Bollywood film Haider. These episodes involved learning about and fighting the artificial intelligence species Replicator. To be or not to be.

Making Sense of ‘To be or not to be'”, in Shakespeare and Montaigne edited by Lars Engle, Patrick Gray, William M. The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke. As it hath beene diuerse times acted by his Highnesse seruants in the Cittie of London : as also in the two Vniuersities of Cambridge and Oxford, and else-where , pp. Hosted at The Shakespeare Quartos Archive Archived 2013-12-10 at the Wayback Machine as Hamlet, 1603. Dramaturgy of the Acting Version of the First Quarto of Hamlet”. The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke.