"To be, or not to be" is a speech given by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1). The speech is named for the opening phrase, itself among the most widely known and quoted lines in modern English literature, and has been referenced in many works of theatre, literature and music.
In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, weighing the pain and unfairness of life against the alternative, which might be worse. It is not clear that Hamlet is thinking of his own situation since the speech is entirely in an abstract, somewhat academic register that accords with Hamlet's status as a (recent) student at Wittenberg University. Furthermore, Hamlet is not alone as he speaks because Ophelia is on stage waiting for him to see her, and Claudius and Polonius have concealed themselves to hear him. Even so, Hamlet seems to consider himself alone and there is no definite indication that the others hear him before he addresses Ophelia, so the speech is almost universally regarded as a sincere soliloquy.
There are three main copies of Hamlet: the First Quarto, also known as the "Bad Quarto", published in 1603; the Second Quarto, or "Good Quarto" of 1604; and the version included in the First Folio, published in 1623. These texts are commonly abbreviated Q1, Q2 and F1.
Three additional early texts are known, John Smethwick's Q3, Q4, and Q5 (1611âÂÂ37); these are regarded as reprints of Q2 with some alterations.
This version preserves most of the First Folio text with updated spelling, punctuation, and five common emendations introduced from the Second ("Good") Quarto (italicised).
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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. In the version below, the spelling is updated, along with minor alterations of scansion, capitalization and punctuation.
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The text of the Second Quarto (Q2) is considered the earliest version of the play. 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. The inclusion of "Soft you now", suggests that Hamlet has not (or is feigning having not) seen Ophelia thus far during his speech.
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Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & 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. The differences in "To be" are mostly typographic, with increased punctuation and capitalization.
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"To be, or not to be" is one of the most widely known and quoted lines in modern English, and the speech has been referenced in numerous works of theatre, literature and music. The two most iconic moments in the play â the Act III, scene 1 "To be or not to be" speech and the Act V, scene 1 image of Hamlet contemplating the skull of Yorick may be linked when the play is remembered, but the two moments occur in different acts of the play.
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.
Hamlet's line is the basis of the title of Kurt Vonnegut's 1962 short story "2 B R 0 2 B" (the zero is pronounced "nought"). The narrative takes place in a dystopian future in which the United States government, through scientific advancement, has achieved a "cure" for both aging and overpopulation. The alphabetical/numerical reformulation of Shakespeare's lines serves in the story as the phone number for the Federal Bureau of Termination's assisted suicide request line.
In 1963 at a debate in Oxford, Black liberation leader Malcolm X quoted the first few lines of the speech to make a point about "extremism in defense of liberty."
Last Action Hero (1993) has Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) parody the phrase in a mock trailer of an actionized version of Hamlet before blowing up a castle behind him just by smoking a cigar. His version has him say "To be, or not to be? Not to be."
Star Trek sixth film, (1991) was named for the line from this speech, albeit the Klingon interpretation in which the title refers to the future and not death. References are made to Shakespeare during the film including Klingon translations of his works and the use of the phrase "taH pagh, taHbe' ", roughly meaning "whether to continue, or not to continue [existence]."
What Dreams May Come, the 1978 novel by Richard Matheson and its 1998 film adaptation derive their name from a line from this speech.
The 1997 film adaptation of George of the Jungle also parodies this line; when George (Brendan Fraser) sees a paraglider dangling off the San FranciscoâÂÂOakland Bay Bridge and notices a rope on the bridge's ledge, he quotes to the audience "To swing, or not to swing"? After deciding "swing", George grabs the rope and swings, saving the paraglider.
The New Zealand television series Outrageous Fortune takes its title from the words of the third line of the speech.
A shorter Hindi version of "To be, or not to be" was recited by Shahid Kapoor in the 2014 Bollywood film Haider.
Stargate Atlantis, the Season 4 Episode 10 named "This Mortal Coil" (2008) after the speech, as well as Season 4 Episode 11 named "Be All My Sins Remember'd" (2008). These episodes involved learning about and fighting the artificial intelligence species Replicator.
The virtuoso soliloquy in Carl Michael Bellman's Fredman's Epistles, "Ack du min moder", was described by the poet and literary historian Oscar Levertin as "the to-be-or-not-to-be of Swedish literature".
In 2016, for the 400th Anniversary of the Shakespeare's death, the opening line was analysed, for humorous effect by a litany of Royal Shakespeare Company patrons and alumni.
The Japanese band P-Model's song "2D or Not 2D", off their self-titled album, directly references the line.