The Undiscovered Country
Nothing is certain but death. It is the only inevitability in life, the great equalizer, the future to which humanity grows, leans, reaches. Yet the fear of death is a constant one, universal and unavoidable. Hamlet deeply experiences this fear of death and it is in his most famous soliloquy that he voices his dread and confusion concerning this inevitable end, closer in time and mind perhaps, given his present circumstances. All the soliloquies in Hamlet, and indeed in all of Shakespeare's works, serve to characterize, and it is through this method of characterization that one is most clearly aware of the strengths, weaknesses and conflicts of the speakers. In Hamlet, the "To be or not to be" soliloquy fleshes out Hamlet's tragic flaw, illustrating the debilitating effects of fear on action. An intentionally ambiguous speech, this soliloquy is subject to numerous interpretations, each lending itself to a slightly different characterization of......
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Approximate Word Count: 2745
Approximate Pages: 11 (260 words per double-spaced page) |