In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the famous "to be or not to be'' soliloquy captures Hamlet's complex attitude toward death. Shakespeare uses messages throughout the story to show the confusion that Hamlet faces in his life. Throughout the speech, it is obvious that Hamlet is over thinking and wavering between two different extremes: life and death.Hamlet considers the merits of both living and dying, ultimately deciding that the fear of the unknown afterlife makes people prefer to endure the sufferings of life. In William Shakespeare's famous play, Hamlet, he uses metaphors, personification, and tone to convey Hamlet's struggle between life and death.
In Shakespeare play, Hamley, Hamlet's soliloquy begins with a rhetorical question that sets the tone for the rest of the speech. "To be or not to be, that is the question" sets up the conflict between life and death that Hamlet is grappling with. The use of "question" suggests that Hamlet is uncertain and
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For example, when Hamlet contemplates the afterlife, he says, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause." The use of "dreams" personifies the afterlife, suggesting that it is a mysterious and uncertain realm. Additionally, Shakespeare uses personification to give death human qualities. Hamlet describes death as a sleep that “the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks. That flesh is heir to” (lines 10-12). By personifying death in this way, Shakespeare shows that Hamlet views it as a release from the pains of living. However, Hamlet also acknowledges the ambiguity of death when he says, “for in that sleep of death what dreams may come. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, it must give us pause” (lines 16-18). This shows that even though Hamlet longs for the peaceful release that death offers, he is also aware that death could bring further