The Undiscovered Country

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 Hamlet. Whether Hamlet speaks of his own impending death, or his father’s untimely one, depends upon the interpretation.

One interpretation of this speech is that Hamlet speaks of his father’s death. Hamlet’s meeting with the Ghost has brought the idea of a disagreeable afterlife into his mind. The Ghost speaks only fleetingly of his state in the afterlife, but what he says is potent and terrifying. He speaks of, “sulf’rous and tormenting flames” (1.5.6), being forced, “to fast in fires” (1.5.16), and tells Hamlet, “But that I am forbid/ To tell the secrets of my prison house, / I could a tale unfold whose lightest word/ Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, / Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their/ spheres, / Thy knotted and combind locks to part, / And each particular hair to stand an end, / Like quills upon the fearful porpentine. / But this eternal blazon must not be/ To ears of flesh and blood” (1.5.18-28). It is not surprising that Hamlet should dwell on death and the afterlife after hearing these tormented words. His speech, following this interpretation,