Analysis of Shakespeare's "To be or not to be", from Hamlet

Analysis of Shakespeare's "To be or not to be" 

from Hamlet 

by Mohamed Zayed, a Linguist 

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely

This is the most quoted piece of literature in all English literature. This soliloquy is said by Hamlet. It is said to be the most famous lines ever written in the history of English literature. This soliloquy is said in Act 3, scene 1 after Hamlet had met with the Ghost of his late murdered father,  Old Hamlet. The Ghost told Hamlet the most shocking news that his uncle Claudius is the murder of his father and that he, Hamlet, must take revenge for his father. Hamlet is beginning his soliloquy with the logical question of whether his uncle is truly the killer or not, “to be or not to be”. 

Full Analysis of the Character of Fortinbras in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Full Analysis of the Character of Fortinbras in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

by M. Zayed

First of all, young Fortinbras is the prince of Norway and the son of the late King of Norway Fortinbras. His father was defeated to Hamlet's father in the wars between the two kingdoms of Denmark and Norway led by Old Hamlet on the one hand and Old Fortinbras on the other hand with the result that King Hamlet had defeated and killed King Fortinbras in the battlefield and conquered his lands. The name of Fortinbras is mentioned in five occasions throughout the play.

The first remark about Fortinbras is made in act one by King Claudius. Shortly after Claudius becomes the new king after the murder of his brother, King Hamlet, Claudius has to deal with the problem of young Fortinbras. Young Fortinbras wants to avenge the killing of his father and to restore his father’s lost lands which he had lost to Old Hamlet.