Without the benefit of SparkNotes during a Shakespearean play, audience members can understandably struggle to engage with forgotten language. More than 400 years stand between Hamlet’s soliloquies and our modern hearing.

Interestingly, in Hamlet, much of the language is very similar to what we use today with the odd exception. Those exceptions are usually solved for us by the actors, who articulate it for us in stage action and inflection, so at least the meanings can still be felt.

William Shakespeare

However, one of the largest differences between modern language and Hamlet’s language is the sentence structure. In English, the order of the words in a sentence can change the meaning entirely. An example would be “The girl sat on my cat” versus “My cat sat on the girl.” Though the words are exactly the same in both sentences, the order is different, changing the meaning.

Shakespeare frequently changes the order of the words in his sentences from what would be considered “normal.” This often creates a specific rhythm or emphasizes a particular word. Sometimes, he uses this technique to differentiate a character’s style of speaking, giving the role a special speech pattern or tone – which is extremely effective for Hamlet.

Hamlet struggles to express himself clearly, using puns and interesting phrasings, speaking over himself and interrupting his own thoughts throughout the play. Hamlet is an introspective person, but he is also seeming to go mad. Whether or not he is truly descending into madness is open to audience interpretation.

Hamlet’s musings allow audience members insight into the inner workings of his mind, giving glimpses of madness and desolation. But his thoughts are muddled. It makes his famous soliloquies a bit more difficult to interpret, especially when you don’t have the words on a page in front of you.

In Act III, Hamlet makes his iconic ‘To be, or not to be’ speech. In it, Hamlet is debating whether it is better to be alive or dead. Below, we’ll break down the major points of the soliloquy to help you better understand Hamlet himself and Shakespeare’s intentions.

The first lines, and the most famous, raise the overarching theme of the speech. “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.”

Hamlet is posing this question to humanity, rather than himself specifically. Is it better to put up with life and all its misery (the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune) or to commit suicide (to take arms against a sea of troubles)?

As the speech continues, Hamlet ponders whether death might be the better option. He initially compares death to a peaceful sleep: “And by a sleep to say we end / The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to.”

He quickly changes his tune when considering suicide, remembering that no one knows what becomes of people after death. “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause.”

It is this fear of the unknown that gives Hamlet pause. Suicide would be morally reprehensible, potentially sentencing a person to an eternity in Hell. There’s a distinct possibility that death might be more miserable than life, rendering a person unable to take action to take their own life. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.”

Up until this point in the play, Hamlet has struggled to decide whether to kill his uncle Claudius, the king. This inner struggle has prompted his reflections that he might be better off killing himself. But now, let’s circle back to the theme of madness in the play.

Before Hamlet begins this soliloquy, Claudius and his advisor Polonius are shown to the audience, hiding to eavesdrop on Hamlet. What the audience doesn’t know is whether Hamlet is aware they are eavesdropping.

If Hamlet is unaware, his musings are that of a deeply disturbed man in need of help. He is contemplating suicide with true intention.

But if Hamlet is aware, he could be very effectively feigning madness. He is working overtime to make Claudius believe he is overwhelmed with grief over the death of his father.

This soliloquy is essentially about life and death and allows audience members a deeper understanding of Hamlet’s mindset. But, is he mad, or not? That’s for you to decide. See Hamlet deliver this speech onstage at the Wolf Theatre, September 13 through October 6.