To Be Or Not To Be

"To be or not to be? That is the question" (3.2.55) Almost everyone is familiar this famous line from William Shakespeare's well known play Hamlet. However, it is not so regularly recognized how often we ask ourselves this very same question. Although some decisions and questions may seem small and insignificant at the time, all of our decisions lead to who we will be and who we will not be. These can include major decisions, such as to attend college or not to attend college  or in Hamlet's case to live or not to live, all the way down to, to eat breakfast or not to eat breakfast or to do homework or not to. Our decisions and our habits make us into the people we are, and deciding to do something or not to do something builds our character over time and defines us.

One question I have struggled with lately is to keep my job or not. On one hand it is extremely stressful to maintain good grades and work however on the positive side it betters my time management skills and prevents me from pushing my responsibilities aside until the last second, and also it is nice to have that extra money. To be a working student or not to be, that is my question and although it does not seem like that big of a question, certainly not as life changing as Hamlet's question, it will impact me no matter which decision I arrive at.

Hamlet's question is much more intense. He is wondering if life is worth it anymore because everything around him seems to have gone horribly wrong. Hamlet is extremely disappointed with his life and considers ending it. This a huge moment n the play because the audience realizes just how much everything has affected Hamlet, with his father's death and his mother marrying his uncle. Everything is weighing down on him so heavily that he has been brought to a very dark place where he has come to ask himself this end all question.