Passage 005 · 1600
Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be"
Main effectBalanced infinitives make the alternatives sound comparable, while the movement from weapons to a sea makes resistance harder to picture.
§Sentence Architecture — Two alternatives inside the question
The opening states the question. The whether-clause develops the alternatives the speaker is considering.
- To be, or not to be, that is the question:opening antithesis, followed by a clause that names it as a question
- Whether ’tis nobler in the mindembedded interrogative clause developing the question
- to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,first infinitive alternative: endure suffering
- or to take arms against a sea of troubles,second infinitive alternative: resist
- and by opposing end them.coordinated action within the second alternative
- Whether ’tis nobler in the mindembedded interrogative clause developing the question
Device index
Hover over a device to highlight its words. Select it to keep the explanation open.
Tropes
Opposition of ideas in a balanced arrangement.
Describing one thing through another without an explicit like/as comparison.
A strained or incongruous use of figurative language.
Giving a nonhuman thing human qualities or agency.
Schemes
Repetition of a grammatical arrangement.
Syntax
The syntax keeps the moral comparison open while each alternative is developed. Both alternatives are supplied; indecision is not the same as an unfinished sentence.
The line break delays the image of attack without breaking the grammatical connection.
Close reading
1The Opening Question
"To be, or not to be" sets an infinitive against its negation. The phrase is antithetical and parallel. It does not reverse two terms, so neither antimetabole nor a conceptual substitute for antimetabole is needed to describe it.
2Suffering And Resistance
"Whether" and "Or" introduce the alternatives: to suffer or to take arms and end the troubles by opposing them. The speaker does not settle the choice here, but the alternatives are grammatically present. There is no sudden break that would justify calling these five lines aposiopesis.
3The Mixed Image
The slings and arrows prepare a military scene. "Take arms" initially continues it, but "a sea of troubles" changes the opponent into water. This clash can suggest the difficulty of resistance. It does not, by itself, establish that the speaker is incapable of action.
4Revision Test
Replace "a sea of troubles" with "an army of troubles." The military image becomes consistent and resistance easier to picture. Compare that change with the original before deciding whether the original's strain is effective.
5Distinguishing Devices
"Whether" and "Or" are different words, so their pairing is not anaphora. The ordinary conjunctions do not establish polysyndeton. "Slings and arrows" function within the attack metaphor; treating them as parts standing for all suffering confuses a literal part–whole relation with figurative comparison.