To be, or not to be

Cultural  

1. Words from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. They begin a famous speech by Prince Hamlet in which he considers suicide as an escape from his troubles: “To be, or not to be: that is the question.”

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Example Sentences

The wryly funny “Seasons” is hardly a madcap romp in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, but it does have some kinship with “To Be or Not to Be,” the Ernst Lubitsch comedy of 1942.

From The Wall Street Journal

To be or not to be, that is the question for a solo version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

From Los Angeles Times

The “To be, or not to be” monologue came across as a rhetorical set piece that Hamlet has been polishing for ages.

From Los Angeles Times

It must be said that this change is not helped by a scene where Mescal gazes out a window at night, staring into grief’s abyss while improvising the renowned “to be or not to be” soliloquy from Shakespeare’s play.

From Salon

Just when I was silently begging the filmmaker to tone it down, she toned it up, even having Mr. Mescal tearfully do the “to be or not to be” soliloquy while contemplating throwing himself off a cliff in a scene that plays like a Mel Brooks comedy about histrionic artists.

From The Wall Street Journal