Is Life Worth it? A look at Hamlet.
To be or not to be truly is the question when it comes to hamlet, whether it is to be alive or to be dead or to be virtuous or maleficent, the themes of Hamlet, have and forever will be prevalent in the lives of man. The themes of Hamlet range from, revenge, justice, life and death, social status and position, all of which are still very relevant today. The time of Shakespeare was full of political conspiracy and friction between the royal and the working class of people. Hamlet touches on the topic of whether or not justice answers to the noble, or whether the noble answer to justice. Even the line of justice is blurry, is it more just for Claudius to die in order to avenge Hamlets father, or is it more just to submit to the “king” and accept his rule. I think that this raises the question of the source of justice, and is there and objective just decision. Which brings us to another of the main themes of hamlet, which is choice. How curious it is that by choice a man may cause such encompassing consequences such as death. In my opinion life is a series of choices and in Hamlet the consequences of choices is a topic of play. For example, the choice that Claudius made to kill Hamlets father led to positive consequences even though the choice is easily accepted as a “bad” choice, in opposition the consequences of hamlets choices, however noble or heroic they may be claimed to be, are more negative in nature. The eternalized soliloquy of to be or not to be touches on the topic of the gravity of such choices as life or death. I loved David Tennants version because you could really see the weary in his eyes and face, you could hear his utter exhaustion with the effort needed to sustain meaningful life. I think this range of emotions is a rarely allowed exposition in culture, to ponder on the worth of sustaining one’s own life is not culturally allowed and to question whether life itself is worthwhile is truly one of man’s greatest questions.
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Frankly, the question is answered, we ARE! From the moment we are born, we impact the world around us. Even our deaths do not erase our effect. That is one reason that murder is such a futile act, because one cannot erase the memories of others. One cannot erase the loss of a soul. Just as an example, one of billions, take Robin Williams. Will the world ever be as it was before he was born? No. His death has not lessened his impact. "But he is famous", you say. Except that this is true for every being once conceived, famous, infamous, or reclusive.
I totally agree, I do think though that this type of reasoning is good for those that have led otherwise good and impactfull lives (I.E robin Williams) we are ready to mourn the loss and memorialize those that have made a positive impact, but would we extend the same to those of less ideal contribution, is it better to be, if what we are is wretched? Is life inherently worth sustaining or is only a life of good worthy of such dedicated energy.
We choose our impact. We can choose to impact the world for good or evil. It matters not whether your impact is to the positive, or to the negative. It is still impact. Every day we effect all of those we touch, for good, or ill. "To be or not to be", is not the question. The question is: We are! How should we live? THAT is our choice! I would argue that even when when we choose "not to be", that choice is futile, because it is not our choice at all. We did not place ourselves here, nor can we wipe ourselves from existence, neither in this life, nor the next.
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