PREMIÈRE · UPPER SECONDARY · B1+ towards B2

Session 4: To be or not to be

Part 4. What does Hamlet's most famous speech tell us about the tragic hero?

Objectives

Today's language goal

To analyse the soliloquy and express a hypothesis or a dilemma, we need the words of the soliloquy (suffer, fortune, troubles, conscience, coward, soliloquy) and the language of hypothesis: if, whether ... or, unless, what if.

Warm-up

Students hear the first line read three ways: angry, sad, calm. Which one works best, and why?

Documents

"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; No more;"
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, scene 1, Hamlet
"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;"
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, scene 1, Hamlet

Vocabulary

WordMeaning
questionsomething you ask
sufferfeel pain
fortunedestiny, luck
troublesproblems
sleeprest, here an image of death
consciencethe inner sense of good and bad
cowardspeople without courage
soliloquya speech alone on stage

Grammar lesson: hypothesis: if, whether ... or, unless, what if

To analyse the soliloquy and express a hypothesis or a dilemma, we need hypothesis: if, whether ... or, unless, what if
For the teacher: how to run it (8 to 10 minutes)
  1. Read the first line in three ways (warm-up). Ask: what is the question? Write “whether to live or to die”.
  2. Show the difference: if introduces a condition; whether ... or presents two options. Write the conditional patterns (real and imaginary). Students copy.
  3. Add unless (= if not) and what if (an open hypothesis).
  4. Quick check, then exercises, then the modern rewriting of the dilemma.
On the board, to copy

Rule

whether ... or presents two possibilities (often after wonder, ask, decide). if introduces a condition: real (if + present, will) or imaginary (if + past, would). unless means if not. What if opens a hypothesis.

Form

  • whether + to + verb / clause + or: He wonders whether to suffer or to fight.
  • real: if + present, will: If he waits, Claudius will escape.
  • imaginary: if + past, would: If death were only a sleep, he would not be afraid.
  • unless + present = if ... not: Unless he acts, nothing will change.

Use

  • To rewrite the dilemma of the soliloquy.
  • To imagine Hamlet's choices and their consequences.
  • In your own soliloquy, to weigh two options.

Examples from the lesson

  • Hamlet wonders whether it is nobler to suffer or to fight.
  • If death were only a sleep, he would not hesitate.
  • Unless he acts, Claudius will keep the crown.
  • What if death is full of bad dreams?

Common mistakes

  • Not He wonders if to suffer or to fight., but He wonders whether to suffer or to fight.
  • Not If he would act, he would win., but If he acted, he would win.
  • Not Unless he doesn't act, nothing will change., but Unless he acts, nothing will change.
  • Not If he will wait, Claudius will escape., but If he waits, Claudius will escape.

Quick check (2 minutes, hands up or mini whiteboards)If, whether or unless?

  1. Hamlet doesn't know ______ to live or to die.
  2. ______ he acts, nothing will change.
  3. ______ death were only a sleep, he would not be afraid.
Show the answers

1. whether. 2. Unless. 3. If.

Exercises

EntryRecognition. Two options (W), real condition (R), imaginary condition (I) or if not (U)?

  1. He wonders whether to suffer or to fight.
  2. If he waits, Claudius will escape.
  3. If he were braver, he would act.
  4. Unless he finds proof, he will not kill.
  5. Whether he lives or dies, the problem stays.
  6. If death were a dreamless sleep, everyone would choose it.
Show the answers

1. W. 2. R. 3. I. 4. U. 5. W. 6. I.

CoreGap-fill. Complete with whether, or, if, unless and put the verbs in the right form.

  1. Hamlet wonders ______ to suffer ______ to take arms.
  2. If he (fight), he (end) his troubles.
  3. If death (be) only a sleep, it (be) easy.
  4. ______ conscience stops him, he will act.
  5. He asks himself ______ death is the end ______ the beginning of bad dreams.
  6. If he (not / think) so much, he (act) faster.
  7. ______ he decides now, Claudius will win.
Show the answers

1. whether, or. 2. fights, will end. 3. were, would be. 4. Unless. 5. whether, or. 6. didn't think, would act. 7. Unless.

StretchProduction. Rewrite Hamlet's dilemma in modern English in six sentences, with whether, two if-sentences (one real, one imaginary), unless and what if.

Show the answers

For example: I wonder whether I should accept my pain or fight it. If I fight, I might die. If death were only a peaceful sleep, I would not hesitate. But what if death is full of nightmares? Unless I know what comes after, I will keep suffering. So thinking too much makes me a coward.

Going further (for students heading to language studies)Advanced. Inversion and formal hypothesis. Rewrite.

  1. If Hamlet had acted at once, Ophelia would still be alive. (Had ...)
  2. If death were only a sleep, nobody would fear it. (Were ...)
  3. If he should find proof, he will act. (Should ...)
  4. Suppose that death is a dream: what then?
Show the answers

1. Had Hamlet acted at once, Ophelia would still be alive. 2. Were death only a sleep, nobody would fear it. 3. Should he find proof, he will act. 4. For example: Supposing death were a dream, would we dare to die? Inversion is formal and literary, close to Shakespeare's own “Whether 'tis nobler”.

Words in action

To say it precisely, we need the right words

EntryMatch: suffer, fortune, coward, soliloquy.

  1. a speech alone on stage
  2. a person without courage
  3. destiny, luck
  4. feel pain
Show the answers

1. soliloquy. 2. coward. 3. fortune. 4. suffer.

CoreRewrite in modern English: “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, “to take arms against a sea of troubles”.

Show the answers

the attacks of a cruel destiny; to fight against all one's problems.

StretchExplain why “To die: to sleep” is a comforting idea at first.

Show the answers

Because sleep is peaceful: if death is only sleep, it ends pain without fear.

Activities

  1. Explain the metaphors: 'slings and arrows', 'a sea of troubles'.
  2. Two choices: suffer or fight. Rewrite the dilemma in modern English.
  3. Why does conscience make 'cowards' of us? Link it to Hamlet's delay.
  4. Oral: learn and perform six lines with pauses and stress. Extension C1/C2: write your own modern soliloquy on a dilemma (150 words) with imagery.

More activities

Exercises
  1. What two options does Hamlet compare?
  2. What is 'outrageous fortune'?
  3. Find the word that means fighting.
  4. Complete: If Hamlet ______ (act), he would avenge his father.
  5. Why is the speech a soliloquy?
Corrigé of the exercises
  1. To suffer in silence or to fight his troubles (and perhaps to die).
  2. Cruel, unfair destiny.
  3. 'arms' (to take arms)
  4. acted
  5. He is alone and speaks his thoughts aloud to the audience.

Sentence starters

Role play

Student A is Hamlet, Student B is his inner voice. Hamlet hesitates; the voice pushes him to act. Then swap.

Figures of speech in the documents

Metaphors of suffering: slings and arrows, a sea of troubles, death as sleep

“The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles” “To die: to sleep” (Act III, scene 1, Hamlet)

Fortune shoots at us like an archer: slings and arrows is a metaphor of attack. Our problems become an ocean: a sea of troubles, immense and endless. Fighting the sea with weapons is impossible, which shows that the fight is hopeless (critics call this a mixed metaphor). To die: to sleep is a metaphor and a euphemism: death is presented as a gentle sleep.

EntryWhat is compared to a sea?

Show the answers

Hamlet's troubles, his problems.

CoreWhy is it absurd to “take arms” against a sea? What does it show?

Show the answers

Weapons cannot stop the sea: the image shows that fighting fate seems hopeless.

StretchWrite two lines of your own soliloquy with a metaphor of attack and a metaphor of water.

Show the answers

For example: Exams fire their arrows every Monday, and I am drowning in an ocean of homework.

Gap-fill worksheet

QR code to this worksheet
Word bank: question, suffer, fortune, troubles, sleep, conscience, cowards, soliloquy
  1. 'To be, or not to be, that is the ______.'
  2. Hamlet wonders whether to ______ in the mind.
  3. Outrageous ______ attacks him.
  4. He imagines a sea of ______.
  5. Death is compared to ______.
  6. ______ makes us hesitate.
  7. It makes ______ of us all.
  8. A speech alone on stage is a ______.
Answer key
  1. question
  2. suffer
  3. fortune
  4. troubles
  5. sleep
  6. Conscience
  7. cowards
  8. soliloquy

Expression task

Now say it

Write and perform your own modern soliloquy on a dilemma (a few lines read with pauses and stress).

EntryFour lines: the dilemma with whether ... or, and one if-sentence.

CoreEight to ten lines: two options, consequences with if, one metaphor, a final question.

Stretch150 words with an inversion, unless, two metaphors, then perform it with intonation.

Tools to use:

Show a model answer

To speak or not to speak, that is my question. I wonder whether I should tell my friend the truth or keep quiet. If I tell her, she will be angry. If I kept the secret, I would carry a sea of guilt. Unless I speak now, the lie will grow. What if silence is the real coward's choice?

Assessment grid

CriteriaLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4
Analysis of imagesRarelySometimesMostlyAlways and precisely
IntonationHard to followSome errorsClearRich and accurate
Use of the textNo quotationOne quotationTwo quotations, explainedQuotations analysed

Homework

Learn six lines and record yourself (one minute).

Links reminder