"To Be or Not to Be" Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis

Analyze the advantages and disadvantages Hamlet weighs regarding suicide within the soliloquy

Identify and interpret Hamlet's metaphors for death, such as sleep and the 'undiscovered country'

Define and apply the literary concept of a tragic flaw to Hamlet's character

Evaluate a modern video adaptation's effectiveness and tone in reinterpreting a classical text

Read the soliloquy aloud as a class before assigning the graphic organizer, as the included instructions specifically recommend

Use the answer key's note that video-response answers 'may vary' to set expectations that those three questions are opinion-based, unlike the soliloquy analysis section

Preview the linked Sonnet Man video before class to confirm it is still available and appropriate for your students

Have students complete the tragic-flaw question after finishing the pros/cons and metaphor sections, since the analysis builds toward that conclusion

Close reading of Shakespearean verse — students read and interpret the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy for meaning.

Literary device identification — students name Hamlet's specific metaphors for death, such as sleep and the undiscovered country.

Character analysis — students identify Hamlet's tragic flaw as indecision and inability to act, based on textual evidence.

Media comparison — students evaluate how a modern video adaptation reinterprets and conveys the original soliloquy's message and tone.