To be or not to be... as a charaterization of Hamlet

Hamlet's classsic "To be or not to be..."(Hamlet, prince of Denmark, 3.1.57) speech really shows who he is. Obviously Hamlet is horribly depressed. We have already seen several examples of this, but this speech gives us a clear picture of his sadness. More importantly however, his speech shows his weakness and indecisiveness. Hamlet is consistently melancholy, but he never really acts on it; he just kind of wallows around, full of self-pity and loathing. Finally, …

…goes on inside Hamlet's head. It shows us why he wants to die and also why he chooses to remain alive. The process behind these desires defines Hamlet and allows us to make generalizations about his motivations. All of his actions thoughout the play, up through the end of the story, can be viewed as a consequence of his despondence and cowardice. Hamlet lays out in this speech exactly what kind of person he is.