<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikisource has original text related to this article: Hamlet, Act 3 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Wikisource has original text related to this article: Hamlet, Act 3 </Td> </Tr> <P> To be, or not to be is the opening phrase of a soliloquy spoken by Prince Hamlet in the so - called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet . Act III, Scene I . </P> <P> Although Hamlet's speech is called a soliloquy, Hamlet is far from alone when he makes his speech because Ophelia is pretending to read while she waits for Hamlet to notice her, and Claudius and Polonius, who have sent Ophelia there in order to overhear their conversation and find out if Hamlet is really mad or only pretending, have concealed themselves . Even so, Hamlet seems to consider himself alone and there is no indication that the others hear him . In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, bemoaning the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledging that the alternative might be worse . The meaning of the speech is heavily debated but seems concerned with Hamlet's hesitation to directly and immediately avenge his father's murder (discovered in Act I) on his uncle, stepfather, and King Claudius . </P>

Where did the quote to be or not to be come from