The most notable line by Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is " To be, or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet's statement defines the central theme of the play and provides the reader with insight into Hamlet's psychological dilemma. His self-inquiry is a projection of what will occur in the play. Again and again, Shakespeare brings us back to Hamlet's plight: can he act or is he paralyzed by cowardice? Throughout the play Hamlet is unable to come to a concrete resolution of avenging his father's death, whether to kill Claudius, and reconciling himself to his mother marrying his uncle. Hamlet's indecisive personality determines how he deals with these issues.
             At the very outset of the play, Barnardo sets the stage by posing the question "Who's there?" (I,i,3) Little does the reader know at this time that this question will be repeatedly asked in different forms throughout the play. Who is Hamlet? And does Hamlet really know who he is himself? Will the "real" Hamlet step forward and be a decisive and righteous avenger of his father's death or will he be a timid and irresolute fumbler unable to make up his mind about matters of life and death? Before Hamlet poses the identity-defining "To be or not to be" question, the ghost of his late father confronts him (III,i,105). His father's spirit informs Hamlet that: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life/Now wears his crown" (I, v, 35-39). Hamlet is now cognizant that his father's life was not taken by a wild beast, but by his own brother Claudius. . The strange appearance of his father's ghost should have been enough to motivate Hamlet to action. But Hamlet's indecisive nature causes him to hesitate and satisfy himself through investigation that Claudius was his father's murderer and usurper of his mother. If Hamlet had acted impulsively (as many would have done), Shakespeare would have deprived us of a psychological tragedy. But Hamlet's wrestling o...