herself, she becomes conscious of Claudius' treachery and implies withdrawal of all support of Claudius. This eliminates the threat of motherly estrangement, virtually paving the way for Hamlet to kill Claudius. Also, however, Laertes informs Hamlet of his knowledge of Claudius' treachery in the very end, as well as his distaste for Claudius, thus removing the threat of friend estrangement. In addition, Claudius' treachery is itself immoral, justifying Hamlet to kill him on principle and since Hamlet was mortally wounded, he had nothing to lose. Hamlets famous soliloquy, “To be or not to be,” helps in the understanding that Hamlet was fully aware of the choice he had to make. Surely the “tragedy of hamlet” could have continued without such a scene; it would not have interrupted the flow of he play, but the mere fact that it does exist in the text does not allow true Shakespearians to accept the play without it. Prior to this scene, Hamlet was anticipating the night's performance and, following it, he eagerly instructs the players and tells Horatio of his plan.It is important to understand that Hamlet states his dilemma as "to be or not to be," not as "to live or not to live." To have him enter at this point debating whether or not to kill himself would be inconsistent with both the character and the movement of the plot; Hamlet was obsessed with revenging his fathers’ death (if in fact he was murdered). His choice is between suffering the ills of this world and taking action against them, not between enduring evil and evading it. A director could simply choose not keep the scene but the audience will miss it. The only argument that could be made to keep the soliloquy in a film version is that it has become far too famous to leave it out. A film version lacking this scene would not jeopardize the overall effect it would have on the audience, especially those who have not read the play. Those in love with Sha...
