The following is a sample of a hypertext close reading in progress, not a complete version of a hypertext close reading. Your own project, when complete, should include (1) considerably more hyperlinked notes (hopefully better and more detailed than the ones I threw together here) and (2) a detailed prose analysis of the passage that you have chosen. The primary purpose of this page is to give you access to the kind of html code you will need for the technical side of your hypertext close reading.
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
slings and arrows The 2003-2006 TV show Slings and Arrows is set at a Shakespearean festival, and includes several performances of famous Shakespeare scenes.
troubles The first four lines of this soliloquy all end on a falling rhythm (question, suffer, fortune, troubles).
No more; and by a sleep to say we end This is the first line in this soliloquy written in regular iambic pentameter. The shift from irregular to regular meter suggests that the speaker has come to some form of conclusion. The rising rhythm at the close of this line, as well as the fact that the line quite literally ends with the accented word "end", gives this moment a sense of finality and brings home the theme of death. At the same time, since this line ends with an enjambment, that very finality is compromised. The tensions between life and death, ending and continuance are already laid out metrically at this stage in Hamlet's speech.
flesh This use of the word "flesh" here echoes Hamlet's earlier plea that his "too too solid flesh would melt / Thaw and resolve into a dew" in Act I, scene ii.
To die, to sleep The repetition of "to die, to sleep" emphasizes the association of death with sleep and makes dying sound peaceful. The iambic rhythm here also has a soothing quality.
ay, there's the rub The "rub" is a key turning point in this speech, when Hamlet first begins to realize that death will not necessarily create a cessation of his own troubles.
what dreams may come Hamlet's awareness that life and the events of the world will go on after his own death plagues him. There may also be an element of concern about the afterlife in this statement.
The phrase, "what dreams may come" has been hugely influential in literature, and is the title of a 1978 novel by Richard Matheson inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. The movie adaptation of What Dreams May Come came out in 1998.
mortal coil Wikipedia has a surprisingly good article on the derivation of the phrase "mortal coil," as well as its appearances in popular culture. While I don't recommend EVER citing Wikipedia as a "credible secondary resource" when writing academic papers, I see no harm in directing your reader to this site when it is appropriate. In this instance, the Wikipedia article in question serves largely as a hub from which your reader can seek out other sources of information.
The oppressor's would traditionally be pronounced "th'oppressor's" to maintain the iambic meter.
contumely scorn or scornful language
bodkin knife, dagger
fardels burden or bundle
The undiscover'd country This phrase was used as the subtitle for the sixth Star Trek movie: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. While in Hamlet's speech, "the undiscovered country" is the the ultimate unknown—death—the Star Trek franchise would appear to have reclaimed this phrase by giving it a more literal, spatial meaning.
conscience does make cowards Note the alliteration here.
lose the name of action Moments like this may contibute to the popular conception of Hamlet as an 'inactive' or indecisive' hero. However, rather than indecision, it seems that what comes across as Hamlet's hesitancy is usually his determination to perform the right action in the right time and place. (For example, he will not kill his uncle at his prayers because he does not wish hos uncle's soul to ascend to heaven while his father's suffers in torment.)
Here is where you put a brief (1-2 paragraph) discussion of the selection you chose for your close reading hypertext project. This is the place to describe what you learned in putting together your hypertext 'edition' of this selection and why you made the decisions that you did in the process.