Monologul lui Hamlet (William Shakespeare)

In interpretarea lui Mel Gibson din filmul regizat de Franco Zeffirelli in1990, in care mai apar: Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Helena Bonham Carter.

(Actul III, scena 1)
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 heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. 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,
Th’ 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 th’ 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 undiscovered 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 enterprise of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.

In interpretarea lui Derek Jacobi, in ecranizarea pentru televiziune din 1980, regizata de Rodney Bennett

(dupa traducerea lui Dan Dutescu si Leon Levitchi)

A fi sau a nu fi… Aceasta-i intrebarea.
Mai vrednic oare e sa rabzi in cuget
a vitregiei prastii si sageti, sau arma s-o ridici
asupra marii de griji, si sa le curmi?
Sa mori, sa dormi… Atat.
Si printr-un somn sa curmi durerea din inima
si droaia de izbelisti ce-s date carnii.
Este-o incheiere cucernic de dorit.
Sa mori, sa dormi. Si poate sa visezi.
Aici e greul, caci ce vise pot rasari in somnu-acesta-al mortii
cand ne-au lepadat hoitul muritor?
La asta se cuvine a cugeta.
De-aceea, viata e napasta.
Altfel cine-ar mai rabda a lumii bice si ocari,
calcaiul tiran, dispretul omului trufas,
chinul iubirii-n van, zabava legii, neobrazarea carmuirii,
scarba ce-o zvarlu cei nevrednici celor vrednici,
cand insusi ar putea sa-si faca seama
doar c-un pumnal?
Cine-ar rabda poveri, gemand si asudand sub greul vietii,
cat teama a ceva de dupa moarte,
taramul neaflat, de unde nimeni
nu se intoarce, ne-ncalceste vrerea.
si mai curand rabdam aceste rele
decat zburam spre alte nestiute.
Astfel misei pe toti ne face gandul:
si-astfel al hotararii proaspat chip
se galbejeste-n umbra cugetarii.
Iar marile, inaltele avanturi…
de-aceea se abat din cursul lor…
Si numele de fapta-l pierd.

In interpretarea lui Kenneth Branagh, regizor si protagonist al filmului din 1996. In film apar, in roluri fie si episodice: Jullie Christie, Jack Lemmon, Kate Winslet, Billy Crystal, Gerard Depardieu, Robin Williams, Charlton Heston.