Is 'to be or not to be' one or two questions?

Answer 1

two! if you answer them different. that's what i think. == It is one question, and Hamlet is looking at two apparently exclusive alternatives. If you attempt to break it down into two questions, you will run into some difficulties. What would Hamlet mean by asking "To be?" He may be asking "Shall I continue to exist?", or "Shall I continue to be the way that I am?" or perhaps "Shall I just be rather than thrive?". The same kinds of problem would fall to the one question "...not to be?" Hamlet both clarifies and mystifies by offering the alternative: "Which of these shall govern my actions-- "be", or "not be"? By posing the question this way, Hamlet accepts the exquisite bind that faces him. The outcome is not by default; he should actively choose what comes next and not allow the actions of others to move him passively. It is one _ "to be or not to be -that is THE question.