原话为：To be, or not to be - that is the question。
意思：活着还是死去，这是一个问题。
To be, or not to be - that is the question。
Whether 'tis nobler in the mindd 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 wish'd. To die - to sleep。
释义：活着还是死去，这是一个问题。
在思想上受苦是否更高尚。
凶残的命运之箭。
或是拿起武器对抗纷争的海洋。
通过反对结束他们。
再也没有了。
睡一觉说我们结束了。
心痛，千种自然的震撼。
那个肉体是他的继承人这是一种完美。
虔诚地被祝福。
创作背景：
十六、十七世纪之交，英国正处在封建制度向资本主义制度过渡时期，这个时期是英国历史进程中的一个巨大转折。
伊丽莎白统治的繁荣时期，资产阶级支持王权，而王权正好利用资产阶级，两方面不仅不对立，还结成了暂时的同盟。由于政局比较稳定，社会生产力获得了迅速的发展。这种新兴资本主义生产关系的发展，虽然加速了封建社会的崩溃，却仍然是依靠残酷地剥削农民来进行的。
詹姆斯一世继位以后，专制集权被进一步推行，资产阶级和劳动人民的反抗遭到了大肆镇压。社会矛盾进一步激化，它从根本上动摇了封建秩序，同时为十七世纪英国资产阶级革命准备了条件，莎士比亚的创作正是对这个时代的艺术的深刻的反映。
《哈姆雷特》是借丹麦八世纪的历史反映十六世纪末和十七世纪初的英国社会现实。当时的英国，如前所述，是一个“颠倒混乱的时代”，而《哈姆雷特》正是“这个时代的缩影”。剧中哈姆雷特与克劳狄斯的斗争，象征着新兴资产阶级人文主义者与反动的封建王权代表的斗争。
通过这一斗争，作品反映了人文主义理想同英国黑暗的封建现实之间的矛盾，揭露了英国封建贵族地主阶级与新兴资产阶级之间为了争夺权力而进行的殊死较量，批判了王权与封建邪恶势力的罪恶行径。
文艺复兴运动使欧洲进入了“人”的觉醒的时代，人们对上帝的信仰开始动摇。在“个性解放”的旗帜下“为所欲为”，这是当时的一种时代风尚。这一方面是思想的大解放，从而推动了社会文明的大发展；另一方面，尤其是到了文艺复兴的 晚期，随之产生的是私欲的泛滥和社会的混乱。
面对这样一个热情而又混乱的时代，人到中年的莎士比亚，已不像早期那样沉湎于人文主义的理想给人带来的乐观与浪漫，而表现出对理想与进步背后的隐患的深入思考，《哈姆莱特》正是他对充满隐患而又混乱的社会的一种审美观照。
以上内容参考 百度百科-哈姆雷特
To be, or not to be - that is the question
意思是说 活着还是死去，这是一个问题。
附相关章节:
Hamlet's endurance has reached the breaking point. His father has been murdered. His mother, who he loves dearly, has married her dead husband's brother. Moreover his sweetheart, Ophelia, has been acting very strangely. He senses that she does not love him any more. Now, he's all alone. The world that he knew is shattered. His black mood of despair is deepened by his inability to act - to do something to change the situation.
Now he ponders whether to continue living - or to take his own life.
Hamlet:
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 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 these 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.本回答被网友采纳