Hamlet: Finding Courage to Die In William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" we see a young man paralyzed with grief over his father. So much so that he is believed to have gone mad. Hamlet is such a complex character that one must look deeply to find what drives him. Did he really have the courage to kill the king or was it madness? Hamlet's character will be illuminated by explaining both soliloquies and finally Hamlet himself. "To be, or not to be, that is the question," (Beaty, 1348) is one of the most famous and well known excerpts from the play "Hamlet." What most people do not realize is the significance it has in the portrayal of the character Hamlet.