To Be Or Not To Be

Was there ever a phrase so widespread in any other merchandise? What is interesting here are the ways in which the phrase is used. A number of retailers make dreadful puns. The website Shakespeare's Den offers babywear in the form of a bib and bodysuit with 'to pee or not to pee' and a 'To do or not to do' notepad. The RSC Gift shop sells the inevitable, groan-inducing '2B or not 2B' marked on a pencil, magnet, badge and pencil tin.

Puns are, at least, forgiveable. They are deeply embedded in the soul of the most ardent Bardolator. There are, however, some quite baffling representations  CafePress sells a wall art poster that breaks the speech down in the form of business objectives listing pros and cons with some aspects such as 'Which is nobler in the mind?' marked as 'tabled for later discussion'. They also sell a T-shirt that substitutes the words 'to be' with pictures of two bees, one depicting a cartoon of Shakespeare holding a pair of 3D glasses and the question '2D or not 2D' and another has a portrait of Shakespeare offering 'To be or not to be and shit like that'.

What are truly mind-boggling are the attempts at representing the speech in the form of various scientific abstractions such as: '2b|| !2b = ?'. There are also:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

None of which has to do with the Danish ditherer. This is the modern variant of Shakespeare's universality. This is reducing Shakespeare to an alphanumeric, diagrammatic, almost digital format which might not, initially seem to be harmful. After all, the very concept behind one of the great digital enterprises of the century, the internet, was its universality - 'This is for everyone'. What could be wrong with a little humorous digital play on Shakespeare's most recognised speech? But rendering Shakespeare as datastream in this way does not mean that Shakespeare's words in this case are opened up for exploration. One of the great ironies of digital technology is that one can use it without the slightest concept of how it all works. And in the same way that the internet is a tool to be used with no understanding of the underlying technology, codifying Shakespeare in this way removes the need for an understanding of what actually lies behind Shakespeare's words. This is how a phrase synonymous with meditations on life, translates such equivocation into the modern vernacular. Like most of the internet, reducing 'To be or not to be' to a mathematical formula, is not as artful or subversive a form as it first appears.


Merchandise available from RSC Gift Shop and http://www.rsc.org.uk/shop/ ; Photograph from current display at the giftshop.For Shakespeare's Den, see http://www.shakespearesden.com/shakespeare-collectibles.html; Cafe Press is at http://shop.cafepress.co.uk/to-be-or-not-to-be and illustrations are taken from their website.