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.
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.