So, the question is: To whom is Hamlet speaking when he says "To be or not to be?" Derek Jacobi wrote: Over the years since I first began playing Hamlet, I have become more and more convinced that 'To be or not to be' is to be treated not as a soliloquy but as a dramatic speech to Ophelia." Add to that J. Dover Wilson's and Isaac Asimov's suggestion that Hamlet overhears Polonius before he enters in Act 2, scene 2 and we have an interesting puzzle. Therefore, is he most likely speaking to his uncle, all three characters at once or to himself? Each is possible. Most likely, I think, he is mainly speaking to his uncle.