where does the action in beowulf take place
Beowulf The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland (Götaland in modern Sweden) and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.
To be, or not to be Though it is called a soliloquy Hamlet is not alone when he makes this speech because Ophelia is on stage pretending to read while waiting for Hamlet to notice her, and Claudius and Polonius, who have placed Ophelia in Hamlet's way in order to overhear their conversation and find out if Hamlet is really mad or only pretending, have concealed themselves. Even so, Hamlet seems to consider himself alone and there is no indication that the others on stage hear him before he addresses Ophelia. In the speech, Hamlet contemplates death and suicide, bemoaning the pain and unfairness of life but acknowledging that the alternative might be worse. The meaning of the speech is heavily debated but seems clearly concerned with Hamlet's hesitation to avenge his father's murder (discovered in Act I) by his uncle Claudius.