One of the most significant and evident themes from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is that of fate. At first Hamlet believes in the idea of free will, but after all he has been through, he comes to realize that a large portion of a person’s life is out of their control. Hamlet discusses this fate while talking with Horatio just before he is set to duel with Laertes, saying “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends…” (V.i.11). Hamlet is informing Horatio that he has accepted the fact that there is an extrinsic force that leads people to a certain end, no matter what they do to alter it. It is only after accepting this divinity that Hamlet is able to act without over-thinking and finally kill Claudius. The Hamlet that we first meet in the earlier
…show more content…
Michael Neill takes note of this change in Hamlet, saying “Hamlet’s sudden loss of direction ... lasts through the fourth act of the play until he returns from his sea voyage in that mysteriously altered mood on which most commentators remark” (Neill 327). Maynard Mack also recognizes this change, saying “Hamlet displays a considerable change of mood” (Mack 125) and “Hamlet accepts his world and we discover a different man” (Mack 124). The most evident change in Hamlet is that he has come to accept the notion of fate. He now realizes that his path has already been mapped out. As a result of this revelation, he no longer has to agonize of decisions since they don’t even matter. No matter what decisions he makes, his fate will not change. Hamlet, while speaking to Laertes, says “Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting / That would not let me sleep. I lay / Worse than the mutines in the Rashly— / And praised be rashness for it: let us know, / Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well / When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn / us / There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will” (V.ii.4-13). In this conversation with Laertes, Hamlet discusses a reason for a sleepless night he had. While thinking about his fate late one night, Hamlet realizes that he must fulfill his destiny and kill Claudius, and he will not waste anytime doing so. Whereas the Hamlet of the first four acts would have agonized over every little detail, this new Hamlet, the Hamlet of the fifth act, is ready to face the challenge head-on. When he tells Horatio shortly before his fight with Laertes that “There is a / special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be, / ’tis not to come; If it be not to come, it will be / now; If it be not now, yet it will come. The / readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves / knows, what
Michael Neill takes note of this change in Hamlet, saying “Hamlet’s sudden loss of direction ... lasts through the fourth act of the play until he returns from his sea voyage in that mysteriously altered mood on which most commentators remark” (Neill 327). Maynard Mack also recognizes this change, saying “Hamlet displays a considerable change of mood” (Mack 125) and “Hamlet accepts his world and we discover a different man” (Mack 124). The most evident change in Hamlet is that he has come to accept the notion of fate. He now realizes that his path has already been mapped out. As a result of this revelation, he no longer has to agonize of decisions since they don’t even matter. No matter what decisions he makes, his fate will not change. Hamlet, while speaking to Laertes, says “Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting / That would not let me sleep. I lay / Worse than the mutines in the Rashly— / And praised be rashness for it: let us know, / Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well / When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn / us / There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will” (V.ii.4-13). In this conversation with Laertes, Hamlet discusses a reason for a sleepless night he had. While thinking about his fate late one night, Hamlet realizes that he must fulfill his destiny and kill Claudius, and he will not waste anytime doing so. Whereas the Hamlet of the first four acts would have agonized over every little detail, this new Hamlet, the Hamlet of the fifth act, is ready to face the challenge head-on. When he tells Horatio shortly before his fight with Laertes that “There is a / special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be, / ’tis not to come; If it be not to come, it will be / now; If it be not now, yet it will come. The / readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves / knows, what