Hamlet: Fate Essay, Research Paper

Hamlet: Fate

In our world today psychics try to predict what will happen in our

futures. What may happen in the future is controlled by a power far higher than

what can be seen by someone at the other end of a “1-900?” telephone number. The

play Hamlet, by Shakespeare, presents a view of the world in which man’s

intellect is powerless to understand and predict the whims of Fate. Man is

governed by an uncaring and perhaps deranged power.

The characters of the play are in no way able to comprehend what may lie

in the future. Hamlet knows that there is something wrong with the marriage

between his mother (the queen) and Claudius (King Hamlet’s brother). The

marriage takes place just months after the slaying of King Hamlet. “Something is

rotten in the state of Denmark.” The characters of the play know that there are

powers at work in the kingdom.

A power that could be considered supernatural is in control of the

actions of the play. Hamlet is visited on several occasions by a ghost that

offers thought provoking information. Hamlet knows not whether to trust the

spirit or disregard what he has been told. “? the devil hath power T’assume a

pleasing shape” Hamlet thought that the spirit may be trying to mislead him in

the quest to find his father’s killer. Characters of the play become unsure of

their intentions due to the odd twists of fortune that they are dealt.

Characters in the play that were so sure of their decisions became

uncertain. This uncertainty arises when the plans of characters are somehow

altered. The alterations change the fate of many characters. Polonius was killed

in the wake of Hamlet’s plan to find his father’s killer. Hamlet had no

intention to kill anyone that did not deserve it. It was by chance that Polonius

was in the chamber of the queen when Hamlet arrived. Polonius hid behind the

curtain and was killed with a thrust of a dagger. “Time is out of joint.” The

characters of the play are unable see that their lives are controlled by the

whims of Fate.

The play Hamlet illustrates a world where the people are unable to

comprehend and control the vast powers of Fate that commands their lives.

The concept that man does not control his future applies to all of our

lives. We may try to see into our futures with psychics, cards, bones, and other

things, but what lies ahead for us is known only by Fate.