FREE WILL AND FATE IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S
HAMLET
A THESIS
BY :
NAME
: PRISMA U. T. SIANTURI
REG. NO
: 080721020
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA
FACULTY OF LETTERS
ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
MEDAN
FREE WILL AND FATE IN WILLIAM’S SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET
A THESIS
BY:
PRISMA U. T. SIANTURI
REG. NO. 080721020
Supervisor, Co - Supervisor,
Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M. Hum Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.hum NIP. 1957 1002 198601 2003 NIP. 1963 0216 198903 1003
Submitted to Faculty of Letters University of North Sumatra in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana in English Literature.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA
FACULTY OF LETTERS
ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
MEDAN
Approved by the English Literature Department Faculty of Letters, University of
Sumatra Utara ( USU) Medan as thesis for the Sarjana Sastra Examination
Head, Secretary,
Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M. Hum Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.hum
Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requrement for the
degree of Sarjana Sastra from the English Literature Department. Faculty of
Letters, University of Sumatera Utara Medan.
The Examination is held at the Faculty of Letters, University of Sumatera Utara
on June 2010.
Dean the of Faculty of Letters
University of Sumatera Utara,
Prof. Syaifuddin. M. A, Ph. D.
NIP. 19650909 199403 1004
Board of Examiners
Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M. Hum
NIP. 1957 1002 198601 2003 ………..
Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.hum
NIP. 1963 0216 198903 1003 ………..
Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M. Hum
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
I, Prisma U. T. Sianturi, declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. Except
where reference is made in the text of this thesis, this contains no material
published else where or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I
have qualified for or awarded another degree.
No other person’s works has been used without due acknowledgements in the
main text of this thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of
another degree in any tertiary education.
Signed :
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
Name : PRISMA U. T. SIANTURI
Title of Thesis : FREE WILL AND FATE IN WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET
Qualification : S-1 / Sarjana Sastra
Department : English
I am willing that my thesis should be available for reproduction at the discretion
of the Librarian of University of North Sumatra, Faculty of Letters, English
Department on the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation
under law of the Republic of Indonesia.
Signed :
ABSTRAK
Skripsi yang berjudul FREE WILL AND FATE IN WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET merupakan salah satu karya besar dari William Shakespeare. Adapun tujuan dari analisis ini adalah untuk mengetahui keinginan bebas dan nasib Hamlet sebagai tokoh utama dalam
drama Hamlet. Dalam drama ini Hamlet ingin membalas dendam atas
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank God so that I could finish this paper to
fulfill one of the requrements in finishing my study at the university of North
Sumatra.
Making a thesis is not an easy wok. Every one has to work hard to find
materials in supporting htheir thesis. I belive the truth of an old proverb “ No Gain
Without Pain “. In writing this thesis I admit that I have met many difficulties.
I also admitted that there are some people involved who have patiently
guided me during the process of writing this thesis, Drs. Syaifuddin, M.A., Ph. D.,
the Dean of Faculty of Letters, and Dra. Swesana Mardiah Lubis, M. Hum as the
Head of English Department.
I would like to give my best thanks to my supervisor; Dra. Swesana
Mardia Lubis, M. Hum, as the first supervisor and Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.
Hum, as the second supervisor, for their advice, guidance, and support in finishing
this thesis. And I would like to thank to all my lecturers in Faculty of letters at
University of North Sumatra thank you for your spirit and support.
In this occasion, I would like to thank to my beloved parents that always
pray for me, guide me, support me and give advices. Thanks for your love mom
Apart from that, I also say thanks to all of my friends in Faculty of letters,
University of North Sumatra thanks for your love, help, support, I’ll never forget
you friends.
At last, I admit that this paper has not been perfect yet, so constructive
criticism and suggestion are most welcome. And I hope that this thesis will be
used for the readers who are interested in studying English.
God Blesses Us
Medan, June 2010
The Writer,
Prisma U. T. Sianturi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S DECLARATION
COPYRIGHT DECLARATION
ABSTRACT ... i
ACKNOWLEDMENTS... ii
TABLE OF CONTENT ... iv
CHAPTER I ... 1
INTRODUCTION... 1
1.1 The Background of The Analysis ... 1
1.2 The Problem of The Analysis ... 4
1.3 The Objective of The Analysis ... 4
1.4 The Scope of The Analysis ... 4
1.5 The Significances of The Analysis ... 5
1.6 The Method of the analysis ... 5
1.7 The Review of The Analysis ... 5
CHAPTER II THEORITICAL REVIEW ... 7
2.1 Play ... 7
2.1.1. Definition of the Play ... 7
2.1.2. Kinds of Play ... 8
2.2 Free Will And Fate ... 9
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ... 13
3.1 Research Method of the Analysis ... 13
3.2 Data Collecting Method of the Analysis ... 13
CHAPTER IV THE ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY ... 14
5.1. Free Will ... 18
5.2. Fate ... 31
CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 41
5.1 Conclusion ... 41
5.2 Suggestion ... 42
BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIXES
Appendix
Hamlet Synopsis
ABSTRAK
Skripsi yang berjudul FREE WILL AND FATE IN WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET merupakan salah satu karya besar dari William Shakespeare. Adapun tujuan dari analisis ini adalah untuk mengetahui keinginan bebas dan nasib Hamlet sebagai tokoh utama dalam
drama Hamlet. Dalam drama ini Hamlet ingin membalas dendam atas
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1The Background of Study
Literature is an expression in art and concern with all aspects of human
life, and the whole universe. Through literature we can know all the aspects of
human life and about problem of society. Literary works represents a vital
record of what one have seen in life, what they have though and left about
those aspects which have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of
us, as it the events occur in the plot really come into existence. It the
fundamentally and expression of life through the medium of language.
According to Sinha ( 1977 : 157 ) literature attempts to influence, flatter and
change reader’s mind and studying literature mans to know ourselves in
particular and people generally
Besides that Taylor said ( 1981 : 57 )“ literature is said to be the school of
life that authors tend to comment on the conduct of the society and of
individuals in the society. “ So, Taylor means that literature may become tool
of valuing people in their behavior both collectively and individually.
In general, literature is divided into three kinds, they are: poetry, novel and
play. Poetry is dominated by the rhythm and melody; novel is a narrative kind
of fictitious writing, and play is the combination of dialogue and stage. Play is
a work literature or a composition which is designed for performance, purpose
often either monologues or dialogues of a character or a group of character.
Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English playwright who wrote over thirty
plays. Most of them were written for the immediate needs of his own
theatrical company and for immediate performance. Some of them were not
printed until ten or twenty years after they were first performed. Although the
plays were written years ago, many of them are still read widely as classics in
literary world. Shakespeare’s name is the greatest in all literature. There is
no man ever came to near him in his creative power of the mind and no man
such variety of his imagination. he is considered as belonged to more than one
world. He was a man of his time, but he was not limited by it. His plays which
draw deeply from a quarry of historical as well as current material, means new
things for new generation. He writes many kinds o plays which are read even
till today. Long ( 1991 : 87 ) said that he has excellent ability in analyzing
human characters.
This thesis deals with play as the main source of analysis. Tillyard ( 1970 :
52 ) said that , Hamlet is powerfully aware of the baffling human predicament
between the angels and the beast, between the glory of having been made in
God’s image and incrimination of being descended from fallen Adam. That is
in Shakespeare’s. Hamlet must be regarded as Shakespeare’s most successful
play. It has unceasing theatrical vitally, and the character of Hamlet himself
has become a figure a literary mythology by Encyclopedia Britanica (1992 :
Hamlet must be regarded as Shakespeare’s most successful play. It has
unceasing theatrical vitally, and the character of Hamlet himself has become a
figure a literary mythology. Hazlitt ( 1900 : 76 ) says that Hamlet is a little of
the hero as a man can well be: but he is a young and princely novice, full of
high enthusiasm and quick sensibility, the sport of circumstance, questioning
with fortune and refining on his own feelings, and forced from the natural bias
of his disposition by the strangers of his situation. Hamlet presents a view of
the world in which man’s intellect is powerless to understand and predict the
him of free will and fate. Free will in man, is the power of self-determination;
the capacity to choose among alternatives or to act in certain situation
independently or natural, social or divine restraints. The concept of fate is
sometimes used to denote a person’s path in life, not necessarily determined
by any one person or thing but the out come of a combination of the
necessary, the accidental, the spontaneous, the conscious in human life. 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. This
analysis focuses on free will and fate in the play Hamlet.
Hamlet is the story of Prince of Denmark, returns from his studies abroad
to attend the funeral of his father and subsequent wedding of his mother to his
uncle. He wants to keep the memory of his father alive and painful. He is truly
appalled at how easily his mother seems to forget her first husband. He is
quite pertubered by his mother’s second marriage, in view of its haste and
of his father, ant tells him he was murdered by his own brother, and
commands him to seek revenge. He agrees to do so, but conflicted by his own
nature, he does not act immediately. He concentrates on eternal fight between
free will and destiny. His uncle and the councilor have their suspicious about
the young man and keep close watch. Falsehood and Playacting occur on all
sides creating mayhem and madness. Revenge is eventually exacted, but at a
cost far too dear, all the primary objective characters, with the exception of
prince’s friend, suffer a tragic death.
1.2Problem of the Analysis
In analyzing this play, the writer has some problem to be solved. The
problems are:
1. How to differentiate free will and fate in free will and fate in
Shakespeare’s Hamlet?
2. What are the relation of free will and fate in Shakespeare’s Hamlet?
1.3Objective of the analysis
The objective of the analysis is to reveal free will and fate in
Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
1.4 The scope of the analysis
This analysis only focuses on free will and fate Shakespeare’s play
1.5 Significance of analysis
By exploring the case of free will and fate in Shakespeare’s Hamlet play, it
is expected makes readers know what is the free will and fate in Shakespeare’s
Hamlet play and enriching the literary study, and this thesis can be used as one
of references for and as the guidance for literature students to study literary
works. I hope this thesis can be useful for further analyzing in the future.
1.6Method of the analysis
Method of the analysis plays such an important role in completing an
analysis, because without having method, it will be difficult to find the source
to support the analysis of the thesis. In this thesis, the information collected
from various documents. The primary source will be Shakespeare’s Hamlet
play. The play was read and understood. While read it the writer pay attention
to the sequence of the events described on the play. After that analyzed the
Shakespeare’s Hamlet play. Then the statements about the topic of the
analysis were written down. Secondary the writer also read some books and
browsing internet to find out some data that related to the thesis. Finally the
conclusion and Suggestion are made
1.7Review of Related Literature
In supporting her analysis, the writer reads some related books which are
listed as follows:
This books contains about the major genres ( narrative, fiction, drama and
poetry ), which are defined and discussed in detail, with anatomy of
techniques, devises and conventions. This books help the writer to describe
about drama.
2. Teori, Metode dan tekhnik Penelitian Sastra by Nyoman Kutha Ratna (
2004 )
This book make the writer know how the technique and some approaches
of study literature that can be done in analyzed the thesis and to conduct a
research particularly in study literature.
3. Theory of literature by Rene Wellek and Austen Warren ( 1977 )
This books give some the definition of literature, the scope of literature
and the methods in studying the literary works. It is very helpful to make the
CHAPTER II THEORITICAL REVIEW
2.1 Play
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather
than reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have
had little preference whether their plays were performed or read. The term "play"
can refer to both the written works of playwrights and to their complete theatrical
performance.
2.1.1. Definition of the Play
According to Hornby, (1995:351) Drama is the art of writing and
performing. Waluyo (2001:3) states that if the stage and the script are
compared, the stage is more dominant than the script. This is where the
comparative literature takes place. Meanwhile, Reaske (1966:17) states
that the process of defining the play is tremendously aided by reference to
the kind of play and the conventions of that kind of play. From the
statement it can be stated that play is a type of literature that uses a lot of
dialogue and is meant to be performed in front of an audience; also called
a play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of
scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance
rather than reading. The term "play" can refer to both the written works of
Play is often combined with music and dance: the drama in opera is
sung throughout; musicals include spoken dialogue and songs; and some
forms of drama have regular musical accompaniment . Play has been
written to be read rather than performed. In improvisation, the play does
not pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic
script spontaneously before an audience.
2.1.2 Kinds of Play
In a strict sense, plays are classified as being either tragedies or
comedies. The broad difference between the two is in the ending.
Comedies end happily. Tragedies end on an unhappy note. The tragedy
acts as a purge. It arouses our pity for the stricken one and our terror that
we ourselves may be struck down. As the play closes we are washed clean
of these emotions and we feel better for the experience. A classical tragedy
tells of a high and noble person who falls because of a "tragic flaw," a
weakness in his own character. A domestic tragedy concerns the lives of
ordinary people brought low by circumstances beyond their control.
Domestic tragedy may be realistic seemingly true to life or naturalistic
realistic and on the seamy side of life. A romantic comedy is a love story.
The main characters are lovers; the secondary characters are comic. In the
end the lovers are always united. Farce is comedy at its broadest. Much
fun and horseplay enliven the action. The comedy of manners, or artificial
comedy, is subtle, witty, and often mocking. Sentimental comedy mixes
pathos and menacing threats by a villain, but it does include comic relief
and has a happy ending. It depends upon physical action rather than upon
character probing. Tragic or comic, the action of the play comes from
conflict of characters how the stage people react to each other. These
reactions make the play. So, from the description it can be said that:
• Commedy is The lead character overcomes the conflicts and
overall look of the comedy is full of laughter and the issues are
handled very lightly.
• Tragedy
Aristotle’s definition of tragedy: A tragedy is the imitation in
dramatic form of an action that is serious and complete, with
incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it effects a catharsis of
such emotions. The language used is pleasurable and throughout
appropriate to the situation in which it is used. The chief characters
are noble personages (“better than ourselves,” says Aristotle) and
the actions they perform are noble actions.
2.2 Free Will And Fate
Free will and fate are also at different levels. We could say that because
we choose one chart, we choose our fate, and thus put free will on top of fate. We
do not and cannot know our fate in terms of ego consciousness. In other words
are aware of things being true or false. Based on this we can make judgments and
plan action based on those judgments and it is free will. According to Young (
1991 : 5 ) when we operate from free will, there is something between our
awareness and our actions, something that is not determined, something that
whether humans exercise control over their actions or are they predetermined.
2.2.1. Free Will
Acccording to Landau ( 2005 : 283 ) Free Will in man, is the
power of self – determination; the capacity to choose among alternatives
or to act in certain situation independently or natural, social, or divine
restraint. Free will is denied by those who expose of various forms of
determinism. Argument for free will are based on subjective experience of
freedom, of responsibility for personal actions that underlines the concept
of lows, rewards, punishments and incentives. Free will implies choice and
it means that we can act. Leslie said ( 1983 : 36 ) when people believe
absolutely in free will, that they are free to create whatever they want, they
deny the reality that they can’t do whatever they want. We can choose and
then we can act upon that choice. It assumes, therefore, that there is such a
thing as cause and effect. Our choice becomes a cause for our effective
action. All of this is in contradiction of the idea of fate, which implies that
occur. Futhermore, William said ( 1900 : 48 ) free will as the conviction of
many men that their voluntary acts are free, or autonomous, rises from
Judeo – Christian faith that God created man to be free will and wish to
blame evil an man rather than man create himself by choosing freely and
the doubt whether mere machines could discover the truth even about
mechanism. The principle plea for free will, however is that unless man
has a real choice, so that he can act differently in identical circumstances,
there can be no moral responsibility, the praise, blame and fatuous.
2.2.2. Fate
Hornby said ( 1975 : 167) fate is the things, especially bad things
that will happen or have been happened to somebody. Fate is used in
regard to the finality is projected into the future to become the inevitability
of events as they will work hthemselves out. Fate happens based on
something before. Some people say fate brings us together and kit may
also control our lives.
The concept of fate is sometimes used to denote a person’s path in
live, not necessarily determined by any one person or thing but the
outcome of a combination of the necessary, the accidental, the
spontaneous, and the concious in human live. Acoording to Malraux (
www.google.com) by fate we may also mean a certain programmed of
behavior determined by heredity, and by the features of temperament and
character acquired during life. And according to Petulo (1987 : 16 ) fate is
the resultant of the past exercise of people’s free will. By exercising
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Method of the Analysis
In completing this thesis, I am performing the descriptive qualitative
method. The method is applied by describing the data and analyzing them, related
to the focus of analysis. According to Bogdan and Biklen in their book entitled
Qualitative Research for Education: an Introduction to Theory and Method
(1982:2), Qualitative research may be used either as the primary strategy for data
collection, or in conjunction with observation, document analysis or other
techniques.
There are several steps in applying this method. The first step is collecting
the books which relate to the thesis. The second step is reading the collected
books, including journals, notes and relevant sources to the thesis. The next step is
quoting the data and describing them into the analysis. The analysis will be
performed by explaining the free will and fate which can be found in a play
entitled Hamlet by William Shakespeare .
3.2 Data Collecting Method of the Analysis
The beginning of thesis procedures is to collect the books related to the
title of thesis. The focus of analysis is about free will and fate which can be found
in a play entitled Hamlet by William Shakespeare The books are collected from
The books which are collected contain vast information about analysis.
Thus I try to select the relevant books to the analysis only, which is the study of
free will and fate. One of the books that I used for data is Hamlet William
Shakespeare (William Shakespeare, 1981) and other books and thesis that can be
CHAPTER IV
THE ANALYSIS OF THE PLAY
Hamlet is one of the greatest Williams Shakespeare’s play. The story is
about a young man seeking to avenge the murderer of his father by his uncle,
killed by his uncle, but he himself and others died on the process. His mourns
both his father death and his mother remarriage to his uncle. The ghost of his
father appears to him and tells him that his uncle has poisoned him. He swears to
revenge, but he does not act immediately because of conflicting by his own
nature. He arranges an old play whose story has a parallel to that of his uncle’s.
His behavior is considered mad. He kills the eavesdropping, the court
chamberlain, by thrusting his sword through a curtain. The court chamberlain’s
returns to Denmark to avenge death. The court chamberlain’s daughter loves the
prince but his brutal behavior drives her to madness. She dies by drowning. A
duel takes place and ends with the death of his mother, his uncle, the court
chamberlain’s son, and he himself.
The main character of the play is Hamlet a Prince of Denmark who is
about twenty years old. He does not only participate in his life, but astutely
observes it as well. He recognizes the decay of the Danish society which is
represented by his uncle, but also understands that he can blame no social ills on
just one person. He remains aware of the ironies that constitute human Endeavour,
keenly critiques himself. He fears that his uncle killed his own brother that is his
father to become king of Denmark, greatly angering him’
His uncertainty and inability to act make him increasingly melancholy, and
everyone around him. He makes seems to be going mad. Despite the apparent
guilt of his uncle, he still cannot bring himself to avenge his father’s wrongful
murder. He nevertheless terrorizes his mother and kills the eavesdropping. Justly
fearing for this own life, his uncle sends him to England with the two his
childhood friends, who carry orders, however, and alters them which make his
two friends the victims instead. He returns to Denmark. There he tears that the
court’s chamberlain has killed herself and that her brother seeks to avenge her
father’s murder. His uncle is only too eager to arrange the duel. Both he and his
girlfriend’s brother are struck by the sword that his uncle has had dipped in poison
before the prince dies, he manage to kill his uncle.
The minor character are queen Gertrude, King Claudius, The Ghost,
Ophelia, Laertes, Polonius, Horatio, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Fortinbras,
Francisco, Marecellus, Bernardo, Reynaldo, Voltermand and Cornelius. Queen
Gertrude is hamlet’s mother who loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak
woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral rectitude or truth.
She wields some power and suggests that Claudius’ decision to marry her has
political implication. She never declares any kind of emotion for Claudius, either
positive or negative. King Claudius as an antagonist is Hamlet’s uncle. The villain
appetites and his lust for power. He occasionally shown signs of guilt and human
feeling. For instance, his love for Gertrude seems sincere.
The ghost is the specter of Hamlet’s recently deceased father. The ghost,
who claims to have been muredered by Claudius, calls upon Hamlet to avenge
him. Hamlet speculates that the ghost might be a devil sent to deceive him and
tempt him into mureder . Ophelia is Polonius’ daughter, a beautiful young woman
with whom Hamlet has been in love. Ophelia is a sweet and innocent young girl
who obeys his father, Laertes. Dependent on men to tell her behave, she gives in
to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet. Even in her lapse into madness and
death, she remains maidenly, singing songs about flowers and finally drowning in
the river amid the flower garlands she had gathered. Polonius is The Lord
chamberlain of Claudius’s court, a pompous, conniving old man. Polonius is the
father of Laertes and Ophelia is Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, a young
man who spends much of the play in France. Passionate and quick to action,
Laertes is clearly a foil for the reflective Hamlet.
Horatio is friend and confidant of Hamlet. Hamlet shares with Horatio all
of his experiences and misgivings in the situation involving his father.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is childhood friends of Hamlet. They are recruited
by Claudius to first discover the cause of Hamlet’s madness. Eventually, their
orders are changed to escort Hamlet to England. They are killed instead when
Hamlet discovers hthe death order and changes it to apply to them. Fortinbras is
revenge. Ambassadors sent by Claudius are able pacify him. Upon the death,
Prince Hamlet names Fortinbras.
The setting Hamlet takes place in Elsinore castle, eastern Denmark. The
time period of the play is not explicit, but I can be viewed as mostly Renaissance,
contemporary with Shakespeare’s England, Other settings in Hamlet are a plain in
Denmark, near Ellsinore, and a churchyard near Ellsinore Offstage action in the
play takes place on a ship bound for England from Denmark on which Hamlet
replace instructions to execute him with instruction to execute his traitorous
companions, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and on a pirate ship that returns him t
Denmark.
4.1 Free Will
Free Will is the ability to decide freely what one wants to do’
people have power to make decisions. Shakespeare shows free will in the
play by presenting Hamlet’s revenge and death are both tied to choices he
has made in executing the plan to kill his uncle, all guided by his own free
will. He choices to revenge because his father wa killed by his uncle. He
chooses to do that after he meets the ghost. Although he knows that it is
forbidden according to Christian believe, he chooses to see and calls the
ghost that takes face of the late his father:
If it assume my noble father’s person,
I’ll speak to it though hell itself should gape
Hamlet being sorrowful, frustrated, having got physical shock, is burdened by a ghost coming. He has chosen to follow th ghost, and it is
being the start to his battling with the two painfully deciding which one to
choose; avenged or not. Hamlet’s revenge to his uncle can not be
restrained after he knows from the ghost that his father is killed by his own
uncle. Moreover, his uncle marries his mother within a month of his
father’s death, He says:
O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourn’d longer,-married with my uncle, My father’s brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules : within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married; O most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! (p. 120)
Some people by their free wills choose to believe at the ghost or
the spirit of someone who has died than to their believes according to their
believes according to their religion. Hamlet in this play is not sooner
disappears, he says just a deception and he is doubtful. He can not put the
task into practice to his melancholic state, the mingling want to fulfill the
duty, shock feeling hatred for his uncle and love for his father
Shakespeare through Hamlet describes the domination of life
pretence. He is poisoned with fear that makes him live in pretending. His
fear begins when ( Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus ) are alone and the
ghost speaks that he is the late of his father and says that Claudius had
cruelly murdered King Hamlet. Claudius wanted both to be King, and
Claudius had crept up and poured poison in his ears. When the ghost had
tells Hamlet how his father died, it commands him to revenge. By his own
free will Hamlet was determined to forget his own entire affair, and all he
has planned to do in the future, and to think of nothing but revenge. He
will do as the ghost has ordered.
Shakespeare through the main character shows that the choice
between good evil represents ma’s dilemma. For him, the human’s will is
indomitable. Hamlet suffers from inability to carry out the task of
avenging his father’s death because of his deep depression; besides his
attitude towards the world is somewhat pessimistic. This comes and
remains and then later grows worst. It turns from bad to worst especially
after he knows the betrayal of his beloved mother. But this conscience
impulse towards revenge is bound by ethical conscience or religious
consideration.
The feeling of nothingness in life troubles him very much. His
mother’s overhasty marriage and his father’s sudden death strike him so
much that no happiness of life can repay what he has lost, except the death.
After the revelation to avenge upon his father’s death, Hamlet grumbles
about the situation which his doom to decide. He declares:
The time is out of joint. O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right! ( p. 61)
He pretends to be mad in order to carry out his plot to kill
even stupidity. This is clear when we see him riding on the donkey but
sitting backwards. Even ever he imitates a cock crowing and flapping its
wings. This supposed madness is intended to deceive the king and his
court.
Hamlet’s feign madness, pretending that he has lost memory by
telling other people he receives what he does not receive and tries to trick
them by using of his wit. He just does something right if he finds the truth
in something, but he is a hypocrite as well: “………..he is a hypocrite
towards himself.” (p. 74). He pretends to be insane because he is afraid of facing the reality. This is a means of uttering his own heart freely and
eases the tension in his heart, in doing so, may be suffering from mental
ease, or of slightly psychoneurotic mind.
Hamlet is a living death in the midst of life, since he is alive but
cannot do anything to achieve his goal to wit, to take revenge on his
father’s murder. His nature is surprising; he has to ponder long and hard no
matter of revenge. He delays the action is no use anymore. He has
confirmed his confidence in order to carry out his task; but he still troubled
by his conscience that makes him a coward: “thus conscience does make cowards of us all. (p. 90).
His feign madness symbolizes a fantastically disordered mind and
it is influence by surroundings. He is “mad”, manages to utter his contempt
or hostility perfectly, by combining a veiled form of speech with Polonius.
Polonius : Do you know me, my lord
Hamlet : Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.
Polonius : Not I, my lord
Hamlet : Then I were so honest man (p. 73)
He pretends not to recognize him as saying him to be a ‘fishmonger’. He
also, especially, pretends madness when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are
sent by the King to find out the truth of his madness.
Actually Hamlet is a man of rapid decision and action whenever
possible in everything with the exception of the task of vengeance. He
receives the ghost’s instruction and promises to carry out of the task. But
his heart is occupied by the two things, first of his conscience and
secondly, of the cry of his blood. This mingling feeling is growing more
and more intensely complicated, until it reaches its peak by the death of
the protagonist which derives from an internal conflict of his soul
Revenge is primarily the representation of human feelings. Hamlet
is bound up highly by his conscience of restraint of law. If he wishes to do
something he pauses, and the only time he does not do so is when he kills
Polonius. Thus he is the victim of vengeance an as an avenger. The burden
he receives from his father is the burden of moral and psychology.
Any possibilities he has of regaining a semblance of normalcy and
happiness are gone when the ghost of his father demands Hamlet seek
revenge. Although Hamlet himself desires to see Claudius pay for his
crime, he realizes the evil in the deed of killing the king, prompted by both
“ heaven and hell” (p. 83). The ghost has placed Hamlet in a most
Claudius for his treachery, nevertheless he would not act on that hatred if
he were not choosing by his free will prompted to do so by the ghost.
Hamlet is an introspective scholar. He is reflective and pensive, and we see
this throughout the play as Hamlet delays the moment of revenge as long
as he possibly can. It appears that only a little time has elapsed since
Hamlet’s meeting with the ghost, but in fact months have gone by. And the
perfect opportunity to kill Claudius as he pray alone in his chamber is
passed up by Hamlet, who makes excuses that the timing is not yet perfect.
The reason why he cannot kill or why he does not want to kill is
that he is disturbed by his religion. Hamlet must not kill Claudius in the act
of praying. Hamlet, moreover, cannot be utterly free from mental burden,
from the ghost, and his own inner conflict, he knows well what he ought to
do, but over and over again he hesitates to act. Not only the physical shock
that burdens him but grief and frustration as well weight on him. The
diseased mind or the psychological conflict within himself makes him
stand between two worlds, but he belongs to neither. He is living, but
wishes to die; he is dying for he cannot manifest his wish into action.
He is directed by the ghost with the task of avenging but the task
he accepts terrifies him, because he is profoundly terrified by his mother’s
adulterous deed. So, there arises a conflict between two different attitudes,
whether to follow the ghost’s instruction or whether to wait until he has
He must not kill the king when he is in prayer and when he is fit
and seasoned for his passage he has to wait until the king is again drunk,
sleeps or in his rage and do what his father orders. In one of his
soliloquies, he accuses himself of ‘a rough peasant slave’, he cannot carry
out his task. He utters;
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, impregnate of my cause, (p. 84)
So when the ghost appears for the second time, he accuses Hamlet
as being too slow, mistaken, careless and ignorant. He once more insist
him not to forget his duty as the ghost orders. Even though Hamlet has a
chance, he has no bravery to kill Claudius. As the consequence, he is
regretful of himself. At first Hamlet is not like a man who has lost all his
‘mirth’ and has gone so heavily with his ‘disposition’.
Hamlet is a man of thought always sad and frequently carried away
by his feeling. His sadness often sticks in heart like a sickness, thought it is
still hopeful. He always feels that he is often tempted by evil not to do
things perfectly. He is remarkable for ingenuity, morality and lack of
courage produce hesitation becomes his tragic fault. His hesitation can be
seen when he has time to act, he is doubtful and confused to make up his
mind so the chance is gone. His passion is to think not to act, because his
imagination influences him very much. He believes when Claudius is
offering his prayer and if he does kill him. The king’s soul is in the state of
Now might I do pat, now’s is – praying, And now I’ll do it, and so ‘goes to heaven, And so am I revenged, that would be scanned A villain kills my father, and for that
I his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven (p. 110)
He believes that Claudius has purged his soul and death will
dispatch him to heaven. His Christian belief makes his task and
consideration more complicated. For this reason he refuses to kill the King
when he is at his players, and by a refinement in malice, which is in truth
only an excuse for his own want of resolution, defers his revenge to a more
fatal opportunity.
When he meets the ghosts, at the time he believes that he has been
in his tension by killing Claudius. But facing him in the act of praying he
becomes dormant. He is thoughtful yet doubtful. It leads him to suffer at
the last moment.
Hamlet may blame himself for doing nothing as a means of
covering and coping with his mental distress. His awareness is torn into
revenge as well as Christian belief, having no strength, especially on the
task avenging. Hamlet, a lovely noble and most moral hero, will sink
beneath a burden of it. He may be slow in spirit in some cases, but strong
in action in the other. He does not want to live nor to die, thus he is
dualized personality. He is always deep in conflict and struggle with
himself especially when he is soliloquy.
He is always miserable and blaming himself for delaying his
against the King or just wonders and remains silent and be a coward. It is
described with his soliloquy as follows:
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep, (p. 89)
So, Hamlet’s mind is torn into action and though whether he has to
carry out the duty (act) or be doubtful and keeps on thinking without doing
anything.
The King is murdered by his brother, who as result usurps not only
his crown, but his peace in the affection of the Queen. And at the end of
the play his mother dies after drinking the poisoned wine which has made
by his uncle too. By his own free will Hamlet wants to take tit-for-tat
killing committed by Claudius.
Shakespeare puts Hamlet into a situation in which he must deal
with the betrayal and murder of his father by his own family members.
Communication of filling is done solely in monologue or though the
reports of a third party, or spy, Hamlet must use the player’s performance
to observe the reaction of Claudius because the topic of the death of King
Hamlet is not acceptable discussion material. Therefore, Hamlet uses the
performance to reveal the show that Claudius has been presenting to his
subject. Hamlet’s mistake is that he has now alerted Claudius that he
knows of the murder. Claudius then can plot to rid himself of Hamlet, and
Shakespeare’s Hamlet become victims of the unwholesome situation of
their own creation.
The climax of the play is Hamlet stabs Polonius through the arras.
Polonius hides behind a curtain. Hamlet comes in and the queen yells at
him. Hamlet yells back and the queen gets frightened and yells “help!”.
Polonius behind the arras yells “Help!”. In the stress of moment, hamlet
stabs him to death through the arras. Trying to avenge a murder and set
things to right, Hamlet has just committed another murder. When
Polonius’s body falls out from the behind the arras, Hamlet remarks he
thought it was the king. And a talk about how being a busy body is
dangerous:
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, Farewell!
I took thee for thy better. Take thy fortune.
Thou find’s to be too busy is some danger. ( p. 106)
He commits himself to overtly violent action and bring himself into
unavoidable conflict with King Claudius.
Claudius afraid of Hamlet will kill him too. He arranges a sword
duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Claudius and Laertes plan to kill
Hamlet. In fact, there is treachery behind this suggested fencing game
which Hamlet does not know Claudius, however, encourages Laertes in his
determination to put an end to Hamlet life by asking him to play a trick on
I will do’t,
An for that purpose I’ll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it,
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue Under the moon, can save the thing from death That is but scratched withal. I’ll touch my point
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly,
It may be death. (p. 143)
Laertes would use a sword with a sharp point, although this was
not allowed in friendly matches. They would also poison on the sword, so
that as soon as Laertes struck Hamlet, he would be killed. The king
Claudius poisons the victory cup in case Hamlet wins, Hamlet would be
sure to die, either by he poisoned swords or poisoned wine.
At first, Hamlet seemed to be fighting more skillfully. When they
stopped to rest, Claudius urged Hamlet to take a drink of wine, but the
prince said he would not drink until he had finished the match became
very exciting, and instead is mother, Gertrude drinks it, at the moment
Laertes cuts Hamlet with poisoned sword. At once Hamlet seized the
Laertes’s sword and wounded Laertes with it. He now knew that Laertes
had cheated by using a poisoned sword. Hamlet did not know however,
that it was also poisoned, and they would both die. Suddenly the queen
fells to the floor and screaming that she has been poisoned :
No, no, the drink! O my dear Hamlet!
The drink, the drink! I am poisoned. ( p. 168 ).
Hamlet realizes that there have been some evil plan, and he sees
doors so that no one can escape. Laertes falls to the floor, but he manages
to tell Hamlet what has happened and who responsible is.
It I here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world an do thee good. In the there is not half analyze hour’s life
People will do a bad act or something crimes if he became
frustrated because of he faced suffer on and on. They will do anything to
avenge himself. And sometimes people may do it in a good way, but
sometimes in a wrong way. Hamlet’s hatred and revenge make his free
will choose way that is killed the King Claudius:
The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
Drink off the poison. Is thy union here?
The quotation above, Hamlet wounds Claudius with the poisoned
sword, rush and holding the bowl of poisoned wine to Claudius’s plan to
poisoned the sword and wine to kill him by it, but the wine was drank by
his mother.
Hamlet’s revenge cannot be restrained after all even which have
made him suffer by Claudius acts. When the queen dies after drinking the
poison and Laertes confesses the whole deed, implicating Claudius,
Hamlet finally kills king Claudius who killed his father. Hamlet by his free
several opportunities prior to kills Claudius , he choose to wait for the right
moment so that his revenge would be sweet.
4. 2 Fate
Fate is the power believed to control all events in a way that cannot
be resisted; destitiny . It also means what will happen or has happened to
somebody or something. By exercising people’s free will in the past,
people brought on the resultant fate. Shakespeare uses Hamlet who faces
his fate after all events happen to him. His uncle, King Claudius kills his
own brother who is Hamlet’s father and obtains both crown and the
Queen. Revenge is eventually exacted, but at a cost far too dear; Hamlet
himself and all the primary objective characters, with the exception
Horatio, suffer a tragic fate.
This play offers a bleak vision of life. It concentrates on failure, and
conflict and disaster. Form the first moment Shakespeare sets a scene that
is tension – filled, watchful, questioning. We know that something
horrified will happen, it is described:
FRANCISCO: You come most carefully upon your hour
BERNANDO:’Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco.
FRANCISCO: For this relief much thanks.’Tis bitter cold,
And I am sick at heart. ( p. 39)
From the dialogue above we know that the caution with which the
and to the state of Denmark, whose capital is so closely guarded. We are
well are chilled in imagining the lonely, rocky promontory above the dark
sea, wher the castle of Elsinore stands guard. In the course of the play, the
last dialogue above will echo again as Hamlet and, indeed, all of the state
Denmark gradually becomes aware that they have reason to be “sick at
heart”.
There are many things happened in Hamlet life before the play
starts. The obvious thing is that Hamlet’s father the King of Denmark is
dead. His mother has remarried his uncle Claudius with seemingly
indecent haste. These caused Hamlet a great deal of anguish at the
beginning of the play. There is no question of murering Claudius at this
stage. Hamlet just dislikes and distrusts him.the first impression of Hamlet
sets the tone for whole play. Even without providing and elaborate
description lof hamlet features, we can envisionhis pale face, toushed hair,
and intense, brooding eyes. Dressed totally in black, Hamlet displays all
the forms of moods and shapes of grief. His mother cannot help but notice
Hamlet’s outward appearance of mourning, but Hamlet makes it clear that
overt signs of grief do not come close to conveying how much sorrow he
feels inside, it is said:
For they are the actions that a man might play;
But I have that within which passes show:
Hamlet cannot forget his father, even when all those around him
have resumed their merry lifes, content to affair the occasional conciliatory
words of wisdom. The queen, concidering sha has lost a husband, but she
must face the true of life:
Thou know’st tis common, all that lives must die,
Passing through nature eternity. (Shakespeare 46)
And Claudius adds, amongst other things,
We pray you throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and thing of us
As of a father, ( p. 47)
Hamlet’s tremendous grief is intensified by his lack of feeling by
those around him, and more significantly, by the cold-hearted actions of
his mother, who married her brother-in-law within a month of her
husband’s death. This act of treachery by Gertrude, whom Hamlet
obviously loved greatly at one time, rips the very fabric of Hamlet’s being,
and he tortures himself with memories of the late father’s tenderness
towards his mother, it is explained as follows:
So excellent a King, that was to this
Hyperion to satyr: so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visits her face too roughly. Heaven and earth
Must I remember? (p. 48)
Hamlet meets the ghost of his father who claims to have been
murdered by Claudius. Only from the ghost’s story Hamlet knows what
really happened to his father. It is being the start to Hamlet to do a wrong
act. He at once tells Hamlet that he is his father’s spirit and relates how he
is killed by Claudius and that Queen has commited adultery, and therefore
Sleeping with my orchard
My customs always of the afternoon
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole
With juice of cursed hebona in vial
And in the porchesof my ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Hold such an enmity with blood of man
Thus was I sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Of life, of crown,of queen at once dispatch’d
Cut off even in the blossoms of my ksin
Unhouseled, dissapointed, unaneled
No reck’ning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head (p. 56)
Hamlet’s immediate reaction is to revenge his father. His problem
begin after the ghost has gone and he begins to realize the implications of
his vow of revenge. He wonders whether the Ghost is a good spirit or the
Devil in disguise and thus whether Claudius really a murderer. In other
words of famous cannot make up his mind.
People who have pronlems, sadness or revenge in his life usually
face a trial which derives him into dilemma to choose one of good or
wrong way. The trial will come not only once, it will occur when people
feel weak in life. And it occurs in Hamlet’s life. He is a man of thought
always sad and frequenty carried away by his feeling. His sadness often
sticks in heart like a sickness, though it is still hopeful. He always feels
that he is often tempted by evil not to do things perfectly.
Shakespeare personifies fate through the character, Ghost, who
appears to Hamlet and directs him to punish Claudius. Hamlet can choose
to obey his fate or ignore it and hthen face the consequences. Hamlet
for self-determination,driven by his psychological conflicts, finally forces
him to take vengeance into his own hands. He finds that the forces of the
primal world which value” an eye for an eye” and the enlightened world
equally compel him. The ghost has ordered hamlet to act against his
conscience.
In this play we find the soliloquy and it contrasts to Hamlet’s
action. The Ghost orders hamlet to avenge on the foul crime which is done
by Claudius. In the presence of the ghost, he promises to act, he talks to
himself of the duty of vengeanc, and blames himself. How easily he
forgets it by saying :
But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall
To make oppession bitter, or ere this
I should ha’ fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal, bloody,bawdy billain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave
That I, the son of dear father murdered
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell
Must like a whore, unpack my heart with words,( p. 86).
Hamlet’s struggle is both with the world and with he himself as he
discovers the evil instincs in his own nature. After the killing of Polonius,
Hamlet is shipped to England, where King Claudius has arranges for him
to be murdered. Laertes returns from France because his father died and
his sister, Ophelia, will have drowned. Hamlet, having escaped
assassination in England, returns to Denmark where Claudius arrange a
duel, Laertes and Hamlet will fight and Laertes using a poisoned sword.
we have established so far, but the central focus of interest is so much
hamlet himself that we have decided to look at a further extract from one
of his soliloquies:
That capacity and godlike reason
To fust in us unus’d. Now, whether it be
Bestial onlivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th’ event
A thought which, quarter’d, hafth but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward – I do not know
Why yet I live to say ‘This thing’s to do’
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do’t. Examples goes as earth exhorth me..(p. 117).
He is wondering why he cannot simply take revenge. He does not
know why himself, yet his speech does to some extend reveal why. He
ends by saying that it should not be difficult to act, as the world is full of
gross example.
Hamlet remains painfully aware of himself, his shortcomings, and
his powerlessness to right what he perceives to be great wrongs. Poetic,
thoughtful, and philosophical, he seeks to thwart his fate through
intellectual manuevering. Hamlet sees all too clearly the varying shades of
gray that muddy his vission and hthe blur his choices. No one force
determines the outcome for Hamlet. God asks of him one thing, and man
Finally, the play comes to the fall of the hero. Hamlet as a hero has
killed by his own choices,. Laertes wounds Hamlet in a fencing game
which planned by Claudius. It is described:
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu!
Hamlet’s choices direct and ultimately destroy him. He makes
decisions in moments of great passion and emotional upsurge. Perhaps this
is why he ends the play as murderer. He certainly kills far more people
than Claudius ever killed. He personally kills three and is directly
responsible for the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as well. He’s
probably indirectly responsible for the death of Ophelia, as she would not
have died if Hamlet had not killed her father. His mother would have
survived if she had not drunk the poisoned wine intended for her son.
Hamlet is an intellectual. He rationalizas his life and all its events
and accepts nothing without careful analysis. Hamlet can blame neither
God nor fate. No unseen hand directs Hamlet’s life and death; his own free
will determines the results. Hamlet illustrates the christians’ fervent belief
that man’s mind is the master of self and chooses to follow God.
Hamlet’s perpetual introspection does finally help him to overcome
his great anxiety. When he returns from exile, we see a very different
indifferent. He has come to the realization that destiny is ultimately
controlling all of our lives, it is said:
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes, Rashly,
And praised be rashness for it: let us know
Our indiscretion sometime 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.(p. 140)
Hamlet is ready to confront the paradoxical truth that to avenge his
father’s death he must commit the very same act for which he seeks
revenge. Using fate as the scapegoat, Hamlet cat distance himself from the
act of killing Claudius. He can now admit that he knows nothing of the
world. He says:
Since no
Man, of aught he leaves, knows: what is’t to leave
Betimes?Let be.( p. 146)
From the quotation above we can see that Hamlet has reached the
climax of his philosophizing, and he has prepared himself for death.
Having completed his mission, he is able to die in peace knowing
that his vengeance has been taken and Claudius will burn as a sinful man.
Using his God’s given freewill, Hamlet made choices that resulted in the
loss of many lives, Polonius, Rosencrentsz, Guildenstern, Ophelia, Laertes,
Claudius and himself.
The end of the play is reflection of the beginning. William
appearance which followed by Hamlet and ordered to avenge. In the end
of the play he presents fatal thing that is murderer and death. It is being
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1 Conclusion
The play Hamlet shows how people battled with their free will and fate.
Although fate is truly present in real world, and what will happen, it will happen
even in a different way. Free will also has a role to bring people into their fate.
Hamlet as the central character represents people who choose wrong ways which
bring them into tragic fate that cannot be avoided.
People have free will to choose between right or wrong. God the Giver,
has honored man with this great gift. God wants us to be able to able to make our
own choices. When a person makes a choice, God, by his Divine will, creates the
actions and circumstances that allow the person’s intention to be carried ou.
Frustation also brings people into free will in a wrong way. It is caused by
non-physical factors such as fear, anxiety, hatred, revenge, the dead of someone
loved, loneliness and insecurty. Their hatred agains someone causes them to do
revenge. Their free will is choosing to avenge which bring them into tragic fate.
They become murderers or destroyers for other people and also for themselves,
because they are unable to comprehend what may lie in the future that is their fate.
Evil becomes the only one way to give vent to their vengeful feelings
toward people who has made them suffer. The reason for their evil is clear, they
realize that they cannot let people who have made them suffer on and on. They
Shakespeare wants to portray the tragedy of human beings who have free will but
choose wrong way which drives them to their lust fate, death.
In conclution, Shakespeare through Hamlet vividly portrays free will and
fate in human life. People must face their fate because of their free will, and their
choice has created situations which bring them into their fate. Besides, trial is
uncle to influence people and drives into their fate. Besides, trial is used to
influence people and derives into dilemma to choose one of good or wrong ways.
5. 2 Suggestions
This thesis is not a perfect one, but if someone reads this paper, he or she
will understand about free will and fate, especially the free will and fate in
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Actually this analyzing is not one of Literary
cases only, there are many more literary cases. Thus I suggest the readers to
search and study another literary case so that the readers can enrich their
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Appendix 1
Hamlet Synopsis
Hamlet is the son of the late King Hamlet (of Denmark), who died two
months before the start of the play. After King Hamlet's death, his brother,
Claudius, becomes king, and marries King Hamlet's widow, Gertrude (Queen of
Denmark). Young Hamlet fears that Claudius killed his own brother (Hamlet's
father) to become king of Denmark, greatly angering Hamlet. Two officers,
Marcellus and Barnardo, summon Hamlet's friend Horatio, and later Hamlet
himself to see the late King Hamlet's ghost appear at midnight. The ghost tells
Hamlet privately that Claudius had indeed murdered King Hamlet by pouring
poison in his ear. Hamlet is further enraged and plots of how to revenge his
father's death.
In his anger, Hamlet seems to act like a madman, prompting King
Claudius, his wife Gertrude, and his advisor Polonius to send Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet and figure out why he is acting mad. Hamlet even
treats Polonius' daughter Ophelia rudely, prompting Polonius to believe Hamlet is
madly in love with her, though Claudius expects otherwise. Polonius, a man who
talks too long- windedly, had allowed his son Laertes to go to France (then sent
Reynaldo to spy on Laertes) and had ordered Ophelia not to associate with
Hamlet. Claudius, fearing Hamlet may try to kill him, sends Hamlet to England.
Hamlet's death before Claudius, in the hopes of causing Claudius to break down
and admit to murdering King Hamlet. Though Claudius is enraged, he does not
admit to murder. Hamlet's mother tries to reason with Hamlet after the play, while
Polonius spied on them from behind a curtain. Hamlet hears Polonius, and kills
him through the curtain, thinking the person is Claudius. When finding out the
truth, Hamlet regrets the death, yet Claudius still sends him to England,
accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with orders from Claudius that the
English kill Hamlet as soon as her arrives.
After Hamlet leaves, Laertes returns from France, enraged over Polonius' death.
Ophelia reacts to her father's death with utter madness and eventually falls in a
stream and drowns, further angering Laertes. En route to England, Hamlet finds
the orders and changes them to order Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed, as does
occur, though Hamlet is kidnapped by pirates one day later. The pirates return
Hamlet to Claudius (for a ransom), and Claudius tries one last attempt to eliminate
Hamlet: he arranges a sword duel between Laertes and Hamlet. The trick,
however, is that the tip of Laertes' sword is poisoned. As a backup precaution,
Claudius poisons the victory cup in case Hamlet wins. During the fight, the
poisoned drink is offered to Hamlet, he declines, and instead his mother, Gertrude,
drinks it (to the objection of Claudius). Laertes, losing to Hamlet, illegally
scratches him with the poisoned sword to ensure Hamlet's death. Hamlet
(unknowingly), then switches swords with Laertes, and cuts and poisons him. The
queen dies, screaming that she has been poisoned and Laertes, dying, admits of
Hamlet begins his death speech. Though Horatio wants to commit suicide out of
sorrow, Hamlet entreats him to tell the story of King Hamlet's death and
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's deaths to all. Fortinbras, the prince of Norway,
arrives from conquest of England, and Hamlet's last dying wish is that Fortinbras
