Fate vs. free will

Fate vs. free will is a theme in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The Elizabethan belief in fate and in free will

Hamlet is heavily influenced by its historical context, the Elizabethan era. Paradoxically, the Elizabethans believed in the free will of the individual while also believing that an individual’s life was already fated from birth. On the one hand, it was believed that any man had been given reason by God, meaning the ability to make rational choices in life without being carried away by passion. On the other hand, however, it was believed that a person’s fate was decided by God, just as superhuman forces like the stars controlled the universe.

Many of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes fall because they fail to use their God-given reason - partly because they are flawed, and partly because they are tricked by supernatural beings.

Hamlet and Ophelia: bound by their fates

Both Hamlet and Ophelia can be considered bound by their fates, but in different ways. In terms of the love between them, the play hints that Ophelia is too common to marry a prince like Hamlet. This is seen when Laertes warns Ophelia that Hamlet’s “will is not his own for he himself is subject to his birth” (1.3.17-18). The point is that ...