Shakespeare and the Literary Heritage: Through the texts of studied poetry and the play Hamlet, present different opinions and understandings of forces beyond our control, especially fate and death.
The texts as a collective tell us so much about how the circumstances and society around an artist change the way they react to the inevitable. From a development in beliefs where science has taken over the reassuring foundation for a life after death, facing death has become even more of a never ending, burdensome question. This makes expressing emotions about death, loss and fate near impossible- other than through the uses of the arts (whether this be writing, visual art or music). Reading these texts has made me come to the understanding that in the face of death, the decision about the worth and value of life causes a state of ambivalence in the mind of a ‘mortal sentient’.
Throughout the texts, on the subject of ‘free will’ there is a common use of the supernatural to control the future path of a character or a writer, especially regarding their death. In some cases (such as Shakespeare) this is presented through the Christian religious beliefs of: the characters in the play; the writer himself and the ordinary audience of the time. Around 1600 when the text was being written, the majority of Britain was Catholic or Protestant. Due to the large conflict between the two, many people that did not fit the ‘correct’ religious profile were accused of being witches and other supernatural beings. Most accused at the time were not even suspicious, however the general public still believed so. From this we can see that it is not a surprise that Shakespeare used supernatural characters in his plays, to please the audience and expand on their suspicion for such beings. In Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character has a visit from his late Father in the form of his ghost. ‘I am thy father’s spirit’ the ghost says, a pretty simple indicator that he is what others correctly rumoured to be. The grave reality of his Father’s death is revealed, by his Brother’s hand. The ghost also tells Hamlet to ‘Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.’ This is a use of an imperative remark to instruct Hamlet that he has to kill his new father/uncle. Coming from a supernatural sent from God this makes it his destiny or fate. It also seems to be an action that must be taken for the peace of Denmark: in the famous quote ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ the ‘rotten’ signifies that there is a problem at hand that needs to be resolved. This uses a metaphor as Denmark is represented as a ripe piece of fruit that loses is attraction and sweetness as time passes. The fate of a whole country is put in Hamlet’s hands, this could be regarded as personification for the country- or a representation of the people in the country, a single fate of a nation. The idea of a collective ending for millions is given by Shakespeare- a break from the constant reference of uncontrollable forces through only the main characters. Throughout the play Hamlet pursues this instruction, constantly battling with himself whether to take action or not. Hamlet worries so much about actions (that he did not have the power to change) and it begins to consume him and even make him debate the value of his own life. Another interesting quotation from the ghost is ‘My hour is almost come’ which could indicate that the higher supernatural (God) has set a time, a direction and job for his poor ‘banished’ soul. His possession of time with ‘My hour’ is a good suggestion that Shakespeare wanted to show the Ghost as a figure whose purpose is to travel and change the future- to resolve and stop actions that could potentially happen or to make them occur. This means that Ghost of Hamlet’s Father does not have ‘free will’ either because he has been given a job and task to do. Shakespeare uses the supernatural as a way to explore the concept of higher beings, of course highly fictional, but even so often believed in at the time.
The Poem ‘On My First Sonne’ also demonstrates the presence of a defined fate with the metaphor ‘Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.’ It is again referenced to a supernatural or higher power, this time his conflict with the Gods above. One word that perhaps describes the uncontrollable forces best (other than the tabooed ‘fate’) is ‘just’. The implication of this is that the day on which his son died was correct, meant to happen. Although this seems cruel on Ben Johnson- that God and fate decided that his young son should be taken away so soon- it is apparently what was written from the beginning. Another very interesting metaphor is in ‘Seven yeeres thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay’. Not only does it juxtapose his son to an inanimate object to be lent, bought and sold, but implies that the Gods had control and possession of his son. After all when something is lent to you, at no point does it belong to you and it must be returned. This idea of Johnson not having a lifelong entitlement leads him onto the opinion that you do not have control over the things in your life- even your most precious belongings. On the subject of fate and free will, this absolutely strengthens the idea that some supernatural being- this time in the shape of the Gods, decided what would happen in the character’s life, therefore sealing and deciding their fate.
‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ contains elements and expressions of fate as well, less blatant but still there. The recurring line containing ‘against the dying of the light’ as well as ‘at the close of day’ create a semantic field of a defined ending and are also euphemisms for death. The words ‘dying’ and ‘close’ show this. The word dying is talking about a light that is a metaphor for life. This is juxtaposed to the end of a day, one day representing a whole lifetime. This supports my idea that the texts show a dedicated time for death just like how there is a defined time for the end of a single day. This is a force beyond anybody’s control. However, although this is the same as the other examples and texts, it does not include the idea of a supernatural being or God that decides a person’s future. Dylan Thomas was a strict Atheist and therefore did not believe in a higher being. We can clearly see this implemented in the writing of this poem as most other poets and authors whilst talking about fate would include or at least mention religion. It is interesting however that he agrees that people have a defined ending- I would not have predicted this to be his thoughts regarding his Atheism. This is a difference from the other texts that I have looked at but still contains the main idea that there is a set time for your death.
Following on from this theme of the deceased and dying links the thought of an acceptance of fate or most commonly in this case, acceptance of somebody’s death. This time the opinions from the writers are quite different. ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ has the idea (and also the purpose of the whole poem) that you should not readily accept death and that you should go down fighting fate until the end. The title of the poem, which is repeated throughout, nicely sums this up with another euphemism of the ‘good night’. To not ‘go gentle’ simply instructs that you should not let fate overpower you to bring you to the grave. This could perhaps suggest that this meant he would not accept fate and the idea of a fixed time for our deaths. But again by fighting the idea and concept you are in-explicitly admitting its presence. It is not certain whether Dylan Thomas intentionally implied this. This is shown again with ‘Though wise men at their end know dark is right’ which says that even the wisest understand that they must die. After this comes ‘Because their words had forked not lightning they…Do not go gentle into that good night’. Using the same structure with different examples Dylan Thomas implies that the reason they fight against the ‘darkness’ is that they think that they have not impacted enough on the world or deem to have had a fulfilled life. Perhaps Dylan Thomas uses ‘words’ in this quote to mean their life’s accomplishments regarding his profession. Being a poet, words and writing are his life and so it makes sense to assume his writing defines what he has personally accomplished. The ‘lightning’ is the definitive impact that Thomas has had, a nice little ‘strike’ metaphor. Interestingly lightning strikes the earth roughly once a second, but I’ll let that pass.
Hamlet contemplates this whole matter for a soliloquy in Shakespeare’s most famous ‘To be or not to be’. The ‘whips and scorns of time’ is a powerful phrase which outlines the reasons for Hamlet to be contemplating taking his own life. The past actions in the book such as those from his ‘Uncle Father’ make it hard to imagine the reasons for which he would want to keep living in the world. The ‘whips’ and ‘scorns’ present make up a cacophony of harsh sounds, to describe the humiliations that life has simply thrown at him. The whips give off very negative connotations, torturous devices used to deliver pain to Hamlet. The ‘Scorns of time’ part of the quote is interesting while again looking at the idea of his fate. He contemplates the troubles and hardships that time itself gave him. This makes him (during the monologue as whole) debate whether his torturous existence is worth living for. The unanswerable rhetorical question of: if, how and why some higher being would do this help to bring him to his knees. The monologue debates an irreversible action that would be taken if Hamlet thinks that it is all not worth living for. ‘Take arms against his troubles and by opposing end them’ uses a euphemism as for ending his troubles which implies killing who they belong to- himself. Compared to the other poems Hamlet is actually fighting himself for his life. Where the others rely on just the higher being[‘s’] decision to decide his time of departure, Hamlet is attempting to deny the Gods of their duty to decide his own time to leave the earth. Of course here could come a large philosophical debate over whether the gods actually decide for him to take his own life, or even that they forced him to take his own life with their actions. But either way we know that Hamlet looks into the face of death himself to fight the ‘sea of troubles’ and take revenge for the sake of his Father and country. This is similar to Dylan Thomas as he tries to fight and fend off his seemingly inevitable death.
Now comes the contrary to these two above- ‘On my first sonne’ displays the thoughts of acceptance and appreciation for the life and time that somebody was with you. ‘Rest in soft peace, and, ask’d, say, “Here doth lie Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry.”‘ these two beautiful lines are heartfelt and meaningful for the poet. Jonson pays respect to his deceased son and similarly to Dylan Thomas refers to the most proud thing in his life (his son). The impact he has had on the world from his writing and poetry is also referenced. ‘His best piece of poetry’ uses himself as the subject changing into third person present tense. Becoming an outsider to the action Jonson looks upon his son as the great work that he had brought to the world. The poet talked previously about ‘having too much hope’ his son, blaming himself for the distress and troubles. He implies that instead of worrying about what could happen to a loved one in the future, you should make the most of their time that you share together- even though it may be short. ‘Why should I not accept if he had a good seven years’ is how he expresses his opinion that he shouldn’t about such a precious gift that gave him such joy for seven years. In effect Jonson admits that you should not fight what is destined, but savour what you have been given.
All of these texts display a desperate struggle and dilemma from personal loss- whether it be a loved one or in themselves. It is so hard to comprehend the unimaginable, such that you often find yourself screaming ‘It shouldn’t be me’. I understand how this feels, events can seem so far from reality you start questioning who set out to harm you of all people. Getting past this and trying to communicate these thoughts is precisely what these writers have done, for us to read and study. It gives these pieces such importance in English literature and makes them so very influential.
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