Ok so I'm doing a heaps of past exam q's, and there was this one:
'Chance, rather than Hamlet's own actions, determines the course of this play' Discuss
wtf?? What happens due to chance? I was thinking maybe all the stuff that happened on the pirate ship, but Hamlet accredits this to divine intervention, not chance.
Are they expecting us to look at major events and decide whether it was due to chance or Hamlet? I just never really saw chance as a major theme in the play.
So all I can think of is- the fact that it was polonius behind the arras and not Claudius (although I don't really think this is due to chance, more Polonius' scheming??) or.. was it chance that hamlet runs into Young Fortinbras on his way to england which, it could be argued, spurs him to action? or.. gah I really don't get the idea of chance. Surely everything that happpens, happens as a result of someone's actions. Any ideas??