ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will, ” says Hamlet to Horatio in Act 5, Scene 2. Hamlet is acknowledging that there are many things out of his control, and that in the end it is God that will determine our destinies.

Detailed explanation-2: -When Hamlet finally does die, Horatio is holding him, and gives him a farewell of infinite tenderness: ‘Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest’ (5.2. 397-98).

Detailed explanation-3: -The last line is, “The rest is silence.” This is an ambivalent way to end a play that began with ambivalence. However, Hamlet knows what he means by the rest is silence and this is his final chance to act and he does, by telling us his final thoughts. He is not uncertain any more.

Detailed explanation-4: -But not, of course, “Good night, sweet prince.” Spoiler alert: After Hamlet dies in the final scene’s bloodbath, his friend Horatio offers: “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest-” (Hamlet 5.2.

Detailed explanation-5: -So Fortinbras says, “with sorrow I embrace my fortune” (5.2. 388), which is reminiscent of Claudius’ words about his brother’s death: “we with wisest sorrow think on him, / Together with remembrance of ourselves” (1.1.