ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT POET AND OTHERS

MACBETH

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” The line given above occurs in
A
Hamlet
B
Henry IV, Pt I
C
The Tempest
D
Twelfth Night
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -In the scene, Horatio begs Hamlet to make up an excuse not to duel with Laertes, if he has a bad feeling about it. Hamlet replies: “Not a whit, we defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come.

Detailed explanation-2: -Divine Providence is the ordination and application of means, by which God leads his creatures to their destined end. To thwart or reject this guidance, is fatuously to risk the attainment of one’s destiny.

Detailed explanation-3: -The dead sparrow in the above image links to Hamlet’s Biblical reference. The bird is a symbol for God’s infinite control and care in the lives of his creation, as the mighty hands cup the sparrow gently from beneath.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -We defy augury. Here Hamlet is ignoring his premonition. He believes he is part of God’s plan, as important as the Bible says every sparrow is to God. He believes if he is fated to die now, nothing he does will change his fate.

There is 1 question to complete.