Explanation:
In Act V, Scene 1 of “Hamlet,” Hamlet picks up a skull from a grave and reflects on the transience and futility of human existence. He then confronts the arrival of the funeral procession of Ophelia, his lover, who has committed suicide. After some exchanges with Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, Hamlet declares his love for Ophelia and jumps into her grave, where he wrestles with Laertes and delivers a soliloquy on the paradox of life and death. Hamlet’s concluding thought is that death is inevitable and that life is a preparation for it, but that even death cannot erase the memory and the legacy of those who have lived and loved. He states, “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: the readiness is all.” Hamlet’s final words express his acceptance of his fate and his readiness to face death and whatever lies beyond it, with a sense of resignation and stoicism.