WILL

Seth Maxon

What Will Will Shakespeare’s Famous Prince Will?

         According to The Searchable Shakespeare, the word “will” occurs in Hamlet 171 times.  In the last scene alone, it is used fifteen times.  Unlike other instances, though, such as the violence in Titus Andronicus, this repetition does not trivialize the word’s meaning.  Furthermore, one may assume it is repeated throughout the play merely because it is a very commonly used word of necessity, like “the” or “and.”  However, upon closer examination, the word “will” maintains a multifaceted role in relation to the play’s themes of identity, time, and uncertainty. 

          The Oxford English Dictionary gives no less than seven entries for the definition of “will,” all of which one must take into account when reading the text.  These meanings work together to form a complex composite of the emotions undergone by Hamlet and other key characters in the play, such as Laertes, Claudius, Horatio, and the Ghost.  For example, in Act I, Scene 1, Marcellus, Barnardo, and Horatio fail to get words out of the Ghost, trying to ascertain the reason for his presence. Subsequently, Horatio suggests they bring the young Hamlet, the deceased king’s son, to get speech out of him: “This spirit dumb to us, will speak to him,” he says (I:1.152). This line displays the dual meaning the word embodies throughout the play, as well as its importance. On one hand, “will” acts as an auxiliary verb to “speak;” what shall be done the future.  The word is also significant because it can be used at the start of a sentence to form a question. Will Hamlet kill his uncle? What will happen? As the play is rather obsessed with unknown futures and possibilities, the uncertainty that comes along with this mystery, and the anxiety this uncertainty brings Hamlet, the usage of “will” as an auxiliary verb bodes significant. 

         On another level, “will” can mean “the desire, wish, longing, liking, inclination, or disposition (to do something).” (OED, 2nd Edition, s.v. “will,” 1a) In this sense, the line cited above can be read differently: The ghost won’t tell Marcellus, Barnardo, or Horatio what he wants, but he will speak his will to Hamlet; i.e. “will speak to him.”
Furthermore, this “will,” one’s desire, is what confounds Hamlet throughout the play, and what he struggles to decipher. He doesn’t know what he wants or what he should do; i.e. he is unsure of his own will.  This dual meaning of “will” occurs prominently again in Act 5, Scene 1, when Hamlet and Laertes are fighting over Ophelia’s death, ironically, in her grave.  As Hamlet is inside of it to grieve, Laertes ostentatiously jumps into it and embraces his dead sister’s corpse, attacking Hamlet, and blaming his madness as well as his murder of their father, Polonius, for Ophelia’s sudden madness and possible suicide.  To this Hamlet retorts that Laertes will “Be buried quick with her, and so will I.” (V:1.276).  Not only does this line foreshadow the upcoming death of the two characters in the very next scene (they both “will” be buried), but it also reinforces Hamlet’s death wish; he “wills” it unto both Laertes and himself with the phrase, “and so will I.” 

         Other definitions given by the Oxford English Dictionary for “will” further augment the significance of the word’s prominence throughout the text.  When defined as a desire or wish, “will” is contrasted with power and/or opportunity (s.v. “will,” 1b). Hamlet’s confused will, in many ways, is all he has, or at least all he perceives he has.  With his uncle and mother as monarchs, he is powerless, and he repeatedly misses opportunities to avenge his father and thus seize power. Moreover, an obscure definition of the word “will” is given by the OED as “Bewilderment” (s.v. “will” 2).  Hamlet’s will and character are profoundly bewildered throughout the play, both by the nature of his father’s murder, his mother’s marriage to his uncle, and the action he should or should not take. This fear of making the wrong decision or taking the wrong action is exemplified with yet another meaning of the word “will,” which is “going or gone astray; that which has lost its way, or has nowhere to go for rest or shelter; straying, wandering, lost, uncertain, at a loss” (OED, 2nd Ed., s.v. “will” 4).  The unknown, possibly grave or unintended consequences of his actions have put Hamlet at a loss and uncertain. Thus, he wills, and fears willing, going astray.  Finally, there is the “will” which means to bequeath. After his father’s murder by his uncle, it is Hamlet who should have been “willed” the throne of Denmark. It is thus fitting that, facing his own death, Hamlet himself wills the throne to Fortinbras, a noble, decisive monarch, much like his father.

         With so much unknown, so many conflicting desires, and so much bewilderment, the questions of Hamlet’s personal will as well as “what will happen” are at the center of both the plot and themes of the play. Indeed, only one “Will” could pen so much intricacy into one little word.




Julia Schwarz

An Obligation of Will

                           “Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will, but you must fear,
His greatness weighed, his will is not his own.” 
                           --Act I, Scene III

            Laertes delivers these lines in a speech to Ophelia, warning her to consider carefully the sincerity of Hamlet’s intentions towards her. In the edition of Shakespeare’s works edited by Stephen Orgel and AR Braunmuller, the meaning of “will” is defined as “desire,” but this definition in no way encompasses the possibilities of the word. When Laertes speaks of the virtue of Hamlet’s “will” he may well be referring to Hamlet’s desire to make Ophelia his love or his wife, but his words instantly take on a deeper meaning. 

            “Will” in these lines not only means desire, which can be more unconscious than deliberate, but also can be used as Claudius uses the word in the previous scene when he remonstrates Hamlet for his obstinate grief, saying that “It shows a will most incorrect to heaven” (I.ii.95).  This “will” Claudius speaks of is not Hamlet’s desire, per se, but rather his purpose, his private motivation, something that is thought out and consciously executed. The meaning of the word takes on further significance when considering that, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, up until the 19th century “will” was used as an adverb to describe  “not knowing what to do or how to proceed,” and as late as 1885 “to go will,” meant “to go astray.” The word “will” in the lines above has, in fact, three possible meanings – to have an inclination or desire, to make a conscious decision toward performing some deed, and also to be unsure of how to proceed toward some elusive goal. This does not include the fourth obvious meaning, which is that a will is “a person's formal declaration of his intention as to the disposal of his property or other matters to be performed after his death” (OED, 2nd ed. s.v. "will1,” IV.23.a).

            The key to deciphering the significance of the word in the lines above is to understand Laertes’ conviction that Hamlet’s will is not his own, that it is tied to his birth and position. Clearly one meaning of Laertes words is that he thinks Hamlet is not free to follow through in his desire for Ophelia because he is a Prince, and his bride must be chosen according to her position as the future Queen. But it is interesting to note that when Polonius addresses Ophelia on this same subject about 100 lines later, he describes Hamlet’s intentions as being “more light than heat” (I.iv.117) and “mere implorators of unholy suits” (I.iv.128).  If Polonius’ point about Hamlet’s inability to be honorable in his intentions is the same as Laertes’, then why does Laertes use the word “will,” which denotes a “movement or attitude of the mind which is directed with conscious intention” (OED, 2nd ed. s.v. "will1,” II.5.a)? Laertes could use the flowery language of his father to denote Hamlet’s intentions or lack thereof, but he doesn’t.  He gives Hamlet a will, which is more than a passing desire, and then ties his will to the situation of his birth, to the fact that he is a son with a duty. Laertes is correct in his prediction that Hamlet’s will – his capacity for action and his object of longing – will be ruled by his position has his father’s son, and not by his love for Ophelia.

            This capacity for action and object of longing is, for the rest of the play, the revenge for his father’s murder. Hamlet’s will is not exactly solid, however, and the rest of the play revolves around his uncertainty about how to carrying out his will, and whether his will is leading him astray.  His will, which is bequeathed to him upon the death of his father like a piece of property, not only usurps his desires as Laertes’ predicts, it also troubles his conscience and makes him exceedingly bewildered, which is appropriate, considering the wil in bewildered comes from the word will. All four meanings of “will” mentioned can be used to undersand to Laertes’ meaning when he speaks the word. This is a superb use of a delicate word, and it serves not only to foreshadow Hamlet’s actions, but also to prompt the audience to question what Hamlet’s will actually is – a motivation, a desire, a plan of action, an unwanted duty? The many meanings of “will” only underscore these questions.

 
   

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