Student Question
Where in Hamlet does this quote occur and which character says it?
Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in the form of the other,
Subscribed it, gave't the impression, placed it safely,
The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent
Thou know'st already. (V.ii.52-59)
Quick answer:
This quote is from Act V, Scene ii of Hamlet, spoken by Hamlet to Horatio. Hamlet explains how he escaped death in England by replacing a letter ordering his execution with one condemning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He credits divine intervention for having his father's signet ring, which allowed him to forge the king's seal and switch the letters undetected. Hamlet believes fate or God controlled these events to ensure his survival.
Hamlet says the above lines to Horatio, a
close friend of Hamlet's who studied with him at Wittenberg. Hamlet is
explaining to Horatio how he happened to manage to return to Denmark from
England.
Prior to these lines, Hamlet explains that he was actually doomed to die in
England. He accounts the story of how, while in the middle of the night at sea,
he left his cabin in search of Rosencrantz and Guildinstern and found in their
things a letter written by the king ordering Hamlet's death upon arrival in
England, for the safety of both Denmark and England. He further accounts that
he wrote a second letter commissioning the deaths of both Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern instead and put the new letter in the old letter's place.
Most importantly in this passage, Hamlet is claiming that Heaven must have had
a hand in protecting him because it was due to a feeling of uneasiness that
made him search Rosencrantz' and Guildenstern's things. In the lines in
question, he is explaining the next things that happened to help him escape his
death in England and states that Heaven must have also had a hand in those
happenings as well, as we see in his line, "Why, even in that was heaven
ordinant" (V.ii.52). The word "ordinant" can be translated as "control,"
showing us that Hamlet believed God or fate to be in control of Hamlet's life
at that moment (eNotes).
Hamlet explains that God must have had a hand in the fact that he was even able
to make the letter look authentic because he had his father's signet ring in
his purse, which looked very much like the current king's seal, as we see in
the phrase "which was the model of that Danish seal" (54). Signet rings depict
the official coat of arms for the kingdom and are used as an official seal on
documents. Since his father's seal was so much like the king's seal, he was
able to seal the envelope and make the switch without anyone noticing at all,
thus escaping into safety, as we see in the lines:
...Folded the writ up in the form of the other,
Subsribed it, gave't the impression, placed it safely,
The changeling never known. (55-57)
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