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.
Act V, Scene 2 · Hamlet
Context
Horatio warns Hamlet he might lose the fencing match, but Hamlet dismisses the warning. He refuses to believe in omens and says that if death is fated to come now, there's no avoiding it—what matters is being ready.
Analysis
The triadic structure 'If it be now…if it be not to come…if it be not now' cycles through every logical possibility until they collapse into the same conclusion. This exhaustive repetition enacts the futility of trying to predict or avoid fate—the syntax itself becomes a trap with no exit. 'The readiness is all' arrives as relief after the circling, offering a clear monosyllabic anchor, though 'readiness' remains undefined (ready for what? to do what?).
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Hamlet's fatalism is a form of paralysis—the quote's recursive logic makes all choices equivalent, so 'readiness' becomes an excuse to stop deciding and let events unfold passively.