We covered Worf saying "What is done is done"—the five-word version of Lady Macbeth's line "What's done is done" at III.ii.12 (for which, q.v.).
We noted Captain Sisko saying "What's done is done" while disguised as a Klingon (for which, q.v.).
And now we have Jake Sisko saying "What's done is . . . is done" (a different five-word version) while under attack from Klingon forces
Are we to find the commonality in the Klingons? Do they have a particularly fatalistic world view that affects those around them? Or is the commonality in the comfort (false comfort?) found in Lady Macbeth's banal statement? Or is it that the writer's room kept grabbing for that quote to spice things up with a little Shakespeare?
Or is it just coincidence?
I'm inclined to think the last of these options is the correct one, but I can't quite let it pass unobserved.
In this episode [Note: Spoilers follow], Jake Sisko ran away from Doctor Bashir in what he considers a cowardly manner during an attack in which Bashir was injured. The scene in question presents Bashir's self-recriminations about taking Jake to the planet in the first place—and Jake's platitudinous (albeit Shakespearean) response that is intended to offer solace.
Have a quick look:
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
For more connections between Star Trek and Shakespeare, head to Shakespeare and Star Trek Complete.
Jake is trying to exonerate (or excuse—or justify—or ignore) his own behavior with the line from Shakespeare. And that is remarkably similar to what Lady Macbeth is trying to do. But Lady Macbeth reaches a darker, less comforting version of the idea in Act V: "What's done cannot be undone" (V.I.68).
I would have liked to see that quote come up later in the episode, but that's not the direction the show is taking with Jake's character.
As a final note, the title of the episode is taken from Ecclesiastes 9:11 (and not from Shakespeare): "Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all" (English Standard Version).
That, too, captures some of the fatalistic possibilities of "What's done is done"—but neither the show nor Ecclesiastes throw up their hands and give up. What's done may be done—but that doesn't mean no one can work to undo it or repent and resolve that it won't be done again.
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
For more connections between Star Trek and Shakespeare, head to Shakespeare and Star Trek Complete.
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