More significantly, Hamlet has become a man who assumes he can take responsibility for righting all the wrongs created by his corrupt uncle's usurpation of the old order by killing Claudius and reclaiming the throne.“There are,” says a poet as ingenious as profound, “more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.” This sentiment, which Genius accidentally let drop, is in the main applicable also to the philosophy of our own day and, with a slight modification, I shall be ready to adopt it as my own. Hamlet has transformed himself from a man who wallows in self-recrimination into one who can blithely justify cold-blooded betrayal and murder. Why man, they did make love to this employment. ![]() He says, "So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't," meaning that they go to their deaths, to which Hamlet counters Horatio's next comment indicates that he is horrified. The calculating premeditation of his actions is a complete reversal of the Hamlet we have come to know. We recognize Hamlet's change in the first part of the scene when he explains to Horatio with complete dismissal how he sent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths. As Mack says, Hamlet has finally "learned, and accepted, the boundaries in which human action, human judgment, are enclosed." He had thought he towered above such dirty fighting, but found himself swept into it. He committed three cold-blooded murders and sent Ophelia to her death. He feigned madness and betrayed the woman he ostensibly loves, her father, and his school chums. The Ghost sealed Hamlet's fate when he challenged him to "remember me." In this final scene, the maelstrom finally catches Hamlet stripped of his words, and at the mercy of his "bare bodkin." He maneuvered around the world of "seems" and "acts" and "plays" as long as he could, and tried to beat this world by using its own tactics. ![]() Maynard Mack says that in the last act of the play "Hamlet accepts his world and we discover a different man." He has existed outside of the corrupt system, and yet, he has been unable to resist being drawn in. Fortinbras, appalled by the sight of the mayhem that greets him, "with sorrow" recognizes his right to wear the crown of Denmark, which Horatio will corroborate with Hamlet's words.įortinbras orders that Hamlet be given military honors, "with music and rite of war." He orders his soldiers to carry the bodies out, and the play ends. Horatio wishes him a gentle rest and turns his attention to Fortinbras and the English ambassadors, who have also arrived to announce that the English government has executed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. With the words "The rest is silence," Hamlet dies. Hamlet tells Horatio to ensure that the Danish crown passes to Fortinbras. ![]() Hamlet tells Horatio that he is dead, and asks that Horatio "tell my story." Osric announces the sound of an approaching army, which means that Fortinbras has arrived in Denmark after attacking the Poles. Laertes dies, and Horatio rushes to Hamlet's side. The two forgive one another so that neither will prevent the other from entering heaven. Hamlet then goes to Laertes, who is nearly dead. In a fury, Hamlet runs the sword through Claudius, yelling, "Venom to they work." Before Claudius dies, Hamlet pours the poisoned wine down the King's throat. Laertes reveals the murder plot to Hamlet and explains that the poisoned sword now rests in Hamlet's hands. Outraged, Hamlet orders the doors locked so that the King cannot escape. Hamlet sees the Queen fall and anxiously asks, "How does the Queen?" The King assures him that she is faint because of the blood, but Gertrude cries out that the drink has poisoned her. Hamlet hits Laertes with the poisoned sword. ![]() Both drop their swords and, in the scuffle, Hamlet grabs Laertes' sword and Laertes picks up Hamlet's. The two fight again and Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned tip. In an aside, Laertes expresses a reluctance to hit Hamlet, but Hamlet accuses him of dallying and presses for a third bout. Laertes tells Claudius that the time has come to hit Hamlet with the poisoned tip.
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