In the following chaos both duellists are wounded by the poisoned sword, the queen dies and Laertes reveals the plot concocted by himself and the king-“It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet thou art slain ...I can no more. The king—the king’s to blame”. Hamlet throws himself on the king and stabs him with the poisoned sword before finishing him by forcing him to drink from the deadly goblet-“The point envenom’d too! Then venom, to thy work”/”Here, thou incestuous, murd’rous, damned Dane, drink off this potion”. Laertes dies after reconciliation with Hamlet-“Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet”. Horatio also wants to drink from the goblet but Hamlet dissuades him, charging him with telling the story of the tragedy-“I am more antique......liquor left”/”Give me the cup. Let go, by heaven.......To tell my story”/”So tell him, with th’occurrents more and less”. At that moment Fortinbras arrives from Poland and Hamlet expresses his wish that the prince of Norway should rule Denmark-“But I do prophesy th’election lights......He has my dieing voice”. He dies in his turn. The ambassadors arrive and announce the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be given funeral honours-“Let four captains bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage.......Speak loudly for him”.
Act5 scene2is the climax to the play as it provides a solution to the plot, which is called “Development of the plot”. In Act5 scene2 Hamlet gives Haratio and the audience an account of his experiences at sea marking his maturity and bravery.
Act5 scene2 marks a move to action, evidenced by the lack of soliloquies and the decisive murder of all four main characters. Hamlet's language likewise undergoes a shift to active verbs only. For example, when Hamlet searches for the letters from Claudius to the King of England, he says, "In the dark, / Groped I to find out them, had my desire, / Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew / To mine own room again, making so bold, / My fears forgetting manners, to unseal / Their grand commission". Thus Hamlet has now reached the same level as Fortinbras in that he is able to attack Claudius or alternately defend himself from Laertes.
However, even though Hamlet assumes the title of the King of Denmark later, he actually starts to act like the king on his voyage to England. He uses his signet ring to mark the letters that he falsifies when he has Rosencrantz and Guildenstern put to death. "I had my father's signet in my purse, / which was the model of the Danish seal; / folded the writ up in the form of th’other, / subscribed it, gave't th'impression, placed it safely". This shows us that Hamlet is growing more powerful and more kinglike even before he sees the skulls. Here Hamlet enjoys the first benefit of being his father’s son with the use of his father’s signet ring. Here it is also made clear by Hamlet the next day that he feels no regret for sending the two spies to their deaths as they are not on his conscience-“They are not near my conscience, their defeat does by their own insinuation grow”.
A very important aspect of Act5 scene2 which is of great significance is that at this point Shakespeare has made it clear to us that Hamlet scruples about killing Claudius have gone, his way forward is clear and it is only a matter of opportunity. His experiences at sea have convinced him that we live in a world with a benign god and that he shapes our destinies for us despite our clumsy attempts to do so. Here we see Hamlets maturity once again as his realization of the real world gets to him. Act5 scene2 develops the character of Hamlet which has been given by Shakespeare a different face in Act 5 Scene 1. We see Hamlet as a person who has overcome the moral dilemmas and the conflicts. We see him in Act 5 Scene 2 as a more mature, confident person able to look ahead with security and confidence
A great scent of revenge is in the air as Osric who is the King’s man tells Hamlet that the King has proposed a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet, where Hamlet accepts the challenge-“Let the foils be brought......odd hits”/”To this effect sir, after.......nature will”. (Hamlet showing his confidence and bravery). Later Hamlet confesses misgiving about the contest to Haratio (“It is but foolery, but it is such a kind of gaingiving as would perhaps trouble a woman”) but refuses his offer to postpone the match as while the plans were being made he sensed treachery and therefore expresses faithfully in god, with the words: “Death must come to all of us one day; all that matters is being prepared for it”.
The villainy of Claudius is forcefully portrayed in Act5 scene2 through his actions of sending the letter and the poisoning of the wine and the foil. In contrast Hamlets innocence and goodness is brought out when Hamlet shows humility by asking pardon of Laertes. Throughout the final scene Claudius is isolated as the only villain of the piece where Hamlet and Laertes who both suffered fatherly casualties due to Claudius’ ruthlessness and therefore both want to avenge their father’s death even though it had to mean killing Claudius.
The rapidity of events and the various moods hold the audience in suspense. In Act 5 Scene 2 situations become further complicated and this deepens the audience’s sympathy for Hamlet. The scene starts at a slow pace where it suddenly speeds up as different aspects and tragedies keep bombarding into the scene. Throughout this scene revenge plays a great role. Claudius and the court assemble for the match where Laertes accepts Hamlet’s apology but insists that the match be played to restore his credit in the eyes of the world-“To keep my name ungor’d”.
The fencing match has begun and Gertrude shows her maternal affection for her son-“Hamlet take my napkin, rub thy brows”. She displays her loyalty by drinking to him despite Claudius’ attempt to prevent it. The wine was poisoned by Claudius and his plan of trying to keep Hamlet as far as possible from Denmark is now falling apart. He tried to do so as Hamlet poses a threat to Claudius with the information Hamlet knows about Claudius’ corruptive ways. The poison works quickly on the queen and despite Claudius’ attempts to disguise it (“She swoons to see them bleed”) Gertrude proclaims the truth that the wine has been poisoned. The treachery is investigated and Laertes tells Hamlet that he will die shockingly. ‘In thee there is not half an hour in life and proclaims. This king is to be blamed’. Hamlet reacts by wounding Claudius and forcing him to drink form the poisoned cup.
Leatres and Hamlet forgive one another and Hamlets final act is to prevent Haratio from committing to join his friend. He begs Haratio to tell the world his story and hearing the noise of Fortinbras’ army approaching he nominates the Norwegian prince as the next king of Denmark. Hamlets dying words were ‘the rest is silenced’ as Haratio bids him farewell-“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”.
The choice of weapons again marks the distinct break from the past that Claudius represents when contrasted with Old Hamlet. Hamlet and Laertes use rapiers in a fencing match. These are new weapons for revenge, not the old armor of Old Hamlet. They also are weapons of sport, not war, showing how politics has become a game rather than a bloodbath. It is interesting to note the parallel between this murder scene and the final scene of Romeo and Juliet, which also ends with a dagger and a poisoned cup.
Act5 scene2 consists of the various tragic deaths with include those of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Queen Gertrude, Leatres and Hamlet. Shakespeare makes the audience feel a sense of loss; he uses the technique of Catharsis, the purging of emotions. The audience is made to feel that Hamlet was a wonderful person and could have done great things for Denmark and this increases their pain and brings out the catharsis, according to Aristotle’s concepts of tragedy.
We had seen throughout the play that Hamlets madness had been convenient factor supported by for various reasons from Claudius, Gertrude and the prince himself. The dramatic qualities and spectacular nature of the fencing match may not appear very impressive when read but appears striking and impressive on stage. Fortinbras’ speech brings the tragedy to a dignified exalted conclusion. A pattern is completed as young Fortinbras recovers lands lost by his father to old Hamlet and the throne of Denmark.
Shakespeare always uses language and speech which are well known by the audience. In keeping with the requirements of revenge, the numerous deaths brings all the participants on stage as a final curtain call. It is a dramatic, terrifying and picturesque scene which contains the moral as well as contains the catharsis or emotional purification according to the Aristotlian criteria of tragedy.
Act5 scene2 is very spectacular and ends in an action packed climax. The idea that death is a leveler initiated in Act 5 Scene 1 is confirmed. It is through deceit and trickery that Hamlets killed, not by fair means, which is in accordance with the nature of Claudius and the corruption of the Danish court. Usually Shakespeare starts a scene in the middle of a conversation but in Act 5 Scene 2 he starts at a slow pace which gives a sort of breathing space for the audience before events crowd in, ending in a breathtaking climax.
Hamlet's relationships with the other characters in the play demonstrate how he begins to act differently as he goes deeper into his uncle's world. His relationships with Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia are all markedly different but all show symptoms of Hamlet himself becoming an unwilling part of Denmark's doom. It is understood that Hamlet greatly dislikes his Uncle Claudius even before the ghost's revelation.
The play brings out the eternal conflict between good and evil, evil is destroyed in the end and so there is poetic justice. When evil is destroyed a certain amount of good is also sacrificed, this is the truth about life and the last scene of Hamlet once again establishes the truth.
Fortinbras being a foreign power is not the best solution to Denmark’s future but considering the circumstances it was. Act5 scene2 gives a sense of wholeness to the play as well as provides a confirmation that Hamlet had not been mad. Shakespeare shows different themes throughout the play including that of friendship (line336).
In act5 scene 2 Fortinbras sees Hamlet as a hero. "Let four captains / Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage, / for he was likely, had he been put on, / to have proved most royally". Indeed, Hamlet does all the criteria of a tragic hero by the time Fortinbras arrives. In the final scene he is a man of action who is killed by circumstances rather than through any direct fault of his own. The debate over whether Hamlet is a hero depends heavily on how much weight is placed on the final act versus the play as a whole. It is difficult to call Hamlet a hero based on his actions during the beginning and middle of the play, where his madness seems to be a form of escape from action rather than a way to defeat Claudius.
Shakespeare gave a dramatic ending for the hero thus making it memorable and making it more painful and more sorrowful for the audience. Shakespeare ended the play with a bang and a grand finale.