There is considerable change in Hamlet’s character since the last time we saw him before he went on his trip to England. He is tranquil and his tone sounds more like a Prince. He speaks in detail now to Horatio of his sea voyage to England. Hamlet has come to the conclusion that providence is guiding him and that everything depends on the will of God. Hamlet’s attitude toward destiny has also changed, he will now wait for his chance to do the right thing that is kill Claudius. Hamlet defies “augury” because he doesn’t want to allow himself to plan his future. This probably explains why he brushes aside the suspicious feelings that he has about the duel he has accepted to play in. Hamlet acknowledges the fact that he did want to be King of Denmark after his fathers death as he says of Claudius;
“Popp’d in between th’election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life” {65-66}.
Hamlet in this scene seems to recognise death as something that we have to accept in our lives and something that we have to be prepared for; as he says
“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.”
We also see that Hamlet has emotionally matured as in Act 3 scene i, Hamlet says “To be, or not to be,” {Act 3, scene i,55-56} and in Act 5 scene ii he says “Let be.” {208}.
Shakespeare probably put the character of Osric to bring some comic relief into the play especially for the audience as we already know what is in store for Hamlet once he began playing in the match. Osric’s arrival gives Hamlet a chance to be wittily sarcastic, this seems to be Hamlets most likeable talent and he seems to enjoy using it especially when in the company of lower class members of the court like Polonius, the grave digger and now Osric.
Hamlet says to Horatio of Osric “he-and many more of the same bevy that I know the drossy age dotes on-“ this to me sounds like Osric represents the corrupted State of Denmark.
The theme of appearance and reality is carried through the play and comes to a close in this scene. We see the true Claudius “villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” {Act 1 scene v – 1564}; thatHamlet exposes by killing him in front of the whole court. Laertes also puts on an appearance as the fencing math is supposed to be friendly, but in reality Laertes is going to kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword.
Hamlets “antic disposition” concludes with Hamlet dying.
The wager that Claudius had placed on Hamlet has the appearance of a friendly fencing match but death lurks behind it.
‘Hamlet’ being a revenge tragedy, has to have some element of victory in the play and in Act 5 scene ii we see Death, Hamlet and Fortinbras stand triumphant.
In the play there is talk of death Claudius killing the Old King Hamlet, Hamlet killing Polonius, Claudius’s plot to have Hamlet killed, Hamlets letter to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed upon arrival in England instead of himself, Ophelia’s supposed suicidal death, the Queen drinking the poisoned wine, the King being killed by Hamlet with the poison that has killed his mother and that will also take him away from this world, Laeters’s death due to a wound with the “envenom’d” sword and Hamlets death also due to a wound that he received with the “envenom’d” sword. Hence we see that death too scores victory as Fortinbras says
“O proud Death,
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily has struck?”{357-360}
Hamlet is victorious because he has avenged his fathers death by killing Claudius and has justified himself in committing this act by killing him in front of the whole Danish court. He has his dying wishes fulfilled that is for his story to be told and for Fortinbras to take over Denmark’s sovereignty.
But most of all it is Fortinbras who is most triumphant as we are told in Act 1 scene i, that Fortinbras wanted to recapture whatever land his father had lost to King Hamlet. In Act 5 scene ii we see that he has returned successfully form Poland, and as he arrives into Denmark he is presented with the whole country of Denmark and her Sovereignty, as per Hamlets dying wishes.
All the characters, namely Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Queen Gertrude, Laertes and Hamlet came in contact and were corrupted by Claudius “the human canker” are dead by the end of the play either through “carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, accidental judgements, casual slaughters” or “Of deaths put on by cunning and forc’d cause”. By Hamlet dying on the throne and putting Denmark in the hands of Fortinbras he has brought an end to all the corruption that she has suffered during Claudius’s reign.
The dying lines of Queen Gertrude and King Claudius gives us a last view into their character.
Queen Gertrude says “O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink! I am poison’d.” Here she is warning Hamlet about the poisoned drink, it shows her true love and concern for Hamlet her son. I think she unconsciously drank from the poisoned cup, but although she knew that Claudius had poisoned a cup of wine, even while on her death bed she doesn’t give him away; this shows her loyalty towards Claudius.
“O yet defend me, friends. I am but hurt.” This is very characteristic of Claudius, as he always expected someone else to do his work for him. Polonius, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern, the King of England and Laertes have been Claudis’s assistants through out the play and have all helped in some way or the other to help kill or get rid of his main opposition Hamlet.
The end of the is very fitting especially for the Elizabethans as they worshipped Order in their world especially in the monarchy, as they believed if the head was corrupted then the rest of the State would also get corrupted. By Hamlet restoring order to the State by putting Fortinbras in power he has succeeded in bringing the Elizabethan world back into a place that they were comfortable living in.
