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Table of Contents | Message Board | Printable Version | Barron's Booknotes ACT V, SCENE 2 Notes This climactic scene of tragedy ends with the deaths of all the major characters, leaving Horatio as a stunned and horrified witness. The scene begins with transitional exposition: Hamlet explains for the benefit of the audience how he escaped Claudius' first devious trap. The explanation is necessary for Horatio's benefit; the horrible revelations Hamlet makes give Horatio the insight and compassion for the Prince necessary to tell his story fairly and without judgement. Were it not for this explanation, Horatio himself might wrongly sit in judgement of Hamlet and believe the Prince had truly gone mad. As for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet accepts the necessity of sending them to their death simply because they have betrayed him and have come "between the pass and fell incensed points / Of mighty opposites." The calculated destruction of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is inevitable and essential to the dramatic balance of the play. The moment toward which the entire plot has headed is the death of Claudius, but Hamlet has repeatedly procrastinated about killing him. In this scene, it is obvious that the Prince is in full possession of the ability and the justification to kill the King. . In fact, he lists his reasons like elements of a scientific formula: Claudius' murder, Gertrude's lost virtue, Hamlet's loss of the throne, and his own attempted murder at the hands of his old friends. After his return from England, Hamlet has become more determined, resigning himself to fate. There is no longer a way of escaping the revenge he has dreaded and longed for all along. He is ready to act when an opportune moment presents itself to him. Soon Osric arrives with Claudius' message about the duel, throwing the plot into full gear. The fencing match gives Hamlet the opportunity to finally succeed in his mission, even though he dies in the process. When Claudius enters with the Queen, Laertes, and his retinue of courtiers, Hamlet takes Laertes' hand in an effort to make peace with him. He blames his "antic disposition" for his strange behavior at the graveyard and admits that he has wronged Laertes. He extends a gentleman's apology in saying, "Free me so far in your most generous thoughts / That I have shot my arrow o'er the house / And hurt my brother." This apology to Laertes reveals Hamlet's generous and noble nature; it also reveals him to be "free from all contriving." With formalities out of the way, the duel begins, and Hamlet scores the first two hits. When Claudius offers Hamlet the poisoned drink, he refuses it and expresses his eagerness to finish the duel, returning to the match with an intense flurry of action; it seems Hamlet has begun to understand that he is caught in a treacherous plot. Laertes soon strikes his opponent with his open sword. Hamlet, horrified to learn he has been tricked, stabs Laertes with the open foil, and both men bleed.
Gertrude's accidental drinking of the poison compounds the plot. When she swoons from its effects, Claudius, in typical fashion, lies in an effort to protect himself; he claims that his wife has simply fainted at the sight of blood. Hamlet, however, now fully comprehends what has transpired and calls out for the door to be locked so that the villain can be caught. Determined to establish Claudius' involvement in all of the corruption, Hamlet pursues a swift, rational approach; he has come a long way from the blindly impulsive stabbing of Polonius. Laertes, who is suffering from the pangs of conscience, tells everyone about Claudius' plot. He also tells Hamlet that the tip of his foil has been poisoned so that both he and the Prince will soon die. Knowing that his end is near, Hamlet works rapidly to gain his revenge and make things right for Denmark. Hamlet finally understands the enormity of Claudius' treachery when he sees his mother dead on the floor. Seized with his desire for revenge, he stabs Claudius with the poisoned foil and forces him to drink from the poisoned cup. Before dying, Laertes declares that Claudius "is justly serv'd" in being stabbed by Hamlet. Laertes, like Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, is "justly killed by his own treachery," mortally wounded by the same foil he prepared for Hamlet. Laertes' confession has totally absolved Hamlet from any blame; all of his actions are the natural responses of a son to a father's murder. The dying prince stops Horatio from committing suicide and begs his friend to report his "cause aright" to the people. Hamlet wants the Danes to know that his killing of Claudius was not an act of personal vengeance, but one of noble justice. He entrusts Horatio, an eyewitness to the whole tragedy, with the responsibility of repeating the tragic tale to the people. Before he dies, Hamlet passes the throne of Denmark on to young Fortinbras. The first official act of the new King is to accord Hamlet an appropriate funeral. Fortinbras' eulogy of Hamlet is an honest evaluation of the young Prince, and the military funeral is a dramatic way in which to close the tragedy. The note ends on a positive note, for it seems King Fortinbras will again bring order to the state of Denmark. Structurally, Act V, Scene 2 is the counterpart of Act I, Scene 2. In both, the entire court is assembled, and the same main characters are present. In the Act I scene, Claudius is concerned about Fortinbras and Hamlet, both threats to his power. In Act V, Claudius is still worried about his power and manipulates Laertes against Hamlet; at last, however, he is destroyed by his own duplicity. Appropriately, Fortinbras, who has been feared for potentially creating havoc in Denmark, arrives at the end of the play to save Denmark by imposing some kind of order out of the chaos.
Table of Contents | Message Board | Printable Version | Barron's Booknotes
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