Act III (and summation of everything in general)
Wow. I mean, just, wow. That was seriously intense. I think I can count on one hand the number of people left alive at the end of the play. Let’s see: Hamlet, Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius, and Rosenstern all die…that leaves the various assortment of random courtiers who traipsed through the scenes, plus Horatio, who seems to be the only lead who managed to survive. (Knowing him, though, I’d expect him to be the last one standing.)
Quick recap: due to a bizarre plot device, Hamlet returns to Denmark with the aid of pirates(!) and informs Horatio that he switched his execution order for one of Rosenstern. To me, this seems a little harsh, but it fits with the play’s other explorations of the moral validity of retributive punishment. I don’t think Rosenstern deserved to die–they were, in my opinion, unnecessary casualties–but Hamlet did, and he calls the shots (after all, the entire play is named after him).
They come across a grave and spend a large amount of time morbidly ruminating on death, both spiritual and physical–at least Hamlet does, and Horatio listens. He finds the skull of Yorrick, the court jester he knew as a child, and that launches him into a thoughtful dissertation on the inevitability of death and the way in which it renders all men equal. Ophelia’s funeral party arrives, and Laertes is so distraught that he jumps into her grave (this is a little bizarre. I still think their relationship was vaguely incestuous). Hamlet, so upset upon learning of her death, jumps in to join him and the two duke it out before being separated. If there was any question in the courtiers’ minds that the prince was crazy, those doubts are by now long gone.
Fast forward a little, and Hamlet agrees to duel Laertes after being summoned by the groveling courtier Osric. Oddly enough, Hamlet seems to respect Laertes’ grief for his family, and even goes so far as to apologize for their deaths. Things quickly degenerate from there, as both Laertes and Hamlet are cut by Laertes’ poisoned sword due to an exchange of weapons (one of those things that really needs to be seen onstage to be effective), Gertrude drinks from a poisoned chalice (oops), and Hamlet, informed that he is about to die, runs through dear ol’ stepdad with the poisoned blade AND makes him drink the remaining poison. Just for good measure.
The only good news, if any, is that Hamlet was able to obtain Laertes’ forgiveness before they both died. I still believe he was truly crazy, but as the ghost shocked him into madness, I think Ophelia’s death shocked him back into some kind of sanity, at least enough to feel remorse. Ironically, as the play closes Fortinbras arrives to seize Denmark and finds the entire royal family sprawled on the floor. Hopefully he’ll be better at affairs of state than that bunch.
My favorite characters? I really liked Horatio because he made no pretenses of knowledge, grandeur, false friendship, or political wheelings and dealings as the other characters did. He acted sensibly, with integrity but not with philosophical loftiness. He was a good friend, intelligent, down-to-earth, and it seems fitting to me that he should remain alive to retell his friend’s story as a warning.
(My other favorite character was the first gravedigger. His banter with the other, dimmer gravedigger was witty and provided a kind of grim comic relief that was sorely needed.)
And Hamlet. Oh, Hamlet. I know I’ve been critical of you character, and I stand by everything I’ve said. However, although I don’t particularly agree with the decisions you made and the way you handled the problems thrown at you, I do appreciate your character and the struggles you’ve faced throughout the story. Hopefully you’ll sleep, perchance to dream, and find peace in a place where all your questions are answered. That’s what it was really about, wasn’t it? Not about revenge, or failure to act, but about the questions that kept you from validating your own existence.
Good night, sweet prince. Adieu.
