Hamlet act 5

The final act of Hamlet by Shakespeare...
As a reader I have been waiting to read this act as a class so that I could clearly understand it. However, I decided to go ahead and read it and then read the modern version of it. Doing that I clearly understood what happened and my final thoughts of it are that I did not expect SUCH dramatic ending for this play at all.

In this act, Hamlet who has returned from England visits Ophelia's death and feels strucked in horror. He is negatively affected by her death because of the love they used to share. During this time a lord comes before him and asks him if he will participate in the sword duel against Laertes that King Claudius has arranged. Hamlet is aware that there can only be one of them living in order to fulfill each of their goals, Hamlet and Laertes. He also identifies himself with Laertes calling him his mirror, for both wanting to revenge the death of their respective father.
In the duel, Laertes changes the poisoned sword for a real in order to conserve his honor. Desperate, King Claudius pours venom into the wine in order to kill Hamlet himself. Hamlet wins the first two rounds and King Claudius offers him wine to celebrate it. However, the Queen drinks the wine instead to protect Hamlet. In this moment, Laertes becomes desperate so he wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword and Hamlet beholds the poisoned sword by accident wounding Laertes back. While Laertes is dying he exposes King Claudius crimes in front of everyone. And although Hamlet is also dying by poison he comes toward Claudius with the sword and forces him to drink the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies in torture just as the Queen. In his final moments of life, Hamlet tells Hotario to tell this story to everyone saying, "As thou'rt a man, give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't. O good Horatio, what a wounded name, things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me! If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart absent thee from felicity awhile, and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, to tell my story.” (Act V, Scene2) This quote shows Hamlet desire to be remembered. He specially wants Fortinbras to learn about his death because he hopes that he becomes the future king of Denmark. When Fortinbras hears the news about Hamlet's death he announces that Hamlet will be buried as a soldier.

In the end everyone has experienced a tragic death. As a reader of Shakespeare's plays I did not expect anything less. Although I knew an extreme tragic ending was approaching I still wanted to read it. Overall I consider this a great story and I enjoyed reading it. I would have liked to see more of Ophelia and Hamlet's relationship though. Compared to other plays like Macbeth and Othello this one did not show that much love between the main couple. Other than that this is by far the most dramatic play I have read. All the main characters died in the same act leaving no time to see any mourn from any other character. However, even so I still enjoyed it because I like drama.