Final Act

In the final act of this play, Hamlet's murder of Claudius is definitely a highly anticipated scene, but the nature in which it is carried out seems odd. He commits the act in such a roundabout way that it does not seem to properly suit the vengeance he is attempting to carry out.

In 1765, Samuel Johnson, criticized the way in which shakespeare made the ending:

“The poet is accused of having shown little regard to poetical justice, and may be charged with equal neglect of poetical probability. The apparition left the regions of the dead to little purpose; the revenge which he demands is not obtained but by the death of him that was required to take it; and the gratification which would arise from the destruction of an usurper and a murderer, is abated by the untimely death of Ophelia.”

The ghost that we had seen in the beginning of the play as an important part, seems to be left behind in this culmination. The play almost seems to come to a close accidentally, and it is this somewhat clumsiness in his writing that Johnson accuses Shakespeare of.

In Hamlet, we see a character who is reluctant to carry out the revenge that many other of Shakespeare's characters are so willingly ready to do. At one point Hamlet says, “The time is out of joint. Oh cursed spite / That ever I was born to set it right!” Shakespeare has created a character who accomplishes through intellect and language, rather than violence.

Hamlet’s dying words to Horatio speak to the audience to aid in helping sort out all that has been seen in the final act. He emphasizes that we reach meaning in retrospect, not in a current action. And his being and death represent the importance of thought over fate.