The ending of Hamlet is one of the most well known throughout literature. The play ends with Hamlet’s mother Gertrude, being poisoned and dying. Following her death Hamlet kills his uncle and Laertes with whom he was dueling. At the same time Laertes runs Hamlet through with a poison sword and causes him to die. Right before Hamlet’s death he hears that Fortinbras has come into the castle and with his dying words says that Fortinbras should take over as the king of Denmark. When Fortinbras finds the bodies after the gruesome scene he promptly tells his men to carry off the bodies and to treat them with dignity.
In order for the reader to decide if the final scene of Hamlet truly provides a sense of closure several ideas must be considered. In order to fully understand what closure in a tragedy is the reader must first be aware with the significant elements of tragedy. The first is that all tragedies have a …show more content…
Claudius is the cause of the corruption according to the body politic and when the source of corruption is removed than the body can be uncorrupt once again. This also symbolically represents the return of Old Hamlet and order within Denmark. These are both significant to the closure of the play as they both tie back into the basic elements of tragedy. Within a tragedy order must be restored with the hero’s fall and when Hamlet kills Claudius he destroys the symbol of corruption throughout the play causing order to be restored while dying or falling in the process. While some may argue that because the audience never sees Fortinbras become king it is unclear if he brings order back however because of his actions and the fact that the symbol of corruption has been destroyed it can be assumed that he will be a more fair and just king. These are some of the primary reasons why the ending of Hamlet effectively provides closure to the