Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

Inside Elsinore, Hamlet tells Horatio the story of his escape from the ship bound for England. Even though Hamlet was not a prisoner, per se, on the first leg of his journey, he felt like one, and was determined to get free. One night, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern slept, he snuck into their cabin and stole the papers they were carrying. When he opened the letters, he realized that Claudius was trying to order Hamlet’s execution. Hamlet tells Horatio that he wrote a new letter, copying Claudius’s handwriting, ordering the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on sight. After sealing the letter with his father’s signet, Hamlet returned it to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s chambers. In the encounter with the pirates the following day, Hamlet escaped the ship and sent his old friends on to their death.

Horatio is stunned by Claudius’s cunning and cruelty. Hamlet says he is more determined than ever to kill the man who killed his father, “whored [his] mother,” and stole Hamlet’s own throne. Horatio urges Hamlet to do the deed quickly, as news of what Hamlet has done to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will soon arrive from England.

A young courtier named Osric enters and greets Hamlet. Hamlet quietly tells Horatio that Osric is a “water-fly” and a fool in spite of the great parcels of land he owns—and his resulting political power. Osric says he has a message for Hamlet from the king. He uses florid language to compliment Laertes and praise the man’s good, strong nature, then states that Claudius has bet on Hamlet in a fencing match against Laertes. Osric asks if Hamlet accepts the terms of the bet and will agree to a duel. Hamlet says he does, and Osric runs off to give Claudius the news. Hamlet cheekily advises him to deliver Hamlet’s “yes” with the same “flourish” Osric used to beseechingly describe Laertes.

As Osric runs off, Horatio and Hamlet mock him—but then Horatio tells Hamlet he has a bad feeling about the outcome of the wager. Hamlet insists he’s prepared to fight Laertes—even as he admits that he, too, has an “ill […] about [his] heart.” Horatio urges Hamlet to back out of the fight, but Hamlet is determined to participate and leave his fate to God.

Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Osric, and many lords and courtiers bearing trumpets, fencing rapiers, and wine enter the hall. Claudius urges Hamlet and Laertes to come together and shake hands. As Hamlet approaches Laertes, he apologizes for the pain he’s caused Laertes and his family—but says that he cannot be held accountable for the actions he took under the spell of madness. Laertes assures Hamlet he “receive[s his] offered love” with gratitude, “and will not wrong it.”

Osric hands Hamlet and Laertes their swords, and they prepare to duel. Claudius says that he will blast the castle’s cannons in honor of the winner, and reward him, whoever he may be, with a delicious wine. He orders the fight to begin, and Hamlet and Laertes start fencing. Hamlet hits Laertes in the first round, and Claudius offers him poisoned wine to drink in celebration. Hamlet refuses it, stating he’ll drink it later. In the second round, Hamlet hits Laertes again. Gertrude, thrilled, picks up Hamlet’s cup and drinks to his success. Claudius, in an aside, laments that he has been unable to stop his queen from drinking the poisoned wine.

As the third round begins, Hamlet challenges Laertes to give it his all. The men are evenly matched—but Laertes at last lands a hit on Hamlet. Both men drop their swords—and pick up one another’s in the scuffle. As the fight resumes, Hamlet hits Laertes with Laertes’s poisoned sword. Claudius asks for the fight to stop, but Hamlet is determined to keep dueling. Gertrude collapses, to everyone’s horror, and Laertes quickly follows, lamenting that he is “a woodcock to [his] own springe”—in other words, a bird caught in his own trap.

Though Claudius insists the queen has just swooned at the sight of such action, Gertrude insists the poisoned wine is what has felled her—she warns Hamlet not to drink it. Hamlet calls out for Osric to lock the doors—there has been “treachery” in the hall, and they must find out who is responsible. Laertes, however, speaks up and confesses that he is the traitor. He tells Hamlet that Hamlet has been poisoned and will soon die—there is “no medicine in the world” which can save him. As Laertes dies, he calls out that “the king’s to blame.” Hamlet, realizing the swords are poisoned, stabs Claudius, then forces him to drink from the poisoned cup of wine. Claudius dies. With his dying breath, Laertes cries out that Claudius has gotten what he deserves, and tells Hamlet he forgives him.

As Hamlet himself collapses and dies, he bids goodbye to the “wretched queen,” and laments that “Death is strict in his arrest.” He begs Horatio to tell his story. Horatio picks up the poisoned cup of wine, seemingly desiring to die and follow Hamlet—but Hamlet takes the cup from Horatio, urging him to live on, tell Hamlet’s tale, and exonerate him to the world.

Before Hamlet dies, the sounds of war trumpets come through the door. Hamlet asks what’s happening. Osric enters and informs Hamlet that Fortinbras has returned successfully from Poland. Hamlet says, with his dying breath, that Fortinbras should be the one to bear the Danish crown. “The rest is silence,” Hamlet says, and dies. Horatio bids Hamlet “Good night, sweet prince.”

Fortinbras enters the hall with an English ambassador. He is shocked and confused by the bloody, messy scene around him, and laments the deaths of “so many princes.” The English ambassador says he’s come to announce that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead—but there is no one important left to hear the news. Horatio points to Claudius and says that even if he were still alive, he would not thank the ambassador, as he was not the one who ordered their deaths. Horatio offers to tell Fortinbras and the ambassador “of [the] carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts” that have led to this terrible scene. Fortinbras laments the sorry state of Denmark, but says he’s ready to make his claim upon the throne. Horatio says that he will support Fortinbras even in the midst of such chaos.

Fortinbras orders four of his captains to carry Hamlet’s body to a viewing platform. He laments that the prince would have made a great king. He orders the rest of his soldiers to remove all the dead bodies from the hall—though “such a sight […] becomes the field,” it looks wrong within the walls of such a stately castle.