How does Laertes die?

Laertes dies after being wounded with his own poisoned sword during the final duel with Hamlet. Laertes and Claudius secretly plan to murder Hamlet by arranging a fencing match in which Laertes uses “a poison-tipped sword.” During the fight, Laertes successfully wounds Hamlet first, but in the chaos of the duel, the two men exchange weapons, and Hamlet wounds Laertes with the same poisoned blade.

As Laertes realizes he has been fatally poisoned by his own weapon, he confesses Claudius’s treachery. He admits that “the king’s to blame,” revealing the murder plot to Hamlet. Before dying, Laertes expresses remorse and reconciles with Hamlet, telling him he forgives him. Hamlet forgives Laertes in return, and shortly afterward Laertes collapses and dies.

Laertes’s death is deeply ironic because the violent revenge scheme he eagerly embraces ends up destroying him as well. Unlike Hamlet, who hesitates for much of the play, Laertes acts quickly and decisively to avenge his father and sister. Shakespeare ultimately shows that both action and inaction lead toward the same tragic end: nearly everyone involved in the cycle of revenge dies.