message that Hamlet should be put to death upon his arrival there. Hamlet instead arranges for the deaths of Gildenstern and Rosencrantz and returns. He finds out that in his absence Ophelia has gone mad with grief and has drowned. Her brother, Laertes, returns from France to avenge his sister's death. He and Hamlet fight a sword fight in her grave which includes Laertes' sword, poisoned by Claudius. However, the weapons become exchanged resulting in both Laertes and Hamlet's death. Hamlet manages to kill Claudius before he dies, and Gertrude drinks a cup of poison intended for her son.
Fortinbras, a military hero we have been informed of throughout the play, returns from Norway and arranges a proper military funeral for Hamlet.
However the character of Hamlet is viewed, the meaning of the third soliloquy (what is also known as the main soliloquy due to its coming almost directly in the middle of the action), cannot be missed. "To be or not to be, that is the question . . ." states Hamlet (III, i 55). The question is, should Hamlet, who "Bears the whips and scorns of time .
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