Ophelia is most widely known as the female love interest in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The name Ophelia means Helper and is of Greek origin. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!” meaning “Goodnight sweet prince, may the angels sing you to sleep.” What famous line does Horatio deliver at the end of the play? How many people die in the final scene of Hamlet?Īnswer and Explanation: A total of nine characters die in Hamlet, not including Yorrick, the jester, who died sometime before the play. Furthermore, before Ophelia’s death, the two women in “Hamlet” are established as foils to one another. Gertrude killing Ophelia would also be a perfect thematic fit because it completes the family of murderers-Claudius poisons his brother, Hamlet stabs Polonius, and Gertrude asphyxiates Ophelia. By examining his incapability to commit suicide, his inability to come to terms with killing his mother, putting on a play to delay killing Claudius and the inability to kill Claudius while he’s praying, we see that Hamlet chooses not to take action. Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to act. However, he then returns to the scene to deliver his line about Fortinbras’ “warlike volley.” In some interpretations, such as Ingmar Bergman’s 1986 production, Horatio is killed at the end of the play.
Osric is seen being taken by surprise and stabbed. Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Hamlet shows his love for Ophelia when he confesses to her that he loves her, when he tells her to go to a nunnery to protect her, when he sends her the letter, and when he finds out that she has died.įirst, Laertes is cut by his own sword’s blade, and, after revealing to Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s poison. Hamlet really did love Ophelia, and tells Laertes, “Be buried quick with her, and so will I” (V.i.296). Ophelia – Went insane because of Polonius’s death, and drowned herself offscreen. Polonius – Stabbed from behind a curtain by Hamlet, believing him to be Claudius spying on him. Who is the first person to die in Hamlet? His last line in the play is ‘Which have solicited – The rest is silence. ‘ In Hamlet’s last short speech, he makes arrangements for the future of Denmark, of which he is the dying king. Hamlet’s Last Words He says repeatedly to his friend Horatio ‘I am dying,’ ‘I die,’ or even ‘I am dead. There is no longer something rotten in the state of Denmark there is nothing, and so Fortinbras must move in to restore civil order. Why does everyone die at the end of Hamlet?Īs a result of the poisoned sword moving from one person to another, Claudius, Laertes, Gertrude, and Hamlet all die at the end of V. 11 Who is to blame for the tragedy of Hamlet?.9 What famous line does Horatio deliver at the end of the play?.8 How many people die in the final scene of Hamlet?.2 Who is the first person to die in Hamlet?.