11/13 blog post:

The final scene has arrived.  Claudius has arranged an array of ways he could kill Hamlet.  If he wins the fencing match with Laertes, Claudius will slip poison in the shape of a pearl in his celebratory wine cup, and he also has arranged for Laertes to receive a sword that has not been "filed" down.  It seems only fitting that after Hamlet wounds Laertes, he reveals his plan with Claudius to kill him (Hamlet), and then Hamlet FINALLY kills the cold blooded murderer of his father, Claudius.  However, with all of this violence, three innocent lives have been taken: Ophelia, Polonius, and Gertrude.  Ophelia potentially killed herself due to Hamlet's murder of her father Polonius and Hamlet's poor treatment of her(even though he loved her more than 40,000 brothers combined, he had to keep his cover of not being sane).  Gertrude's death lays completely on Claudius' shoulder, although in the best case scenario, Gertrude lives on to carry the family legacy and preside over Denmark.  Even Hamlet got what he deserved in this play, DEATH, and a painful one at that.