It turns out that I was the last man standing this time. That is because Fortinbras is now sitting on Claudius's recently vacated throne. Things went bad very quickly during the duel, and not only are Hamlet and Laertes both dead, but the king is run through and the queen is dead from poisoning. I have never seen so many of the nobility drop dead so quickly. After Hamlet had made Laertes look like a fool in the first two bouts, the queen drank to Hamlet. Laertes became enraged and cut Hamlet, who tackled Laertes. Somehow, after they rolled around on the ground and struggled with each other, they managed to switch swords, and Hamlet slashed Laertes. Things really got crazy when the queen dropped dead from a poisoned drink. Laertes then confessed to Hamlet that he had plotted with the king to kill Hamlet with a poisoned sword, and that both he and Hamlet had been wounded by the sword. After learning this, Hamlet killed the king (finally) without any hesitation. After Laertes had asked for Hamlet's forgiveness and had forgiven him for Polonius's death, Laertes died. I cannot say that I was going to have to watch my best friend die today, but the poison worked quickly on Hamlet. I was ready to drink the poison that had ended the queen because of my own failure to stop this carnage, but with his last breath Hamlet begged me to spare my own life and to tell his story to anyone that wanted to know about what had happened to the royal family of Denmark. Then Hamlet was finally relieved of his suffering, and I hope his passage to the next world will be accompanied by the satisfaction that he succeeded in avenging his father. Luckily (I guess), I had the entire invading Norwegian army to listen as I told Hamlet's story, which I hope will adequately fulfill his last wish.
No comments:
Post a Comment