Hamlet 5.1-5.2

1. From the perspective of the audience, they break the tension in the play which has not had one consistently humorous character until now. The riddles and songs also help to highlight Hamlet's change of character in relation to the idea of death. Death is just a part of life.
2. Hamlet is more open about his emotions now. Before, he thought it was weak, so he would only loose his emotions when he was alone. Now, he has no problem displaying his emotions for anyone to see, and seems to do it more when there are people around. Due to this change of character, we are able to see how Hamlet feels about the three characters. He is extremely fond of Yoric, who was his friend in the past. He speaks openly about how much he liked him. He clearly admires and loves his father as well. The only time we see some guard on Hamlet's emotions is with Ophelia. This could show disdain but I believe he is simply trying to hide his pain over her rejection of his love. This show of emotion brings up the idea that perhaps Hamlet isn't as crazy as everybody thought.
3. Hamlet is about 30. We know this from earlier on in the play. However, in this scene, the gravedigger tells us that he remembers when Hamlet was born, and that he's been working on this land for about 30 years.
4. It reinforces the idea that Hamlet did love Ophelia at one point, and probably still does. It also shows that he has absolutely no guilt over murdering Polonius. It is also a manifestation of his change in character, his resolution to act instead of just think.
5. Earlier in the story Hamlet was intellectual, reserved in emotion and action, and usually considerate of others. Now, he is more impulsive and doesn't think or care about consequences. We see unreserved presentation of emotion as he claims that he deserves to be the king and he admits to loving Ophelia in his argument with Laertes. Before, he didn't harm people unless it was necessary, as evidenced when speaking about his mother he stated "I will speak daggers to her, but use none" (3.3, line 380). He used to be fairly nonviolent. Now, he will harm people without a second thought, not even stopping to wonder if what they did truly warrant his actions against them, shown by his ruthless murder of Polonius for which he shows no remorse.
6. Before, Hamlet was all, "I have to avenge my father and prevent my mother from prostituting herself". With this new speech, it seems as though he has those same motivations, but also he believes he should be king. He wants to kill Claudius to take over his rightful place on the throne. 7. Osric is sucking up to Hamlet. He's telling Hamlet everything he wants to hear and doing whatever he wants to move up in the world. He is the reincarnation of Polonius in the play. This reinforces the idea of prostitution. Osric is basically selling his morals and his individualism so he can be associated with people of a higher class.
8. Augury is a sign of what will happen in the future. In this act, Hamlet realizes that forces beyond what we can control help to determine our fate, which is why he agrees to fight Laertes.
9. Laertes has to resent Hamlet because it's the honorable thing to do. Hamlet killed his Polonius, so it would be dishonorable for Laertes to just forgive Hamlet. This is already lost because of the way he has chosen to kill Hamlet: cheating in a sword fight by putting poison on the end of his rapier. This is extremely dishonorable. It contributes to the theme of revenge in that Laertes is killing Hamlet because Hamlet killed Polonius.
10.

• Gertrude's lines: "No, no, the drink, the drink/Oh my dear Hamlet/The drink, the drink/I am poisoned." This shows that she is undone by her need for material things. The wine is a symbol for earthly pleasures which she has pursued the entire play. This can be shown earlier in that she married Claudius very quickly after Old Hamlet died.
• Caludius's lines: "Oh yet defend me friends/I am but hurt." This shows that Claudius is incompetent and unable to do things for himself, always relying on others to do what needs done. This is shown earlier by the way that Claudius always uses other people to get things done: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and Laertes to name a few.
• Laertes's has a much longer speech than the other two, allowing him to comment on the irony of Claudius dying by his own poison. Laertes suffers a crisis of conscience in the end, in which he tells Hamlet he feels guilty. This reverts him to the "noble youth" which Hamlet accused him of being during the graveyard scene.

11. Fortinbras and Horatio win in Hamlet. Fortinbras is the only one who actually ended up avenging his father's murder. While he didn't kill everyone, he still ends up king of Denmark, which was arguably his goal from the beginning. Horatio also wins just by virtue of managing to stay alive. He was always present in the story, but never part of the main drama, never the target of anyone's untoward emotions. It can also be argued that the story is probably told from Horatio's perspective, making him the obvious winner.