Consider the role of fortune (i.e. fate and/or chance) in the play.
Life or death has been a common theme in Hamlet, and the consequences of each characters’ actions that lead to them are undoubtedly affected by the strings of fate. Whether it is to “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” or “take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing them”, fate has already narrowed the characters’ paths. The fact that Hamlet’s supposed fate after the King’s death was eventually be king, has already lead him on a gruesome path of whether to end his own life or find a way to seek justice for his dead father. Throughout the play Hamlet is tormented by the question of whether to kill his uncle or end his own life. Every event that effects the decision he makes may alter his ultimate ending. Although he goes off the path to argue against his fate, the ghost of the past king has been shown to correct him onto the “right” path.
Death leads to an act of revenge in the play. Hamlet madness brought him into conflict and unable to act. Hamlet uses insanity to resist the power of Claudius as a “method of revenge”. The question we must ask, did Hamlet use the right method to achieve his revenge? Hamlet’s character, his inability to act, his continuing doubts and his tendency to melancholy, makes inevitable the tragedy at the end of his life. The chaotic succession of events in the play reflects human feelings out of control and people making awful decisions while ignoring consequences.
Hamlet’s actions throughout the play show that he is a man of reason opposed to Laertes being impulsive. He seemingly hesitates to kill Claudius despite King hamlet’s spirit told him to avenge his death. He makes up his mind to kill Claudius after drawing a conclusion in the theater fiasco when he is summoned to confront his mother. As fate would have it, Prince Fortinbras avenges his father’s death by conquering Denmark which ends the vicious cycle of hatred.