@octoberthesixth You always have to take into account when reading Shakespeare's plays that they were plays, and were intended to be performed, not read. You also have to remember that they were intended to be entertainments for an Elizabethan crowd ranging from feral street kids to nobility. One thing that strikes me about all the plays, including Hamlet, is that it is incredibly uneven in tone. There's horror, drama, tragedy, but also comedy. I didn't realize how funny Hamlet can be until I saw a performance starring Kevin Kline back in 1990 or so.

Hamlet is really misunderstood by a lot of people. So many people talk about Hamlet being indecisive, but that's not the case at all. Hamlet knows exactly what he wants to do —he wants to kill Claudius in a way that guarantees he'll go to Hell. But he also wants to have definitive proof that Claudius killed his father before he acts, otherwise he risks his own immortal soul.

Another thing that modern audiences probably don't remember is that Hamlet is much younger than he's usually portrayed. Based on information provided in the play, he must be younger than 21, and is probably rather younger than that, so a teenager, with all the wild moodiness of teenagers.

The ending is kind of silly, in my opinion — EVERybody dies! — but I think it does hold up. I'm not sure it's the Bard's best play, but it's up there.