On the end of Hamlet

"Nothing is resolved: there has been only prodigal death, of which the required one - Claudius's - is without catharsis. We do not know who the Ghost was, or whether he is now at peace, or whether Gertrude knew about her second husband, or how else Hamlet could have fulfilled himself - only that we could have done no better with his difficulties than he has. Denmark, once powerful, has been reduced to a client of Norway - largely through the activities of Hamlet. But of course his meaning is not contained by these circumstances, far from it. His body is to be taken, in a final pun, 'to the stage', a place of display and honour, with a sense of permanence, facing the sky. As the play closes on a single half-line of practical instruction and the lights go down on Hamlet, the frailty of his life, the permanence of his spirit, and above all his extraordinary enquiries, begin their long ringing in the ears. "

- Michael Pennington, 1996, Hamlet: A User's Guide, pg. 150. An excellent, insightful book on the great play, written from an actor's perspective (and a good actor's one at that).