By the end of act three, it's pretty evident that stuff is starting to slide downhill. I mean, he kills Polonius on accident after chickening out to kill his uncle. In my book, a previous owner wrote in the side "excuses" next to Hamlet backing out from killing Claudius. That's an interesting way to look at it. Maybe he wasn't ready for it, but why would he then thrust at the curtain so willingly a few minutes later. Interesting.

Either way, Hammy's life isn't going to go so great after this. He's going to have to live with the fact that he's killed Polonius. He has to live with the fact that he saw the ghost when his mom didn't and she thinks he's crazy. My prediction, since I haven't read the whole thing yet, is that everyone will die. Ok, so I've heard bits of the ending, but my point is, Ophelia is overcome by grief of love and father lost so she kills herself. Polonius is already dead. Hamlet is likely to die at the end. The king has to be killed for the revenge to play out. The queen will likely go as Ophelia did. And the friends will be nixed just for good measure.

I don't know why this would be inevitable, but it seems likely from these first three acts. There just isn't much hope for a good resolve for anyone. Ophelia's life sucks as does Hamlet's, and the queen's. The king will die at Hamlet's hands because I don't think Hamlet would die without taking Claudius with him.