Inevitable Death

To me it seems that a large part of Hamlet's meaning lies in the inevitablity of death. Hamlet explores this when questioned about the whereabouts of Polonius's corpse 4.3.21-28. As well as in the scene where he comes across the gravediggers, and comes to face the skull of the old jester. I think that this inevitablity is also where a large part of the purpose in killing almost all of the characters at the end is. At the end all the characters regardless of political standing, effort, or gender all die. Characters that labored away to achieve high reaching goals, regardless of how hard they struggle die. Claudius works to become the king, Hamlet & Laertes to avenge their fathers' murders, etc. All of them die. They are all equalized and become food for the worms and maggots. The amount of effort they put into life, the stature they achieved, etc. nothing can prevent their death. All men are equal before the reaper's scythe. I think that this is one of the most important central themes.