Does Hamlet change by the end of the play?I'm writing an essay on the character of Hamlet and need details about him.

The title character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a complex character. Consider the situation he is faced with: his father has very recently passed away, and his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married his uncle, Claudius, and Fortinbras is threatening invasion. Quite a lot for a young man to deal with.  At the beginning of the play, we see a conflicted Hamlet- he is unsure of how to handle the idea that his uncle killed his father.  Hamlet spends the majority of the play searching for proof of his uncle’s guilt and also deciding what the best course of action is. In his famous soliloquy, Hamlet asks,

“Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.” (III.i)

By the end of the play he has made a decision. He exacts justice, killing his uncle. However does he do this because he has changed? Or because his uncle orchestrated a duel between Hamlet and Laertes, and accidently causes the death of Gertrude? Whatever the cause, by the end of the play Hamlet lets go of his previous indecision and acts on his desire for vengeance- and that is most definitely a change.