Let me see.
Takes the skull
Act V, scene i
In the churchyard, two
gravediggers shovel out a grave for Ophelia. They argue whether Ophelia should
be buried in the churchyard, since her death looks like a suicide. According to
religious doctrine, suicides may not receive Christian burial. The first gravedigger,
who speaks cleverly and mischievously, asks the second gravedigger a riddle:
“What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the
carpenter?” (V.i.46–47). The second gravedigger answers that it must be the
gallows-maker, for his frame outlasts a thousand tenants. The first gravedigger
corrects him, saying that it is the gravedigger, for his “houses” will last
until Doomsday.
Hamlet and Horatio enter
at a distance and watch the gravediggers work. Hamlet looks with wonder at the
skulls they excavate to make room for the fresh grave and speculates darkly
about what occupations the owners of these skulls served in life: “Why may not
that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now . . . ?”
(V.i.90–91). Hamlet asks the gravedigger whose grave he digs, and the gravedigger
spars with him verbally, first claiming that the grave is his own, since he is
digging it, then that the grave belongs to no man and no woman, because men and
women are living things and the occupant of the grave will be dead. At last he
admits that it belongs to one “that was a woman sir; but, rest her soul, she’s
dead” (V.i.146). The gravedigger, who does not recognize Hamlet as the prince,
tells him that he has been a gravedigger since King Hamlet defeated the elder
Fortinbras in battle, the very day on which young Prince Hamlet was born.
Hamlet picks up a skull, and the gravedigger tells him that the skull belonged
to Yorick, King Hamlet’s jester. Hamlet tells Horatio that as a child he knew
Yorick and is appalled at the sight of the skull. He realizes forcefully that
all men will eventually become dust, even great men like Alexander the Great
and Julius Caesar. Hamlet imagines that Julius Caesar has disintegrated and is
now part of the dust used to patch up a wall.
Suddenly, the funeral
procession for Ophelia enters the churchyard, including Claudius, Gertrude,
Laertes, and many mourning courtiers. Hamlet, wondering who has died, notices
that the funeral rites seem “maimed,” indicating that the dead man or woman
took his or her own life (V.i.242). He and Horatio hide as the procession
approaches the grave. As Ophelia is laid in the earth, Hamlet realizes it is
she who has died. At the same moment, Laertes becomes infuriated with the
priest, who says that to give Ophelia a proper Christian burial would profane
the dead. Laertes leaps into Ophelia’s grave to hold her once again in his
arms. Grief-stricken and outraged, Hamlet bursts upon the company, declaring in
agonized fury his own love for Ophelia. He leaps into the grave and fights with
Laertes, saying that “forty thousand brothers / Could not, with all their
quantity of love, / make up my sum” (V.i.254–256). Hamlet cries that he would
do things for Ophelia that Laertes could not dream of—he would eat a crocodile
for her, he would be buried alive with her. The combatants are pulled apart by
the funeral company. Gertrude and Claudius declare that Hamlet is mad. Hamlet
storms off, and Horatio follows. The king urges Laertes to be patient, and to
remember their plan for revenge.
Analysis
The gravediggers are
designated as “clowns” in the stage directions and prompts, and it is important
to note that in Shakespeare’s time the word clown referred to a rustic or
peasant, and did not mean that the person in question was funny or wore a
costume.
The gravediggers
represent a humorous type commonly found in Shakespeare’s plays: the clever
commoner who gets the better of his social superior through wit. At the Globe
Theater, this type of character may have particularly appealed to the
“groundlings,” the members of the audience who could not afford seats and thus
stood on the ground. Though they are usually figures of merriment, in this
scene the gravediggers assume a rather macabre tone, since their jests and
jibes are all made in a cemetery, among bones of the dead. Their conversation
about Ophelia, however, furthers an important theme in the play: the question
of the moral legitimacy of suicide under theological law. By giving this
serious subject a darkly comic interpretation, Shakespeare essentially makes a
grotesque parody of Hamlet’s earlier “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (III.i),
indicating the collapse of every lasting value in the play into uncertainty and
absurdity.
Hamlet’s confrontation
with death, manifested primarily in his discovery of Yorick’s skull, is, like
Ophelia’s drowning, an enduring image from the play. However, his solemn
theorizing explodes in grief and rage when he sees Ophelia’s funeral
procession, and his assault on Laertes offers a glimpse of what his true
feelings for Ophelia might once have been. Laertes’ passionate embrace of the
dead Ophelia again advances the subtle motif of incest that hangs over their
brother-sister relationship. Interestingly, Hamlet never expresses a sense of
guilt over Ophelia’s death, which he indirectly caused through his murder of
Polonius. In fact, the only time he even comes close to taking responsibility
for Polonius’s death at all comes in the next and last scene, when he
apologizes to Laertes before the duel, blaming his “madness” for Polonius’s
death. This seems wholly inadequate, given that Hamlet has previously claimed
repeatedly only to be feigning madness. But by the same token, to expect moral
completeness from a character as troubled as Hamlet might be unrealistic. After
all, Hamlet’s defining characteristics are his pain, his fear, and his
self-conflict. Were he to take full responsibility for the consequences of
Polonius’s death, he would probably not be able to withstand the psychological
torment of the resulting guilt.
Modern English
First Gravedigger
She’s getting a Christian burial, the one who sought her own salvation?
Second Gravedigger
I’m telling you that she is. Therefore, make her grave right away. The coroner examined the case and decided that she should have a Christian burial.
First Gravedigger
How can that be, unless she drowned herself in self-defense?
Second Gravedigger
Well, that was found to be the case.
First Gravedigger
It must have been in "so offendendo" it couldn’t have been anything else. Here’s my point: if I drown myself on purpose, it means there’s an act. And an act has three parts: to act, to do, and to perform. Therefore, she drowned herself on purpose.
Second Gravedigger
No, you listen to me, Mr. Gravedigger.
First Gravedigger
Hear me out first. Here lies the water – good. Here stands the man –good. If the man goes to the water and drowns himself, willingly or not, he goes. Do you follow that? But if the water comes to him, and drowns him, then he doesn’t drown himself. Therefore, he that is not guilty of his own death doesn’t shorten his own life.
Second Gravedigger
But is that the law?
First Gravedigger
Yes, it is. It’s the coroner’s law.
Second Gravedigger
If you want to know the truth of the matter, if this hadn’t been a woman of noble birth, she wouldn’t be getting a Christian burial.
First Gravedigger
You’re right. It’s a pity that powerful folks have more freedom to drown or hang themselves than the rest of us. Give me my spade. In ancient times, all the noblemen were either gardeners, ditch diggers, or grave makers. They were continuing Adam’s profession.
Second Gravedigger
Was Adam a nobleman?
First Gravedigger
He was the first man to bear arms.
Second Gravedigger
But, he didn’t have a family coat of arms.
First Gravedigger
Are you an ignorant heathen who doesn’t know his Bible? The Scripture says that Adam dug. How could he dig without arms? Let me ask you another question. If you don’t get it right, then go be hanged.
Second Gravedigger
Go ahead.
First Gravedigger
Who can build something stronger than either a stone mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?
Second Gravedigger
The gallows maker, because his structure outlives a thousand tenants.
First Gravedigger
I like your wit. A gallows does good. But how does it do good? It does good to those who do bad. Now you’re bad when you say that a gallows is stronger than a church. Therefore, a gallows might do you some good. Go ahead, try it again.
Second Gravedigger
Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter?
First Gravedigger
Answer correctly and you can rest your overworked brain.
Second Gravedigger
Hell, I don’t know.
First Gravedigger
Try.
Second Gravedigger
I swear, I don’t know.
[Hamlet and Horatio enter, on the far side of the stage.]
First Gravedigger
Stop beating your brains out over it. After all, beating a stupid mule won’t make it go any faster. The next time you’re asked this question, answer “a grave-maker.” The houses he makes last until Judgement Day. Now, go to Yaughan’s pub and get me a pint of beer.
[Second Gravedigger exits. First Gravedigger sings while digging.]
In youth when I did love, did love,
I thought it was very sweet
To arrange...uh...the time for...uh...my beloved
Oh, I thought there...uh...was nothing...appropriate.
Hamlet
[Aside to Horatio] This fellow must not have any feelings, to sing while digging a grave.
Horatio
Long practice has made him insensitive.
Hamlet
That must be it. The idle rich have a daintier sensitivity.
First Gravedigger
[Sings.]
But age with his quiet steps
Has caught me in his grasp
And has shipped me into the ground
As if I had never existed.
[He tosses up a skull he has unearthed.]
Hamlet
Once, that skull had a tongue in it and could sing. This fool throws it on the ground as if it were no more than the jawbone of an ass, like the one used by Cain to murder his brother, Abel. It might be the head of a once powerful politician who could sidestep God’s rulings, but now he’s ruled over by this jackass.
Horatio
It might be so, my lord.
Hamlet
Or the head of a courtier who once said, “Good morning, sweet lord. How are you, sweet lord?” It might be Lord So-and-So who praised Lord Such-and-Such’s horse, hoping that it would be given to him as a gift.
Horatio
Yes, my lord.
Hamlet
This could be the noblewoman, Lady Worm, who no longer has any cheeks and is knocked about the head by this workman’s shovel. Why, that’s a fine reversal in fortune – if only we had the ability to see it. Did all her fine upbringing lead to nothing more than having her bones tossed around like horseshoes? I hate to think about it.
First Gravedigger
[Sings.]
A pickax and a spade, a spade
And more, a burial sheet.
Oh, a pit of clay to be made
For such a guest is just right.
[He throws up another skull.]
Hamlet
There’s another. Might this not be the skull of a lawyer? Where are his subtle legal arguments now? His closing statements? His cases? His property titles and legal tricks? Why does he let himself be knocked about the head with a dirty shovel by this rascal, and not file a charge of assault and battery? Huh! This lawyer, in his day, was a big property owner, with numerous mortgages, loans, deeds, and rents. All that remains from those assets is his noble skull full of dirt. Will those deeds yield him a plot of land no larger than a legal contract? You could barely fit all his documents inside the box in which he lies. Is that all the property he has? Ha.
Horatio
Not a bit more, my lord.
Hamlet
Isn’t writing parchment made from sheep skins?
Horatio
Yes, my lord, and also from calf skins.
Hamlet
You’d be as stupid as sheep and calves to think that security in life can be obtained through pieces of parchment. I’ll speak to this fellow. [To First Gravedigger] Whose grave is this, sir?
First Gravedigger
Mine, sir.
[Sings.]
Oh, a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet.
Hamlet
I think it’s yours indeed, since you lie in it.
First Gravedigger
You lie outside of it, sir, and therefore it’s not yours. As for me, I don’t lie down in it, and yet it’s mine.
Hamlet
Ah, but you do tell a lie in it – to be in it and say it’s yours. It belongs to the dead, not the quick (the living). Therefore, you lie.
First Gravedigger
It’s a “quick” lie, sir. It went quickly from me to you.
Hamlet
For what man do you dig it?
First Gravedigger
For no man, sir.
Hamlet
For what woman, then?
First Gravedigger
For no woman, either.
Hamlet
Who’s to be buried in it?
First Gravedigger
Someone who was a woman, sir, but, rest her soul, now she’s dead.
Hamlet
[To Horatio] How precise this rascal is! We’ll have to speak by the book, or he’ll seize on every ambiguity in our words. I swear, Horatio, it seems to me that in recent years everyone has become so meticulous in their language, that you can’t tell the peasants from the courtiers. [To Gravedigger] How long have you been a gravedigger?
First Gravedigger
I started the very day our deceased King Hamlet defeated King Fortinbras of Norway.
Hamlet
How long has that been?
First Gravedigger
Don’t you know? Every fool knows when that was. It was the very day that young Prince Hamlet was born, the one who’s gone crazy and has been sent to England.
Hamlet
Yes, but why England?
First Gravedigger
Why? Because he’s mad. He’ll recover his wits there. Or if he doesn’t, it’s no big deal.
Hamlet
Why’s that?
First Gravedigger
They won’t notice. In England, all the men are as crazy as he is.
Hamlet
How did he become crazy?
First Gravedigger
Very strangely, they say.
Hamlet
What do you mean, strangely?
First Gravedigger
His madness is very strange.
Hamlet
Upon what grounds did they determine this?
First Gravedigger
Why, right here in Denmark. I’ve been the sexton here at this church since I was a boy, thirty years ago.
Hamlet
How long will a man lie in the earth before he rots?
First Gravedigger
Well, if he’s not rotten before he dies – and we have a lot of pus-filled corpses that’ll hardly hold together long enough to be buried, given all the syphilis going around – he’ll last about eight years, nine if he’s a leather tanner.
Hamlet
Why will the tanner last longer?
First Gravedigger
Why, sir, his skin is so tanned from his work that it’ll keep water out for some time, and water is a horrible decayer of the damn body.
[He picks up a skull.]
Here’s another skull. This one has lain in the ground for twenty-three years.
Hamlet
Whose was it?
First Gravedigger
A detestable, crazy fellow, he was. Whose skull do you think it was?
Hamlet
I don’t know.
First Gravedigger
A plague on him, the mad rogue! Once, he poured a pitcher of wine on my head. This skull, sir, this very skull was Yorick’s, the King’s jester.
Hamlet
This?
First Gravedigger
That very one.
Hamlet
Let me see it. Oh, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio. He had a million jokes and an excellent imagination. He let me ride on his back a thousand times. It’s horrible to imagine what his back looks like now; it makes me gag. Here’s where his lips hung that kissed me countless times. Where are your taunts, your games, your songs, that sense of humor that used to make the table roar with laughter? There’s no one now to mock that grinning face. You look quite down in the mouth. You should go visit some noble Lady, and tell her that, even with an inch of make-up, this is how she’s going to end up. That’ll make her laugh. Horatio, tell me one thing.
Horatio
What's that, my lord?
Hamlet
Do you think that Alexander the Great looked like this in the ground?
Horatio
Very much so.
Hamlet
And smelled this bad? Yuck!
Horatio
Afraid so, my lord.
Hamlet
What ordinary purposes we end up serving, Horatio! With just a little imagination, we could trace the noble dust of Alexander until we find him plugging a beer keg.
Horatio
You’re thinking about it too much.
Hamlet
No, not a bit. To follow Alexander’s path – with proper modesty – the likelihood is as follows: Alexander died, he was buried, he returned to dust. Dust is earth; we make clay of earth; and why couldn’t the clay from his dust be used as a stopper for a keg? The Emperor Julius Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might be filling a hole to block the wind. Wow, that bit of clay which once kept the entire world in awe might be patching a wall to keep out the winter chill!
Quiet! Come over here! Here come the King, Queen, and some courtiers. Who’s that fellow? And why this shoddy funeral procession? This indicates that whoever’s in that coffin took their own life. Yet it must be someone of high social rank. Let’s crouch down over here and watch.
[Hamlet and Horatio conceal themselves. Ophelia's body is taken to the grave.]
Laertes
What additional ceremony is to be performed?
Hamlet
[To Horatio] That’s Laertes, a very noble youth. Watch.
Laertes
What additional ceremony is to be performed?
Priest
Her funeral service has been enlarged as far as authorized. The cause of her death was questionable. If the King hadn’t overruled the normal procedures, she’d be buried in a common graveyard. Instead of religious prayers, she’d just have dirt and pebbles thrown on her coffin. Yet she’s being allowed holy rites and a funeral procession, with her flower draped coffin accompanied by a bell ringer.
Laertes
Can’t any more be done?
Priest
Nothing more can be done. We’d be degrading the holy funeral service if we sang the same solemn hymns for her as for virtuous, departed souls.
Laertes
Put her in the ground, and let violets grow from her beautiful and unblemished flesh. I’m telling you, you mean-spirited priest, that she’ll be a benevolent angel in Heaven when you’re howling in Hell.
Hamlet
[To Horatio] What, is that Ophelia?
Gertrude
[Scattering flowers]
Sweets to the sweet. Farewell. I had hoped that you would be Hamlet’s wife. I wanted to spread flowers on your bridal bed, not your grave.
Laertes
Oh, Ophelia, I wish that misery ten times worse than what I feel would fall on the damned head of him whose wicked deed caused you to lose your wonderful mind. Don’t throw dirt on her yet! I want to hold her once more in my arms.
[He leaps into the grave.]
Now shovel the dirt on both of us, the living and the dead, until this flat ground becomes a mountain so high it overlooks Mount Olympus, home of the gods.
Hamlet
[Stepping forward.]
Who is this whose grief is so intense and speech so sorrowful that the passing stars stand still in amazement. I’m Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
[Hamlet leaps into the grave and starts grappling with Laertes.]
Laertes
Go to Hell!
Hamlet
You don’t pray very well, do you? Now I’m begging you; take your hands off my throat. Sir, though I’m not quick-tempered or rash, I can be dangerous, and you should beware of this. Take your hand away!
Claudius
Pull them apart.
Gertrude
Hamlet, Hamlet!
Horatio
My lord, stop it.
Hamlet
Why, I’ll fight him over this until I die.
Gertrude
My son, why are you fighting?
Hamlet
I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers’ love couldn’t add up to mine. [To Laertes] What would you do for her?
Claudius
Hamlet’s mad, Laertes.
Gertrude
[To Claudius] For God’s sake, give him a break.
Hamlet
Come on, show me what you'd do. Would you cry, fight, tear yourself apart. Would you drink vinegar, eat a crocodile? I’d do all of that. Did you come here to wail in order to show me up at her grave? So you’d be buried alive with her. Well, so would I. You boast of mountains. Let them throw millions of acres of earth on Ophelia and me, until this mound burns its scalp against the sun and makes the the largest mountain in Greece look like a wart. If you shriek, I’ll howl as well as you.
Claudius
This is just a fit of madness. The attack will only last for a while. Then, as patient as a female dove sitting on her eggs, he’ll be quiet.
Hamlet
[To Laertes] Listen to me, sir. Why do you abuse me like this? I’ve always liked you. But... never mind. Hercules can do whatever he pleases – but even a cat can mew if he wants, and every dog will have his day.
Claudius
Please, Horatio, see to him.
[Exit Horatio]
[Aside to Laertes] Be patient and remember our talk last night. We’ll execute our plan soon. My dear Gertrude, keep an eye on your son. I’ll have a permanent monument placed here, near Ophelia’s grave. [Aside to Laertes] We’ll get rid of this nuisance, but until then we need to be patient.