Hamlet
Act 5 - Scene Notes
Scene 1
The graveyard scene provides broad comic relief to an otherwise deadly serious and grim tragedy. The humor
of the scene is not, however, superficial. While the gravediggers' punning earns hearty laughter, their dialogue
has a deeper meaning and function. The black comedy of the gravediggers suddenly transfers the focus of
attention from abstract matters such as love, honor, and revenge to the basic question of human survival.
The scene is divided into two parts. In the first part, Hamlet contemplates the mortality of man as he watches
the human skulls being tossed from their sleepy graves by the gravediggers. The most important skeleton is
tossed aside with as much respect as the bones of a nameless peasant, proving that death is a great leveler.
The gravediggers are used to clearly foreshadow that more deaths will occur in this tragic play, and the
audience is made to wonder for whom the next grave will be readied.
In the second part of the scene, Hamlet comes out of his pretended madness when he faces the reality of the
death of Ophelia, the young woman he has always loved. It is heart-rending for him to observe Ophelia's burial
and realize he has lost her forever. Preoccupied with his vengeance, he knows he has allowed her to slip from
his grasp into the river. He now feels utterly alone, having lost his father, mother, and true love. When he can
take the pain no longer, he jumps into Ophelia's grave beside Laertes. This totally human response from
Hamlet demonstrates that no amount of philosophizing can reduce heartache and that no amount of
vengeance can fill the void left by the death of a loved one
The gravediggers scene is a pause between the rapidly rising action of the last few tragic scenes and the
upcoming final tragedy. It also allows the audience to again see Hamlet in his normal disposition. Possessing a
fine sense of humor, he is capable of appreciating the wit of the gravediggers even in the midst of his troubles.
Possessing a depth of sensitivity and emotion, Hamlet frees himself from pretense and openly expresses his
grief by entering Ophelia's grave; he does not realize that he will soon be entering his own grave.
Scene 2
This climactic scene of tragedy ends with the deaths of all the major characters, leaving Horatio as a stunned
and horrified witness. The scene begins with transitional exposition: Hamlet explains for the benefit of the
audience how he escaped Claudius' first devious trap. The explanation is necessary for Horatio's benefit; the
horrible revelations Hamlet makes give Horatio the insight and compassion for the Prince necessary to tell his
story fairly and without judgement. Were it not for this explanation, Horatio himself might wrongly sit in
judgement of Hamlet and believe the Prince had truly gone mad. As for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet
accepts the necessity of sending them to their death simply because they have betrayed him and have come
"between the pass and fell incensed points / Of mighty opposites." The calculated destruction of Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern is inevitable and essential to the dramatic balance of the play.
The moment toward which the entire plot has headed is the death of Claudius, but Hamlet has repeatedly
procrastinated about killing him. In this scene, it is obvious that the Prince is in full possession of the ability and
the justification to kill the King. . In fact, he lists his reasons like elements of a scientific formula: Claudius'
murder, Gertrude's lost virtue, Hamlet's loss of the throne, and his own attempted murder at the hands of his
old friends. After his return from England, Hamlet has become more determined, resigning himself to fate.
There is no longer a way of escaping the revenge he has dreaded and longed for all along. He is ready to act
when an opportune moment presents itself to him. Soon Osric arrives with Claudius' message about the duel,
throwing the plot into full gear. The fencing match gives Hamlet the opportunity to finally succeed in his
mission, even though he dies in the process.
When Claudius enters with the Queen, Laertes, and his retinue of courtiers, Hamlet takes Laertes' hand in an
effort to make peace with him. He blames his "antic disposition" for his strange behavior at the graveyard and
admits that he has wronged Laertes. He extends a gentleman's apology in saying, "Free me so far in your most
generous thoughts / That I have shot my arrow o'er the house / And hurt my brother." This apology to Laertes
reveals Hamlet's generous and noble nature; it also reveals him to be "free from all contriving." With
formalities out of the way, the duel begins, and Hamlet scores the first two hits. When Claudius offers Hamlet
the poisoned drink, he refuses it and expresses his eagerness to finish the duel, returning to the match with an
intense flurry of action; it seems Hamlet has begun to understand that he is caught in a treacherous plot.
Laertes soon strikes his opponent with his open sword. Hamlet, horrified to learn he has been tricked, stabs
Laertes with the open foil, and both men bleed.
Gertrude's accidental drinking of the poison compounds the plot. When she swoons from its effects, Claudius,
in typical fashion, lies in an effort to protect himself; he claims that his wife has simply fainted at the sight of
blood. Hamlet, however, now fully comprehends what has transpired and calls out for the door to be locked so
that the villain can be caught. Determined to establish Claudius' involvement in all of the corruption,
Hamlet pursues a swift, rational approach; he has come a long way from the blindly impulsive stabbing of
Polonius. Laertes, who is suffering from the pangs of conscience, tells everyone about Claudius' plot. He also
tells Hamlet that the tip of his foil has been poisoned so that both he and the Prince will soon die. Knowing
that his end is near, Hamlet works rapidly to gain his revenge and make things right for Denmark.
Hamlet finally understands the enormity of Claudius' treachery when he sees his mother dead on the floor.
Seized with his desire for revenge, he stabs Claudius with the poisoned foil and forces him to drink from the
poisoned cup. Before dying, Laertes declares that Claudius "is justly serv'd" in being stabbed by Hamlet.
Laertes, like Polonius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, is "justly killed by his own treachery," mortally wounded
by the same foil he prepared for Hamlet.
Laertes' confession has totally absolved Hamlet from any blame; all of his actions are the natural responses of
a son to a father's murder. The dying prince stops Horatio from committing suicide and begs his friend to
report his "cause aright" to the people. Hamlet wants the Danes to know that his killing of Claudius was not an
act of personal vengeance, but one of noble justice. He entrusts Horatio, an eyewitness to the whole tragedy,
with the responsibility of repeating the tragic tale to the people.
Before he dies, Hamlet passes the throne of Denmark on to young Fortinbras. The first official act of the new
King is to accord Hamlet an appropriate funeral. Fortinbras' eulogy of Hamlet is an honest evaluation of the
young Prince, and the military funeral is a dramatic way in which to close the tragedy. The note ends on a
positive note, for it seems King Fortinbras will again bring order to the state of Denmark.
Structurally, Act V, Scene 2 is the counterpart of Act I, Scene 2. In both, the entire court is assembled, and the
same main characters are present. In the Act I scene, Claudius is concerned about Fortinbras and Hamlet, both
threats to his power.
In Act V, Claudius is still worried about his power and manipulates Laertes against Hamlet; at last, however, he
is destroyed by his own duplicity. Appropriately, Fortinbras, who has been feared for potentially creating
havoc in Denmark, arrives at the end of the play to save Denmark by imposing some kind of order out of the
chaos.