Act 5, Scene 1
Things have taken a dark turn. Ophelia's dead, thanks to the machinations of Hamlet and her family—
and her death is only a hint of the bloodbath yet to come.
So we think it's about time Hamlet finally does something. Don't you?
Well, that's just what he does in the first scene of Act 5, when, for the first time, he faces death.
Literally. In this lesson, we'll be digging into the famous Graveyard scene, starring "poor Yorick," perhaps
the most famous skull in the histories of skulls. Not that that's something you want on your résumé.
Go ahead and read Act 5, Scene 1 now.
Activity:
Hamlet's constant brooding about death and humanity comes to a head (grotesque pun intended) in the
infamous graveyard scene, where Hamlet holds up the unearthed skull of Yorick, a court jester Hamlet
knew and loved as a young boy. The skull itself is a physical reminder of the finality of death.
For all of Hamlet's brooding and philosophical contemplation of mortality, here, the young man literally
looks death directly in the face. And what happens? He realizes how common death is—how we all have
to face death sooner or later, and to think we won't is just plain old vanity. He not only remembers
Yorick, a mere jester, but also considers what's become of the body that belonged to Alexander the
Great. Both men, concludes Hamlet, meet the same end and "returneth into dust" (5.1.30).
We don't know about you, but this seems like a new, more mature acceptance of a common human
fate. The graveyard is a space where Hamlet is allowed to remember the dead. And hey, it's no
coincidence that Hamlet encounters the skull of a man who worked for his father and who Hamlet knew
as a child. This causes him to remember his childhood as a happy time in which Old Hamlet was alive
and all was well in the world. All this happiness, of course, is disrupted when Hamlet realizes Ophelia
(now dead) is being buried a few gravestones over.
This all makes for some pretty heavy stuff, right? But here's the weird part: This scene is actually quite
funny. I bet you chuckled—or at least snorted in appreciation—once or twice. And if you didn't, go
ahead and give it another thorough read.
In Shakespeare's final scene before the big finale, he turns to humor. I bet you see that one coming, so
we have to stop and ask, what's all this clowning around about?
Let’s look at the gravediggers, a.k.a. clowns. Please answer each of the following in 2 – 3 sentences,
and be sure to include textual evidence in your answers in the form of including one quote with each.
1. Why are the gravediggers in the scene?
2. What does this do thematically in the play overall?
3. Why offer humor right before the final scene of a tragedy?
4. How is Hamlet similar to the gravedigger he talks to?
5. What do the gravediggers make Hamlet consider about life and death?
6. Why might Shakespeare have chosen to create this effect, just before the final scene of the play?
Type your answers in a new document and submit to me by midnight tonight.