StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The gravedigger scene may be taken as a key to the play Hamlet as a whole. Why - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The gravedigger scene is very important within Hamlet because it sums up many of the feelings within the play regarding life, death, passion, despair and the relationship between all of them. In the gravedigger scene Hamlet faces the living (or in this case dead) embodiment of so much that he has been facing within the play up to this point…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.4% of users find it useful
The gravedigger scene may be taken as a key to the play Hamlet as a whole. Why
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The gravedigger scene may be taken as a key to the play Hamlet as a whole. Why"

Download file to see previous pages

Thus Hamlet says, "that skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once: how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone that did the first murder." This aspect of the scene also shows how Hamlet, whether he likes it or not, constantly returns to the same themes whatever situation he is in. The fact that the jawbone could be that of Cain, leads him to the subject of murder which in turn leads him to the fact that he believes his father was murdered by his Uncle and mother. Hamlet makes fun of all the titles, property and pride that make him a "Prince", but which will eventually disappear into that great equalizer.

The fact that he has felt uneasy with the idea of being a royalty occurs through the play and is persistent in this scene as he looks at skull that might have been "a lawyer's" or a "great buyer of land". They are all equal now within death. The theme of death taking away the innocence of childhood appears as Hamlet says the famous line, "alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well". Death's bit is even more keen when it has occurred to someone that we fondly remember from out childhood. Again, Hamlet asks a series of questions that he knows the answer to before he has spoken them.

These are perhaps the ultimate rhetorical questions: "where be your gibes now, Your gambols Your songs Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar Not one now, to mock your own grinning." The fact that Yorick, who apparently displayed all the vitality and zest for life that Hamlet sorely lacks, is dead, makes Hamlet's own attempts to both cheat death and to avenge it seem rather pathetic. The idea that there is no-one to "mock" the permanent "grin" that Yorick's skull is showing is perhaps the most telling fact of all.

Hamlet suggests that death is mocking all mortals - so no mortal mocking is actually needed. The unfairness of death is a theme that resounds throughout the play. It is unfair that his father has been killed while his useless uncle lives. It was unfair that Polonius was killed needlessly (even though Hamlet cares little himself), and it is unfair that Ophelia has been driven to madness and hence to suicide. Death, it seems, takes those who are most innately suited to life. While those such as Hamlet himself, so thinks the Prince, are left to suffer within a tortured life.

The fact that death makes all equal is expounded upon by making the dead seem to be part of death's joke on the prideful ambitions of life. Thus the stinking skull that Hamlet is handling (that of Yorick) brings him to consideration of the fact that the "imagination trace the novel dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung hole" Throughout Hamlet the title character is unable to stop his flights of imagination, and all of these turn into a kind of reduction ad absurdum in which the whole of life is rendered meaningless and somewhat laughable by the cold facts of death.

Life is very short, mutable and transient in its importance while death is eternal and majestically terrible in its permanence and resonance. Alexander may be the dust bunging up one hole or another for much longer than he was ever a great ruler. This sense of futility is resoundingly summed up within the following rhyming couplets: Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The gravedigger scene may be taken as a key to the play Hamlet as a Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1513588-the-gravedigger-scene-may-be-taken-as-a-key-to-the-play-hamlet-as-a-whole-why
(The Gravedigger Scene May Be Taken As a Key to the Play Hamlet As a Essay)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1513588-the-gravedigger-scene-may-be-taken-as-a-key-to-the-play-hamlet-as-a-whole-why.
“The Gravedigger Scene May Be Taken As a Key to the Play Hamlet As a Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1513588-the-gravedigger-scene-may-be-taken-as-a-key-to-the-play-hamlet-as-a-whole-why.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The gravedigger scene may be taken as a key to the play Hamlet as a whole. Why

Hamlet - Formal Psychoanalytic Analysis

Our interest will be King Claudius in the play.... … From the play, it is evident that Claudius is under control of the id hence not in touch with reality.... Hamlet-Formal Psychoanalytic Analysis Introduction Our interest will be King Claudius in the play.... In addition to this, the play only ends when Ophelia's brother reveals to him that it was the entire King's plan and not his.... King Claudius Psychosocial Analysis From the play, it is evident that Claudius is under control of the id hence not in touch with reality....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Foils of Hamlet

hellip; the play clearly portrays both feigned madness, clearly from overwhelming grief to seething rage, and most certainly explores the themes of revenge, incest, moral corruption and treachery.... Instructor: The Foils of hamlet Summary The setting is in the Kingdom of Denmark, the writer William Shakesspeare, between 1599 and 1602.... he play dramatises the revenge of Prince hamlet on his uncle Claudius for murdering King hamlet, apparently Claudius's brother and Prince hamlet's father, and then taking over the throne and marrying Gertrude, Prince hamlet's mother....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

An Outline of the Major Aspects and Themes of Hamlet Tragedy

Yes, Hamlet is the protagonist of the play because the story circulates around him.... Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's murder is the praxis of the play.... the play also has recognition.... It occurred when Hamlet organized a play in the play, in which, the actors played as to what occurred in originality to Hamlet's father.... Hamlet has this recognition when he gains knowledge about his father's murder because of Claudius's running from the play....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Hamlet and the Tragedy of Life

For many, the scene where Hamlet was holding Yorick's skull in the gravedigger scene is one of the most iconic tableaux of the Shakespearean tragedies.... Hamlet and the Tragedy of Life For many, the scene where Hamlet was holding Yoricks skull in the gravedigger scene is one of the most iconic tableaux of the Shakespearean tragedies.... Shakespeare is warning his audience that worldly things that we are preoccupied with - family, wealth, beauty, among others - may be inconsequential....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Shakespeare's Philosophy of Life Second

nbsp;… In the gravedigger scene, Shakespeare questions the ultimate value of both material conditions such as possession and intangibles such as reputation, faith, and love.... Young Hamlet, who is watching the action, comes to comment on the skull, saying that he knew Yorick well, allowing himself to indulge for a moment in childhood reminiscence before he lapses back into the philosophical ruminations about the nature of life that are the primary subject of the play....
3 Pages (750 words) Thesis

Hamlet: Sin and Salvation

Just as the most famous line is “to be or not to be,” there are opposing forces that form the foundation of the play.... hellip; But one of the main conflicts that for the basis for the play is that of sin verses salvation.... It is present in most of the main conflicts of the play.... Sin and salvation are present throughout the main conflicts of the play, so sin and salvation, in general, is the main dichotomy of the play....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Play Hamlet

This paper ''the play hamlet'' tells about Hamlet as a uniquely written play that focuses on issues central to society.... In the gravedigger scene, in Act 5, Hamlet seems captivated by the reality of death.... The theme of death is perhaps the central theme of Hamlet, especially considering that the play's plot is set in motion by the unnatural death of Hamlet's father.... End emerges in the play once again as Hamlet arranges to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern killed....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Why Does Hamlet Hesitate to Take Revenge

The author of the play takes his audience through the emotional development of Hamlet and justifying some of his actions thereby proving that revenge is a social vice.... At the beginning of the play, Hamlet appears distraught and antisocial owing to the fact that the sudden death of his father, the late King disturbs him.... the play tactfully introduces a unique literary technique as the author positions a play within the play....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us