Hamlet Act 5
Two gravediggers converse as they dig the grave for Ophelia's burial. One of the gravediggers feels that the grave shouldn’t be dug in a Christian manner since he believes Ophelia killed herself. The other gravedigger insists that the burial must be in line with Christian traditions since the coroner had decided so. They agree that an exception had been made in allowing Ophelia a proper burial due to her family’s wealth and status. The gravediggers have a merry time as they joke with one another and sing songs while digging the grave. Horatio and Hamlet arrive at the graveyard, and Hamlet is disturbed by the jovial gravedigger and his treatment of the bones of the dead. He wonders aloud how the bones of the rich and powerful are treated with such casualness. He attempts to question the gravedigger but gets playful answers from the man. Hamlet is surprised by the man’s wit and comments that peasants have increasingly become as intelligent as noblemen. The gravedigger tells Hamlet that he has been digging graves since the day of young Hamlet’s birth, the one who became mad and was sent to England.
The gravedigger then shows Hamlet the skull of Yorrick, the dead King’s jester. Hamlet takes the skull and reminisces about the time he had spent with Yorrick as a child. Hamlet thinks aloud about the great equivalence that is achieved in death, and how the ashes of great men like Caesar and Alexander could eventually have been used to stopper barrels and patch up walls. Ophelia's funeral procession approaches, and Hamlet comments that the deceased must have committed suicide as he notes the meager funeral procession. Laertes argues with the priest, who refuses to perform all the funeral rites as he feels that Ophelia's death had been doubtful. He claims that she has only been allowed to be buried on the sanctified ground because of the King’s orders. Hamlet is shocked to learn that the funeral procession is for Ophelia. Laertes curses the priest and leaps into the grave to hold his sister one last time and tells the attendants to bury him holding the corpse of his sister. Hamlet advances and proclaims his grief over Ophelia's death, but Laertes comes out of the grave and attacks hamlet. They grapple until they are separated by the attendants at Claudius’s command. Hamlet claims that his love for Ophelia went beyond what her brother felt and that he would go beyond Laertes in all expressions of grief. He is surprised by Laertes’s anger towards him but he willingly leaves the funeral. Claudius instructs Horatio to look after Hamlet and reminds Laertes about their plans for revenge.
Hamlet tells Horatio about his voyage, and how he had discovered letters from Claudius to the King of England that asked the monarch to behead Hamlet. He had then written a different missive, that had the same tone, and asked the King to execute the bearers of the letter, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He was able to seal the missive with the royal authority due to the signet ring he had received from his father. The next day, Hamlet was taken prisoner by a ship of pirates, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern continued on their way to England. Horatio is appalled by the actions of the King, while Hamlet claims that he is justified in ending the life of a man as villainous as Claudius. Osric, a lord of significant wealth, comes to tell Hamlet of a wager the King has placed with Laertes. The King has placed odds on a duel with Laertes, who has wagered his french rapiers against the King’s horses. Hamlet accepts the terms of the duel, and the King soon arrives with the other members of the court. He calls Hamlet forth and gives him Laertes’s hand. Hamlet apologizes to Laertes in front of the whole court and pleads madness as the cause of Polonius’s death. Laertes makes a show of accepting the apology but states that he hasn’t completely forgiven Hamlet. They select their weapons and prepare to begin the duel. Claudius commands that trumpets and cannons be used to mark Hamlet’s progress in the duel. The duel begins, and Hamlet scores the first hit. The trumpets are sounded, and cannons fired. The King deposits a pearl of poison in the cup intended for Hamlet and instructs that it be handed to him.
Hamlet decides not to drink, and they go back to dueling. Hamlet wins the second round as well, and Gertrude comes forward to wipe his sweaty brow. She drinks Hamlet’s poisoned drink, even though Claudius attempts to stop her. Laertes and Hamlet are unable to score a hit in the third round, but Laertes attacks Hamlet while he is as yet unprepared to begin again. Hamlet senses some mischief, and they wrestle with their rapiers. They are separated, but Horatio notes that both of them are bleeding, with Hamlet holding the poisoned rapier. Laertes claims out loud that he has been caught in his own trap and is dying. The Queen collapses and tells hamlet that the drink had been poisoned. Laertes tells Hamlet that both poisons had been placed with the King’s command. Hamlet wounds the King with the rapier and falls. The King dies, and Hamlet with his dying breath instructs Horatio to ensure that the tale of his end was heard. They hear a commotion outside and learn that Fortinbras has returned victorious along with an embassy from England. Horatio greets the ambassadors and Fronitnbras and tells them to gather their people for he intends to tell them all of Hamlet and the disastrous end. Hamlet’s corpse is treated with the most respect and given the rites of a soldier at Fortinbras’s instruction.
Analysis
The final act of the play opens with a conversation between two gravediggers that are called "Clowns" since the term was used to refer to peasants rather than funny or costumed characters. The gravedigger's character represents a common humorous personality used in other Shakespearean plays, that of the funny peasant who outwits their social superior. However, their humorous banter is given a macabre element due to the involvement of rotting human remains. Yorrick's skull is one of the few physical symbols used in the play, and it represents the physical degradation that accompanies death. Prince Hamlet has dwelled on the concept of death from the very beginning of the play, but his consideration has primarily been one of the spiritual aspects of death.
Laertes serves as Hamlet's foil, which is a contrasting character. Laertes is decisive and willing to exact revenge upon the murderer of his father, while Hamlet struggles to firm up his resolve. In the earlier act, Laertes had declared that he would kill the murderer of his father in a church, while Hamlet could not bring himself to kill Claudius as he sat in prayer. Laertes's relationship with Ophelia indicates a slight character of the incest motif and it is developed as Laertes grabs hold of his sister's body as she is laid in her grave. Interestingly, Hamlet experiences no guilt over Ophelia's death, though his raw outburst of grief as he attacks Laertes does indicate that he did indeed feel love for her. Hamlet also refuses to take responsibility for the murder of Polonius until he comes to face Laertes in combat. Even then, Hamlet claims that it was not him who killed Polonius but rather his madness, a madness which the audience knows Hamlet pretended to have. The act ends with an explosion of violence that had been denied since the beginning of the play, as nearly all the major characters of the play drop dead one after the other. Hamlet manages to exact his revenge but only does so after he has watched his mother die, and learned that he too will soon pass.
