The Gravediggers
| Creator | William Shakespeare |
|---|---|
| Play | Hamlet |
The Gravediggers (or Clowns) are examples of Shakespearean fools (also known as clowns or jesters), a recurring type of character in Shakespeare's plays. Like most Shakespearean fools, the Gravediggers are peasants or commoners that use their great wit and intellect to get the better of their superiors, other people of higher social status, and each other.
The Gravediggers appear briefly in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, making their one and only appearance at the beginning of Act V, scene i. They are first encountered as they are digging a grave for the newly deceased Ophelia, discussing whether she deserves a Christian burial after having killed herself. Soon, Hamlet enters and engages in a quick dialogue with the first Gravedigger. The beat ends with Hamlet's speech regarding the circle of life prompted by his discovery of the skull of his father's beloved jester, Yorick.
The penultimate scene of the play begins with the two clowns digging a grave for the late Ophelia. They debate whether she should be allowed to have a Christian burial, because she committed suicide. This quickly leads them into a discussion of the impact of politics on the decision, and the two parody lawyer speech. They present Ophelia's case from both positions: if she jumped into the water, then she killed herself, but if the water effectively jumped on her, then she did not. The First Gravedigger laments the fact that the wealthy have more freedom to commit suicide than the poor.
The pair get off the subject of suicide almost as quickly as they began it, however, and soon begins the more witty section of their scene. The First Gravedigger begins to goad and test the Second, beginning by confusing him with the double meaning of the word "arms" (as in weapons and appendages). The dialogue between the two ends when the First Gravedigger is unsatisfied by the answer to the riddle "What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?" (V.i.39-40) that the Second Gravedigger gives, and consequently sends him off to bring back alcohol.
The Second Gravedigger exits as Hamlet and Horatio enter, and the First Gravedigger begins to sing a song on the topics of love and graves as he digs. He throws a skull (and later a second) up and out of the grave. Hamlet then talks to Horatio about how inappropriate it is to treat what used to be someone's, and possibly an important someone's, body in such a way. He decides to ask the Gravedigger whose grave he is digging, but the Gravedigger will not reveal the answer without another witty exchange.
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