Enlarged Obsequies The gravediggers' express resentment at what appears to them to be the privilege of the upper classes to obtain concessions from the law which are not available to the common people.
Her death was doubtful, And, but that great command o'ersways the order, She should in ground unsanctified been lodged Till the last trumpet. For charitable prayers, Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her. Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants, Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home Of bell and burial. He asks the gravedigger whose grave he is in, and the gravedigger plays with puns, finally asserting that the grave is one who was a woman. Hamlet has no idea to whom the grave belongs.
When Hamlet finds a particular skull, he asks the gravedigger whose it might be. The gravedigger tells him the skull belonged to Yorick, the King's jester. Death transforms even great kings like Alexander into trivial objects. He asks whose coffin they're following, and hides with Horatio to listen in to what's happening. He notes that the funeral is not a full Christian rite but that the body is being interred in sacred ground.
Laertes argues with the priest over Ophelia 's burial. Claudius ' command at inquest, he argues, should grant her all the rites of a Christian burial.
The priest refuses, saying that, because she committed suicide, he must deny Ophelia the requiem mass and other trappings of a Christian burial, even though Ophelia will be buried on sacred ground. Laertes insults the priest. When Ophelia's body is placed into the grave, Hamlet watches the Queen strew the coffin with flowers.
Mental illness is defined as conditions that affect mood, thinking, or behavior. Hamlet represents a character affected by mental illness. Hamlet in his first lines describes his pain and suffering simulating signs of depression, a form of mental illness. Early in his introduction Hamlet describes his feelings regarding the death of his father and sudden marriage of his mother and uncle. His mother asks Hamlet to stop his mourning.
Hamlet responds by explaining. Hamlet Act V Study Questions 5. What are the two clowns doing while they talk? Who is the "she" of 5. Why, according to the second clown, is she really being given a Christian burial? The two clowns, or better known as gravediggers, are digging a grave for someone.
They are questioning whether if Ophelia committed suicide or if her death was accidental. According to the second clown, Ophelia is only given a Christian burial because she was an upperclass women. What happens in the discussion between Hamlet and the Gravedigger? What does Hamlet learn from his confrontation with Yorick's skull? What does he learn from his meditation on Alexander and Caesar? Hamlet asks the gravedigger whose grave who was digging for.