Detailed Summary
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.
Soon, it is revealed that the Gravedigger has been digging graves since the day Hamlet was born. The two then briefly discuss Hamlet's insanity (which they are able to do because the real Hamlet is in disguise). It is shortly thereafter that the Gravedigger points out a skull that used to belong to the Yorick, the king's jester and Hamlet's caretaker. Hamlet asks if this could really be so, and the Gravedigger responds with, "E'en that," (V.i.159), marking his last line in the play.
Read more about this topic: The Gravediggers
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