Hamlet was a man of great authority and because of this he was constantly being self aware of how he appeared before the court and the general Danish public. Of course his main intention was to have his uncle Claudius release the throne; be it from a public denouncing or through murder. However, this accomplishment had to be achieved through such means that Hamlet would appear as a hero before the nation. In gaining popularity of the court and public, Hamlet could finally reveal the truth about the evil involved in his father’s death. Hamlet would then finally find peace in his troubled soul.
Scene one begins with Hamlet and Horatio walking through a graveyard. The two eventually come upon a pair of peasants conversing in song despite the fact that they are in the dismal act of digging a grave. Hamlet and the first peasant exchange greetings and begin to advance more and more into a sophisticated manner of speaking. Throughout recent events, Hamlet had constantly defeated everyone through his effective use of language. An example of this took place when he made a mockery of his uncle before the court. However, in this encounter with the gravedigger, Hamlet is somewhat intimidated by a mere peasant. Hamlet therefore attempts to prove his superiority in nobility and speech by becoming more and more elaborate in talking about the skulls of the graveyard. Hamlet speaks of the skull as perhaps being “Cain’s jaw bone, that did the first murder! This might be the pate of a politician, which this ass now o’erreaches, one that would circumvent God, might it not?” (V, I, 64-67). Hamlet then goes on to think of the skull to be that of a courtier or that of a lawyer just for the self-pleasure of feeling superior in the act of speech over the gravedigger. Hamlet goes into particular detail pertaining to the skull of the lawyer, making such jokes as the skull being battered by the shovel of the gravedigger and being unable to press charges against the attacker. The lawyer is also ironically called “a great buyer of land…(he is) this the fine of his fines…to have his pate full of fine dirt.” (V, I, 85-87).
The gravedigger is not to be outdone so easily, however. When asked by Hamlet as to who’s grave he is digging, the gravedigger makes a mockery of Hamlet by only using simple, literal language. The digger first replies “Mine sire” (V, I, 97). The two then joke about whom is truly “lying” in the grave. Hamlet then becomes frustrated as to know the identity of the man for whom the grave is intended. The digger once again defeats Hamlet by simply stating the literal truth, “For no man, sir.” (V, I, 107). Hamlet speaks the only logical rebuttal in saying “What woman, then? (V, I, 108). Once more, the digger confuses Hamlet because the grave is not actually intended for a live woman but rather “One that was a woman.” (V, I, 111), as the grave is actually intended for a corpse.
Hamlet realizes that he has been outdone by the peasant and chooses to end the competition. “ How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us.” (V, I, 112-113).
Hamlet takes to heart what has occurred in his defeat from a mere peasant. He then determines that he must seek a new path to attain the throne of Denmark. He then gets a chance to act merely on his emotions when he attends the funeral of his lover Ophelia. Her brother, Laertes, had jumped in to her grave to express his great sorrow of her tragic death and of how he would treasure her if she were still alive. Hamlet then states that his pain is much more painful than that of Laertes, as Hamlet loved Ophelia in a much more deeper sense than that of a brother. Hamlet then announces himself as “I, Hamlet the Dane!” (V, I, 219-220) as he leaps into the grave of Ophelia to grapple with Laertes. Through this release of emotion, the truth is revealed of how Hamlet truly loved Ophelia. The quote, “I lov’d Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.” (V, I, 231-233) truly shows the truth of Hamlet love for Ophelia.
Because Hamlet learned to rely on his emotions, he begins to act on them much more regularly throughout the latter scenes of the play. In accepting the illustrious duel with Laertes, he eventually brings the truth of his father’s out for the entire world to see. In addition to this, the evil King Claudius and Laertes are killed by their own treachery. Peace is restored throughout the land and the truth shall be prevailed through Horatio.
It is truly the blend of Hamlet’s cool, logical side merging with his deepest passions and acting with both in a controlled fashion that he truly achieves his main goal of restoring order throughout the kingdom. Acting only with his cautious logical side alone obviously did not perform adequately to attain this goal. In a similar manner, acting solely on a whim of emotion did not prove effective for Laertes. In using the two in a manageable way, Hamlet was truly a great character and was rewarded with honour before his noble death.
