Every time I read Hamlet, I never fully understand these gravediggers. Why are they here in Hamlet? What place do they serve in this tragedy? Was Shakespeare on crack when he wrote this scene? Sure, I've wondered that too.
Let's refer to the aspects of humor I talked about in my last post. This scene is a scene of incongruity (unexpected combinations) for the audience. But then becomes a scene of recognition ("Isn't life just like that?"). What these two "clowns" do is break the fourth wall during this tragedy, relating to the audience and making them comfortable (or more uncomfortable) by addressing the details of their lives. Before Hamlet enters, the first gravedigger says to the second, "Go get thee to Yaughan: fetch me a stoup of liquor."
And that's a joke.
Why?
Because Yaughan was actually an inn-keeper near the theatre in Shakespeare's day (Pennington). No doubt, many of the audience members would have caught this reference and been taken out of the action for a moment to remember their own lives and feel the light-heartedness that these gravediggers feel when surrounded by tragedy all the time.
Just as "Custom hath made [light heartedness] in [the gravedigger] a property of easiness," mucking through five acts of Hamlet has made us as the audience accustomed to tragedy. We are in turn looking at ourselves when we look at the gravediggers and seeing the humor in this time of sadness.
Another duo that breaks the fourth wall are the Muppet characters Statler and Waldorf:
Their purpose in almost every Muppet production is to break the fourth wall. They do this so that the audience can take a breath. So that they can laugh at themselves. So that the humor that has been happening on this separate stage can better translate into the audience and their personal lives.
Still not convinced? Okay, let's look at the dialogue between these two gravediggers:
... Second Clown
Was he a gentleman?
First Clown
He was the first that ever bore arms. (He was the first that ever had a title OR had appendages)
Second Clown
Why, he had none.
First Clown
What, art a heathen? How dost thou understand the
Scripture? The Scripture says 'Adam digged:'
could he dig without arms? I'll put another
question to thee: if thou answerest me not to the
purpose, confess thyself--
Second Clown
Go to.
First Clown
What is he that builds stronger than either the
mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
Second Clown
The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives a
thousand tenants.
First Clown
I like thy wit well, in good faith: the gallows
does well; but how does it well? it does well to
those that do in: now thou dost ill to say the
gallows is built stronger than the church: argal,
the gallows may do well to thee. To't again, come.
Second Clown
'Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or
a carpenter?'
First Clown
Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.
Second Clown
Marry, now I can tell.
First Clown
To't.
Second Clown
Mass, I cannot tell.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO, at a distance
First Clown
Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for your dull
ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when
you are asked this question next, say 'a
grave-maker: 'the houses that he makes last till
doomsday. Go, get thee to Yaughan: fetch me a
stoup of liquor.
Was he a gentleman?
First Clown
He was the first that ever bore arms. (He was the first that ever had a title OR had appendages)
Second Clown
Why, he had none.
First Clown
What, art a heathen? How dost thou understand the
Scripture? The Scripture says 'Adam digged:'
could he dig without arms? I'll put another
question to thee: if thou answerest me not to the
purpose, confess thyself--
Second Clown
Go to.
First Clown
What is he that builds stronger than either the
mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
Second Clown
The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives a
thousand tenants.
First Clown
I like thy wit well, in good faith: the gallows
does well; but how does it well? it does well to
those that do in: now thou dost ill to say the
gallows is built stronger than the church: argal,
the gallows may do well to thee. To't again, come.
Second Clown
'Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or
a carpenter?'
First Clown
Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.
Second Clown
Marry, now I can tell.
First Clown
To't.
Second Clown
Mass, I cannot tell.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO, at a distance
First Clown
Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for your dull
ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when
you are asked this question next, say 'a
grave-maker: 'the houses that he makes last till
doomsday. Go, get thee to Yaughan: fetch me a
stoup of liquor.
The jokes thrown around by these two gravediggers are calloused to say the least. But we know that the audiences who attended Shakespeare's plays were very diverse. They ranged from the most common to the most regal. My guess is that this scene plays out humorously for all classes in two ways:
Either they are breaking the fourth wall to tell the commoners, "We break our backs everyday in our labor, but we have the last laugh, eh?"
Or they are breaking the fourth wall to tell the upper class, "Look at these commoners. They have to make light of everything because their lives suck more than ours. (Even if we are plotting murders and being haunted by ghosts)"
It's a brilliant uniting of people to highlight the human experience. This is clearly a piece of recognition. Shakespeare is relying on people to laugh because they can relate all too well with the situation or feeling in scene among the gravediggers.
If I were to attend this show in Shakespeare's time, I might feel a little guilty for laughing during a scene with a grave, but then I'd feel connected by everyone else around me and their little chuckles too. And I'd remember why I'm glad to live the life I do, with the people I do, and that we all have a little gravedigger in us.
If I were to attend this show in Shakespeare's time, I might feel a little guilty for laughing during a scene with a grave, but then I'd feel connected by everyone else around me and their little chuckles too. And I'd remember why I'm glad to live the life I do, with the people I do, and that we all have a little gravedigger in us.
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