Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet Contrast Plays A Major Role       In William Shakespeares Hamlet, contrast plays a major role. Characters save foils, scenes and ideas contrast each other, sometimes within the samesoliloquy. One such contrast occurs in Act Five, Scene One, in the graveyard.Here, the relatively light surliness in the first half is offset by the grave andsomber mood in the second half.     The scene opens with two clowns, who function as a sort of comic relief.This is necessary, after the tension of Ophelias breakdown (and subsequentdeath), and after the ever-increasing complexities of the plot. Previously,Polonious provided some humour, but since he is dead, a new source must be found- the gravediggers. Their banter becomes the calm before the storm of the duel,and the plays resolution. There is also a juxtaposition of the clowns and thegraveyard here, which further intensifies the effect. The clowns chatter abouttheir work in a carefree manner, even g oing so further as to play with a riddle ( What is he that builds stronger ... carpenter V,1,41-42). Shakespeare evenwent so far as to include his puns in this grave scene (V,1,120).     Hamlet himself experiences a temporary lightening of mood from listening tothe gravediggers conversation. Their carefree treatment of death  telling whiledigging graves, not to mention tossing skulls in the air)  is a parallel toHamlets newfound attitude. After having committed himself to his cause in ActIV, he is no longer bothered by the paradox of good and evil, and (seemingly) isuntroubled by his previous misgivings.     Hamlets musings on the equality of all men in death allot as a transitioninto the darker second half of the scene. His contemplations on death reflectAct IV, Scene 3, when Hamlet gives voice to a humorous fancy concerning howa king may progress through the guts of a beggar (IV,3,27-28). Hamlet expandson this idea with his thoughts on how even Alexander the neat or ImperiousCaesar may descend to such base uses as stopping a beer barrel, or stopping a hole to keep the cuckold away (V,1,207)     The entrance of Ophelias funeral procession marks the beginning of thesecond half, which balances the humor of the previous portion. The graveyard nowtakes on its more traditional role, as a place of grief, rather than a place ofdrollery. Laertess words, understandably, contain references to Hell, and alsohold no particular benevolence for Hamlet.     The tension of the scene is further heightened by the coming upon which