Hamlet, Act Five.

1. The gravedigger's songs and riddles and the ease which with he sings them show that death is no big deal, just a natural part of life. This reinforces what Claudius said earlier in the play, and what Hamlet now seems to realize.

2. Hamlet is more open about his emotions now. Whereas before he thought it showed weakness and would only speak of his emotions when he thought he was alone, he now has no problem displaying his emotions for anyone to see. This could be a reflection of his madness. In the graveyard, we see how Hamlet has come to feel about the three characters. He is extremely fond of Yoric, who was his friend in the past. He speaks openly about how much he liked him. He clearly admires and loves his father as well. The only time we see some guard on Hamlet's emotions is with Ophelia. He is always making fun of her. This could show great disdain but I believe he is simply trying to hide his pain over her rejection of his love. This great show of emotion in the graveyard is one of the last glimmers of sanity during Hamlet's descent into madness.

3. Hamlet is 30 because we learn that the gravedigger has been digging graves for thirty years, and that he's been digging graves since the young Hamlet was born.

4. It shows that Hamlet it, beyond a shadow of a doubt, completely insane. In his right mind, he would never have showed this much emotion or be entered into this trap. It shows a change in his character. This argument also helps to build up to the dramatic climax.

5. Hamlet before was extremely intellectual, reserved in emotion and action, and usually considerate of others. We see that he is now an impulsive person who doesn't think or care about consequences. We see unreserved presentation of emotion as he claims that he deserves to be the king and he admits to loving Ophelia. He seems much more cruel, or evil somehow. Before, he didn't harm people unless it was necessary, as evidenced when speaking about his mother he stated "I will speak daggers to her, but use none" (Act 3, Scene 3, line 380). He used to be fairly nonviolent. Now, he will harm people without a second thought, not even stopping to wonder if what they did truly warrants his actions against them.

6. Since we are beginning to see Hamlet's emotions, this speech reveals an unknown motivation for killing Claudius. In addition to killing Old Hamlet and marrying Gertrude, Claudius has removed Hamlet's chances at the throne. Only now do we learn that Hamlet really wanted to be king.

7. Osric is sucking up to Hamlet in a major way. He's telling Hamlet everything he wants to hear and doing whatever he wants to move up in the world. This reinforces the idea of prostitution. Osric is basically selling is morals and individual thought so he can be associated with people of a higher class.

8. He does this by deciding that he'd rather die instead of letting his life go on like this. He says that death will come to him eventually, as it comes to everyone. He does defy augury by saying that even if he is meant to die now, he will live. If he is meant to live, he should die. This is a flippant contrast to his earlier attitudes.

9. Laertes must still resent Hamlet because it's honorable. Hamlet killed his father, so it would be dishonorable for Laertes to just forgive Hamlet as though nothing had gone wrong. This is already lost because in the way he has chosen to kill Hamlet (cheating in a sword fight by putting poison on the end of his) is extremely dishonorable. This contributes to the theme of revenge in that Laertes is killing Hamlet because Hamlet killed Polonius.

10. Gertrude says, "No, no, th drink! O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink! I am poison'd". This reinforces the fact that she hasn't really made decisions for herself. She kind of does what she's told and depends on others to make her choices. In crying for Hamlet, she's begging him to do something about her predicament. Claudius says, "O, yet defend me, friends. I am but hurt". This is Claudius's last attempt at bravado. Or, he feels like he's invincible.

11. Fortinbras is the clear winner. He and Horatio are the only characters left alive and sane at the end of the play. Horatio would be the winner, except he never had a clear objective except to diffuse the tension in the situation, and he miserably failed. Fortinbras has had a clear goal from the beginning of the play, which was to avenge his father's murder and gain Denmark. He accomplishes this in the end.