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Gravediggers In Hamlet

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Hamlet is a powerful play that sheds light on a dysfunctional family and involves many people of all statuses. While each characters plays a significant part, the lowly characters are just as important. The three soldiers that stood out in the cold to keep watch, the players of the play [inside the play], Reynaldo, Polonius’ servant, and most importantly; the gravediggers all played an important part in Hamlet. Francisco, Bernardo, and Marcellus are the three soldiers who were on guard duty the night that they first saw the ghost of Old Hamlet. While they do guard the castle, they are stuck in the cold late at night because they are seen as low in the rank or best known as the social latter. They are seen at the beginning of the play and are contributory, along with Horatio, in notifying Hamlet the presence of the Ghost. The players of the play who arrived from Denmark are introduced to recite a play. Hamlet intervenes with the story line of the play in hopes to watch Claudius’ face to show signs of guilt. While the chief player recites a long speech about the death of Priam and the …show more content…

Even though they are social lowest pedestrians, they still have knowledge of Catholic values. Viewing in a Catholic way, this allows them to know what actions are wrong or right. This can be seen when the gravediggers question Ophelia's burial since Ophelia committed suicide, which is deemed as a sin. The gravediggers states that "if this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' Christian burial," suggesting that only the rich nobility can bend and break Biblical laws to help one of their own (Mays. Act V Scene 1. Pg. 1428. Line- 18-19.). Because she cannot hand the chaotic events that extremely violated her ideology of peace, she was faced with living in agony or death; she chose death by drowning in the

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