Hamlet

            The gravedigger scene at the end of Hamlet is one of comic relief, commonly found in many of Shakespeare's tragedies: the witty commoner who gets the better of his social superior through humor. Although it does not have a direct bearing on the plot, it does add some humor to a play that is occupied mostly by tragedy, and it also helps to establish several things in question throughout the work. .
             One major subject that is addressed is Hamlet's infatuation with death and the physical decomposition of the body, manifested primarily in his discovery of Yorick's skull, a jester of the late King Hamlet. Upon finding the skull, Hamlet is horrified and realizes that all men will eventually end up the same way, even the great ones, and he envisions the physical features of the face such as lips and skin that have decomposed. This goes back to his soliloquy earlier in the play, when he envisions his own death, and what may come after it. Hamlet comes to terms with the fact that no matter whom the person is, commoner or king, everyone ends up the same way, a heap of dust. .
             The funeral procession is another key element of the scene, because Hamlet is still unaware of Ophelia's recent suicide, and is in bewilderment as to who the procession could be for. When he realizes who it is for, he quickly interrupts the convoy in a fit of grief and rage, offering a glimpse of what his true feelings for Ophelia once might have been, another issue in question throughout the play. After constantly denying his love for her, climactically when their final conversation occurred, the reader can finally see the love that Hamlet once had for Ophelia. .