November 21
“No,
faith, not a jot”
In the first scene during the final Act of Shakespeare’s
play “Hamlet”, Horatio and Hamlet are in a churchyard discussing the death of
Alexander the great, and whether or not he died and was buried just as any
normal man. “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust,
the dust is earth, of earth we make loam”, Hamlet explains that Alexander died,
and was buried just as any other man. Man rots and turns to dust in the earth,
and that very same dust is used to fill in the holes in beer barrels. Caesar, a
great king as well, died and was buried under the same process; his body could
have been clay used to keep wind away by the construction of a house. “Imperious
Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away.” They
come to the conclusion that all, noble or peasant, end up as dust in the earth,
and are used to keep others living and for the benefit of others; there is no
difference between the poor and the haughty.
“Here comes the king, the queen, the courtiers—who is
this they follow, and with such maimèd rites.” The pair comes across the sight
of the royal family, Laertes, and a priest; there is much question as to why
the four are in the churchyard with small ceremony. Smaller ceremonies led to
the belief that the deceased had committed suicide. “The corse they follow did
with desperate hand fordo its own life”. Curious to see who was being buried,
Hamlet and Horatio remained in the shadows, waiting to see the identity of the
lost soul.
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