Shakespeares Use of Clowns in Hamlet + Antony and Cleopatra

In 5.1 of Hamlet, there are two clowns, who are gravediggers. They are digging Ophelia’s grave and preparing for her funeral. One disappears early on, leaving the other to talk with Hamlet. These gravediggers reveal to us that most people believe Ophelia committed suicide, and the only reason that she is having a Christian burial is because of her royal connections. The main gravedigger also presents Hamlet with the skull of Yourick, his father’s jester who Hamlet loved very much when he was younger.

When looking at direct influences that the clowns had on Hamlet and Cleopatra, they both undergo a very similar change. They both talk to the clowns in prose, as if they were as low down socially as the rustics with whom they are interacting. These two larger than life characters, are admitting, with their actions, that they are the same as the inferior clowns. Earlier in the play, Cleopatra beat a messenger for giving her bad news, as if he were less than a person. Hamlet, in the same scene, dismisses the gravedigger as a worthless knave with no heart. Yet despite each characters’ superiority, here they are in the act of their deaths, conversing with their “inferiors.” This might be at the very center of what the clowns’ role in the tragedy of these plays are, as well as a reason why they are such an important tool to Shakespeare in the first place. Hamlet and Cleopatra both have very grand deaths. They die for a reason and a cause. Cleopatra not only doesn’t want her soul tarnished by becoming Caesar’s triumph, but is also grieving the death of Antony. Hamlet is not only avenging his father’s death, but also protecting his honor. Before they can sacrifice their bodies for greater causes, they need to learn that they are mortal, the same as everyone else. The placement of the clowns creates the growth in these characters that make it possible for them to die.

While Cleopatra’s clown is warning her of the dangers of the worm and crudely comparing it to a penis, Cleopatra asks him if he’s known anyone who died from the worm. The clown tells the story of an honest woman who was known to lie, who died from the worm’s bite. However he then says that “she makes a very good report o’th’ worm.” This story is vaguely reminiscent of Cleopatra feigning death previously in the play. She was a seemingly honest woman, who “died”, but lied about being dead. If this representation is correct, then the worm becomes a general symbol for death in this play. Cleopatra may have survived her feigned death, but Marc Antony did not. Antony killed himself when he thought that Cleopatra was dead. Both of the lovers’ deaths can be associated with the Clown’s story and his serpents, similar to how both Hamlet’s death and Ophelia’s death can be associated with the Gravedigger’s explanation of Opheilia’s supposed suicide.

patra, Cleopatra is in her monument, captured by Caesar. After she wins over Dolabela by talking about her love for Antony, Dolabela lets her know that Caesar plans to lead her in triumph. In order to protect her honor, she must find someway to

Some topics in this essay:
Antony Cleopatra, Hamlet Hamlet, Act Five, Hamlet Cleopatra, Denmark Cleopatra’s, Antony Hamlet, Antony Antony, Hamlet Cleopatra’s, English Dictionary, Dolabela Caesar, cleopatra’s clown, antony cleopatra, father’s death, hamlet antony cleopatra, social classes, play cleopatra, supposed suicide, hamlet cleopatra, hamlet antony, main gravedigger, gravediggers digging ophelia’s, digging ophelia’s grave, hamlet’s death,