Though this be madness, yet there is method in't

Here we are in the final act of Hamlet , and one of the most iconic scenes of the play - the bit with the skull! Clue: Not Hamlet. Two gravediggers are going about their business of digging a grave (that we immediately find out will be the final resting place of Ophelia) and making a few lighthearted observations as they do so. Though the graveyard setting foreshadows the tragedy that is about to beset Hamlet and the court, there is now a moment's pause in the chaotic hurtling towards a bitter end. It's probably worth a few words on 'comic relief' in Shakespearean tragedy. The stage direction gives us 'Enter two clowns'. Although 'clowns' in Shakespeare's time would have referred to simple country folk (in this instance two manual workers doing their job, not connected with the court),something of the modern meaning is inherent in their comic purpose at this moment in the drama. Somehow they achieve comedic banter from the burial of the dea...