Hamlet: Contrast Plays A Major Role
In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, contrast plays a major role. Characters
have foils, scenes and ideas contrast each other, sometimes within the same
soliloquy. One such contrast occurs in Act Five, Scene One, in the graveyard.
Here, the relatively light mood in the first half is offset by the grave and
somber mood in the second half.
The scene opens with two "clowns", who function as a sort of comic relief.
This is necessary, after the tension of Ophelia's breakdown (and subsequent
death), and after the ever-increasing complexities of the plot. Previously,
Polonious provided some humour, but since he is dead, a new source must be found
- the gravediggers. Their banter becomes the calm before the storm of the duel,
and the play's resolution. There is also a juxtaposition of the clowns and the
graveyard here, which further intensifies the effect. The clowns chatter about
their work in a carefree manner, even going so far as to play with......
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