To Be Remembered
In what can be argued as William Shakespeare’s magnum opus, Hamlet describes the story of a prince’s, Hamlet’s, conquest to revenge his fallen father after being murdered by his uncle, Claudius, for the throne. Through the course of the play, Hamlet’s actions are calculated; he never does anything that is not part of his plan to expose his Uncle. In committing the action of exposing Claudius as a murderous power fiend, Hamlet would be known as the great savior of Denmark as well as the hammer of justice. More so, when the clowns are speaking while preparing Ophelia’s grave, they discuss the idea of feats and their impact on people. Thus, it can be argued that, based off the details in Hamlet, great actions create an everlasting and superior impact on humans, and smaller, inferior actions create nothing. This is significantly seen in the graveyard scene in Act V, Scene I.
When the two clowns are preparing the grave for Ophelia, one of the clowns asks the question of what profession is the most powerful, and the second clown responds, “The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives a thousand tenants.” In this quote, the second clown is stating the idea that the permanent structure created by a gallows maker is used for decades far past the death of a single person. This shows the concept that the execution tool not only physically lasts for years but also symbolically is an essence of the creator that creates an everlasting impression. The allusion to Adam also signifies the immortal actions of a being. When the second clown notes that Adam did not have a coat of arms, the first clown calls the other a heathen. He then goes on to note that Adam was the first person to dig a grave. By mocking the second clown for not knowing the prominence of Adam and by not praising him for being the first person to build a grave, the clown is strengthening the concept that Adam’s actions were great and will last forever; anything less than praise for Adam is sheer lunacy.
The conversation between Hamlet, the gravedigger, and Horatio is incontrovertibly another instance of eternal actions. Hamlet tells Horatio, “The hand of little employment hath the daintier sense.” In his remark to Horatio, he pities the clown because he commits no great action and never will. As the clowns are preparing the graves of the deceased, he marks that one grave could be of a politician who could manipulate God, and Hamlet mocks him as an idiot. This further emphasizes the idea that great actions must be honored. Later on, when the clown continues to prepare the grave for Ophelia, Hamlet tells him and Horatio that the clown is giving the grave no respect. He notes, "Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion i' th' earth?" By saying this, Hamlet is giving the concept that a legendary man, whose name literally entices the word "Great", would not be given such a meager and feeble grave. This promotes the concept that great men and women are given great honors, and everyone else is thrown to the side as insignificant.
Clearly, Shakespeare is alluding to the idea that immense actions lead to great and everlasting legacies. One can even argue that Shakespeare only wrote his timeless plays to create an immortal impression in the literary world for himself. The idea of great actions then poses an interesting question: how can you sort out the truly "great" ones? That is, who is truly great, and who only commits great actions to achieve a great legacy? Shakespeare alludes to the idea that great actions lead to great legacies, as demonstrated in the grave scene, but he also suggests that great actions lead to a great place in the afterlife, namely heaven. Who, therefore, truly is a benevolent soul, and who only commits great and honorable actions to gain access to the fruits of heaven?
