by Matt Mortensen

Created on: September 24, 2007

O! The Frailties of Life!
The transient nature of human existence in Shakespeare's Hamlet

No, faith, not a jot, but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it; as thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a hold to keep the wind away. O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall t'expel the winter's flaw! (Act V, Scene I, ln. 209-218)

So speaks Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet of the transient nature of all of mankind. Throughout the play, humanity's frailty is a common theme. Whether it be succumbing to pride, avarice, madness, or death itself, man's weaknesses are continually emphasized. Furthermore, Hamlet's musing in the above-quoted scene also touches on the fact that all men, whoever they may be, will eventually fall.

The graveyard scene at the beginning of Act V provides the perfect backdrop wherein Hamlet and Horatio discuss the fragility of human life. As Hamlet picks through various skulls in a grave, he comments on the various possibilities in vocation and accomplishment that each respective skull may at one time have represented, whether it be a singer, courtier, or lawyer. He asks Horatio if he thinks that even the body of a man such as Alexander the Great looked the same in death. When Horatio tells him that it did, Hamlet comments, "To what base uses we may return (ln 204, scene I, Act V)."

Hamlet then goes on to describe what happens to the human body when it dies. He explains that as great as Alexander was in life, when he dies his body is no better than anyone else's. It goes through the same process of degeneration as all human bodies do. Beginning in line 211, "Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam." His body eventually is turned to clay. Hamlet continues to emphasize this point by referring to Julius Caesar in line 215. However "Imperious" he may have been, his body was also turned to clay when he died.

Hamlet also specifically describes the "base uses" that the body may return to after death and decomposition: "Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander till a find it stopping a bunghole (ln. 205-206)?" He further states in line 213, "and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel?" Basically, after Alexander is dead

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