TEXT:
ACT V
SCENE I. A churchyard.
Enter two Clowns, with spades.
First Clown
Is she to be buried in Christian burial that
wilfully seeks her own salvation?
Second Clown
I tell thee she is: and therefore make her grave
straight: the crowner hath sat on her, and finds it
Christian burial.
First Clown
How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her
own defence?
Second Clown
Why, 'tis found so.
First Clown
It must be 'se offendendo;' it cannot be else. For
here lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly,
it argues an act: and an act hath three branches: it
is, to act, to do, to perform: argal, she drowned
herself wittingly.
Second Clown
Nay, but hear you, goodman delver…
First Clown
Give me leave. Here lies the water; good: here
stands the man; good; if the man go to this water,
and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he
goes - mark you that; but if the water come to him
and drown him, he drowns not himself: argal, he
that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.
NOTES:
Clowns
As mentioned in the episode, the word clown was comparatively new in Shakespeare’s time. Jesters and fools had been around for a far longer time, but the clown was a more recent development - and an expressly theatrical one. Jesters and fools were present at court and in the real world, but ‘clown’ was a word for a particular kind of performer in the theatre. For an in-depth study of this, check out David Wiles’ book Shakespeare’s Clown. (Prof. Wiles was my supervisor for my MA in London - he is a superb scholar and his work is fascinating.)
Suicide
There is much discussion of suicide in this play. This first of Hamlet's soliloquies starts with his wish to end his life, and the theme will of course be picked up in the more famous 'to be or not to be' soliloquy later in the play. Later in the play it is debated whether or not Ophelia can have a full Christian burial because her death might have been a suicide too - and so the issue haunts the entire play.