Question

Read an analysis of a theme in Hamlet.

One theme in Hamlet is that the rules of society are often based on wealth and power rather than fairness.

Which excerpt from Act V of Hamlet best provides evidence of the this theme’s development?

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: 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, and to perform: argal, she drowned herself wittingly.
Second Clown: Will you ha’ the truth on ’t? If this had not been a gentlewoman she should have been buried out o’ Christian burial.
First Clown: I like thy wit well, in good faith; the gallows does well, but how does it well? it does well to those that do ill; now thou dost ill to say the gallows is built stronger than the church:

Answer 1

Yes — this excerpt from the gravediggers’ scene in Act V is strong evidence of that theme.

Why: the gravediggers’ talk exposes how social rank and influence bend the rules. The lines “the crowner hath sat on her, and finds it Christian burial” and “If this had not been a gentlewoman she should have been buried out o’ Christian burial” show that Ophelia receives a Christian burial only because she is a “gentlewoman” (her family’s status), despite suspicion of suicide (which normally denied such rites). The gravediggers’ cynical humor and the line about the gallows (“the gallows does well… it does well to those that do ill”) underline the hypocrisy: punishment and legal/ritual outcomes depend on wealth and power, not on impartial justice or fairness.