The graveyard scene is one of the most memorable in Hamlet. Illustrated here in an 1887 print from Harper’s Bazaar, Hamlet and his friend Horatio, upon returning to Denmark, discover a gravedigger in the churchyard preparing a burial place for the recently deceased Ophelia. Hamlet learns the skull that has just been unearthed is that of Yorick, the former jester of the King, but he does not yet know of Ophelia’s passing. This scene provides the audience a respite from Hamlet’s continual melancholy and philosophical questions, as the gravedigger sings, jokes and talks frankly about his job to the Prince.
Engraving depicting Hamlet holding Yorick's skull, in the graveyard with Horatio and the gravedigger. After a painting by Horace Fisher entered in the biennial competition for the Historical Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship of the Royal Academy.
Caption title.
Page 569 from Harper's bazaar, volume 20, number 33. [New York] : [Hearst Corp.], August 13, 1887.
Text on verso.
Notes (exhibitions):
Exhibited: "Shakespeare’s Here and Everywhere" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2016-2017.
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