"The Readiness Is All" - Hamlet (graveyard scene)

This scene is a bit of a comic relief to lighten the situation. Hamlet's encounter with the gravedigger explains the nature of death and is a turning point in Hamlet's character. The structure serves to move Hamlet and the audience closer to the realization that death is inevitable and universal. This encounter provides information of Hamlet's return from England and sets the stage for Hamlet's discovery of Ophelia's death. This grants him a realistic outlook …

…death. Hamlet's initial cry for revenge, "now to my word...I have sworn't" changes to, "to be or not to be," and finally, "let be." He has passed through a cycle of emotions and firmly is resigned to "what ever will be , will be." The encounter with the gravedigger is clearly a turning point for Hamlet in which he realizes the two truths, which are the theme of the play; death is universal and inevitable.