Shakespeare: Protean Plays Final
Tyler Stoltenberg
English 339: Special Topics
Professor Wendy Wall
June 2008
Hamlet Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 168-223
From Textual Notes of "The First Quarto of Hamlet" eidted by Kathleen O. Irace
"Wiener follows this line with an exit for the Gravedigger: '[The CLOWN exits down the trap]'. None of the three early texts provides a separate exit for the Gravedigger; in productions, he sometimes exits as the funeral procession enters, sometimes remains on stage. For commentary on this detail, see Michael D. Bristol, '"Funeral bak'd-meats":carnival and the carnivalesque in Hamlet', in Hamlet, ed. Susanne L. Wofford, 1994, pp. 348-67
I think this stage direction is helpful and in a good spot. This was probably not in Shakespeare's original script since he didn't write many stage directions, but I think it helps the actors and avoids confusion about where the gravedigger is and alleviates the problem of what to do with him once the funeral arrives.
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