Asked by: Vivan Iturriaga
Asked in category: events and attractions, historic site and landmark tours
Last Updated: 8th Jul 2024

What does Hamlet have to say about the skull?

(takes the skull). Poor Yorick! Horatio was a man of infinite jest and of the most exquisite fancy. I knew him. I have been carried on his back many times. It makes my gorge rise.



What does Hamlet have to say about Yorick's skull, then?

Hamlet looks at Yorick's skull and speaks as if Yorick were alive. He utters these words in Act V, Scene I, aAlas! As he stares at Yorick's skull, Hamlet says, "I knew him, Horatio".

The next question is: What does Hamlet have to say about Yorick? (takes the skull.) Poor Yorick! Horatio was a man of infinite jest and of the most exquisite fancy. I knew him. I have been carried on his back many times. It makes my gorge rise.

So, Hamlet talks to the skull.

During his speech, he holds the skull in front of Horatio as well as the gravedigger. The skull is held by him during his speech, as it belonged to Yorick, a person he was close to as a child.

What does Alas poor Yorick mean?

Definition of Alas Poor Yorick: Hamlet. It refers to the short-lived nature of human life. Alas poor Yorick is a reference to human life's shortness. It is a Shakespearean passage, and the scene where it appears is one Shakespeare's most famous.