By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The ‘Alas, poor Yorick’ speech from Shakespeare’s Hamlet has become one of the most famous and instantly recognisably theatre tropes – or, at least, those three words, ‘Alas, poor Yorick’, have.
Perhaps the rest of Hamlet’s speech is less famous, and certainly many people misquote the next four words that follow ‘Alas, poor Yorick’; so a few words of analysis might help to illuminate the meaning of one of Shakespeare’s greatest meditations on mortality and the brevity of life. (We have analysed the play here.)