...perform; argal, she drown'd herself wittingly. 2. Clo. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver, — 15 1 . Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the water; good. Here stands...guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. 22 2. Clo. But is this law? 7. Clo. Ay, marry, is't; crowner's quest law. 2. Clo. Will you, ha' the...

...perform: argal, she drowned herself wittingly. 2st CLOWN Nay, but hear you, goodman delver. 1st CLOWN Give me leave. Here lies the water; good: here stands...he, that is not guilty of his own death, shortens his own life. 2St CLOWN But is this law? 1st CLOWN Ay, marry is't; crowner's-quest law. The question...

...principle of Hamlet's suicidal non-suicide: Here lies the water: good. Here stands the man: good. II the man go to this water and drown himself. it is....guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. (Vi 15-20) Employing the kind of casuistry Hamlet uses with Laertes. the gravediggers appear to be...

...Rieff Clown [and gravedigger]: It must be se offendendo, it cannot be else for here lies the point .... Argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. Other [second gravedigger]: But is this law? Clown: Ay, marry, is 't — crowne r 's quest law. —Hamlet,...

...perform — argal, she drowned herself wittingly. 2 CLOWN Nay, but hear you, goodman delver. 1 CLOWN Give me leave. Here lies the water — good. Here...guilty of his own death, shortens not his own life. 2 CLOWN But is this law? 20 1 CLOWN Ay, marry is't, crowner's quest law. 2 CLOWN Will you ha' the truth...

...she drowned herself wittingly. FIRST GRAVEDIGGER: Nay, but hear you good digger. SECOND GRAVEDIGGER: Give me leave. Here lies the water; good. Here stands...guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. FIRST GRAVEDIGGER: But is this law? SECOND GRAVEDIGGER: Ay, marry, is't; crowner's quest law. FIRST...

...says . . . ' So goodman delver brushes aside the interruption and demonstrates the whole situation: Give me leave. Here lies the water - good. Here stands...guilty of his own death, shortens not his own life. As crazy a conclusion as could be hoped for. This sequence is amusing in itself, but one of its dramatic...

...Argal (ie, therefore] she drowned herself wittingly. (5.1.8-12) He further explains the legal doctrine: Here lies the water — good. Here stands the man...guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. (5.1.14-19) After hearing such a tortuous explanation, the other gravedigger can only shake his confused...

...goes,—mark you that; but if the water come to him 23 and drown him, he drowns not himself: argal, he 24 that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life. 25 Second Clown 26 But is that the law? 27 But is this law? 28 First Clown 29 It certainly is, yes,...

...argue the point circularly, concluding with a tautology that supports the opposite verdict: "Argall, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life" (5.1.19—20). He then moves on to tease out another riddle, Adam was the first gentleman. And he follows...