PRIEST Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful;
And but that great command o’ersways the order
She should in ground unsanctified been lodged
Till the last trumpet: for charitable prayers,
Flints and pebbles should be thrown on her.
Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial. (5.1.215-223)
The priest can be sympathetic, apologetic, sorry-my-hands-are-tied but it’s easier to play as officious, grudging, even anxious, worried about his bishop: her obsequies have been as far enlarged as we have warranty; look, the funeral’s been as elaborate as I could make it, really on the edge of what’s lawful. Her death was doubtful—sorry, but there’s no getting around it, murky circumstances, didn’t look good—and but that great command o’ersways the order, if it hadn’t been for my hand being forced by the powers that be (there can be a glance at Claudius here, but much more interesting for there to be a long look exchanged with Gertrude) she should in ground unsanctified been lodged till the last trumpet. Look, you’re lucky she’s being buried here at all, rather than on the other side of the churchyard wall, or in the highway! that’s what would have happened if she hadn’t been so well-connected, and don’t you forget it! There she’d have lain until judgement day, and for charitable prayers, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her. Rather than all these pieties, this proper funeral, more or less, she should be being buried in waste ground, stones, not flowers (one imagines the stones thrown up during ploughing, thrown to the side of the field, cast away without a thought). So, count your blessings, and hers, young man! Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants (technically the crown-shaped garland of flowers, looking a bit like a birdcage, carried on the bier of an unmarried woman), her maiden strewments—flowers cast on her grave, appropriate for a young girl—and the bringing home of bell and burial. The bell’s been tolled (an essential ritual of community); this is more or less a proper funeral. Tidying things up, making it as nice as possible. In the circumstances.
