] It really is almost like a vaudeville routine - anything you can say I can say wittier. Even though the subject matter is usually thought to be a serious one. I love that scene.

I think it brilliant of Shakespeare to dress such deep matter in seeming comedy. It is easier to swallow deep thoughts about death when it is cloaked in comedy. It also hearkens back to the first scene when Claudius and Gertrude try to impress on Hamlet the inevitability of death. Don't get me started....

Sorry to inturrupt. I am only up to Act III, but I have known this pay forever and can't wait to jump in....