What does Yorick's skull symbolize in Hamlet?

• A. Immortality.
• B. Death and mortality.
• C. Youth's vitality.
• D. Ambition.

Answer: (B)

The symbol at play is death and mortality. In the graveyard scene, Hamlet confronts Yorick’s skull and is forced to face the stark, physical end that awaits everyone, no matter who they were in life. Yorick was once a lively jester, full of humor and status; now the skull reduces that memory to bone, reminding us that death equalizes all social ranks and experiences. This moment serves as a memento mori, a tangible prompt to reflect on the fragility of life and the inevitability of death, rather than any lasting personal glory or vitality. It’s not about immortality, nor about youth’s vitality, nor about ambition—those ideas are tangential to the skull’s function here, which is to lay bare the certainty of death that lays waste to all worldly claims.