Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Thomas More and Hamlet’s uncle Claudius were both, in their own ways, defenders of incestuous marriage. More would not agree to Henry VIII’s plan to break from Rome to get his divorce from his first wife, a marriage that the church had considered incestuous from the start: Henry and Catherine had to ask Rome for special permission to marry in the first place [1]. So for Hamlet to refer to Claudius as a “moor” - meaning also a “More” - would be entirely appropriate.  In Act 3, scene 4, when Hamlet refers to his father favorably as a “fair mountain” and his uncle insultingly as a "moor," to the Elizabethan ear, audiences heard no difference between "moor," or "Moor," or the last name of Thomas More [2].  Today, many may consider Thomas More a martyr for conscience who opposed Henry’s quest for divorce [3]. There is nothing wrong with this view, but it is incomplete: It doesn’t consider how some Elizabethans understood More.  By the end of her life, Elizabe...

How might a 21st century view of Sir Thomas More differ from Hamlet’s?  Catholic worship was illegal in England until 1791 [1]. More was beatified in 1886, canonized a saint in 1935.  In 1960 JFK became the first Catholic US president [2].  Robert Bolt's “A Man for All Seasons,” a play about More that won a 1962 Tony Award, had by the time of JFK’s 1963 assassination finished a successful Broadway run of 637 shows since 1961 after its London debut [3]. The hero of the play, More would not support Henry VIII's quest for a divorce from his first wife, resulting in his execution, a martyr for conscience.  Henry had sought special permission (‘dispensation’) to marry his dead brother’s widow (the church usually considered such marriages incestuous), but after 24 years of marriage and a daughter, Henry famously changed his mind after his affair with Anne Boleyn, and no thriving male heirs.  Shakespeare used More’s historical writing as a basis for Richard III, and ...

When Shakespeare has his Hamlet abbreviate his sea voyage to England (compared to the Saxo Grammaticus source c. 1185–1208) and change mode of transportation mid-sea, it seems an implied allusion to Jonah not present in Saxo. Jonah also changed mode of transport mid-sea, swallowed by a fish doing the will of a merciful God; Hamlet was figuratively swallowed by a pirate ship; they imprisoned him, but he described the pirates as "thieves of mercy" [1] Shakespeare's Hamlet never mentions Jonah explicitly, and neither does the Disney film, Pinocchio (1940) [2], but Pinocchio and Geppetto are actually swallowed by a whale, whereas the pirate ship only figuratively swallows Hamlet, so critics (who are, yes, sometimes far too literal) have been more likely to see Jonah in Pinocchio than in Hamlet's sea voyage. One might ask: Why was Shakespeare being so subtle instead of being more explicit about his Jonah echo? Was it an artistic/aesthetic choice? Or were there other fact...

How do we understand an allusion, such as Shakespeare's Hamlet using a play to catch the conscience of the king, like the prophet Nathan catching the conscience of King David? Especially after the New Critics, the "death of the author," and disillusionment with “old historicism,” there was a tendency to ignore many aspects of historical-cultural contexts in favor of only what is immediately clear in the text. This may have seemed a more objective, even empirical approach: If the text doesn't say "Nathan" or "David" or "Bathsheba," or use the same phrasing as the Bible, shall we assume there is no such biblical allusion present? The more subtle the allusion, the more reason to doubt it? What if we know that many other writers in Shakespeare's time were alluding to or retelling the David story? Did that allow for a kind of shorthand in making allusions? Last week’s post [1] noted that Shakespeare didn't always have to be explicit;...

Shakespeare didn’t need to be too explicit about some biblical allusions: He knew his Bible-influenced audiences would experience his play through lenses of scripture. When modern critics split hairs about whether something is explicit enough to count as an allusion [1], they're imposing modern expectations on Elizabethan texts. This is true of Hamlet’s Davidic influences: In 1599 George Peele’s popular play “David and Bathsebe” was published in quarto after stage success (c. 1595-9). David was a trending topic [2]. In this context Shakespeare wrote his Hamlet (1599-1601-04): King Hamlet fought Old Fortinbras in single combat, as David fought Goliath [3]. Claudius killed King Hamlet to take his wife Gertrude, as King David arranged for Uriah’s death to steal his wife, Bathsheba [4]. The sentinels and Horatio [5], and also the Danish public [6] may have thought Prince Hamlet the rightful heir denied the throne, like David, chosen by God via the prophet Samuel to be the next king...

With, hoo! such bugs and goblins in my life... - Hamlet 5.2.25 [1] This is my favorite Halloween-themed line in Hamlet, from the last scene, at the start of which Hamlet describes to Horatio how he discovered the letter with orders from Claudius for England to execute Hamlet (by beheading) upon their ship's arrival there. Frightening stuff! In many places around the world, some people will observe Halloween, the evening of 31 October, "All Hallows Eve," with its roots in Christian tradition of celebrating All Souls this day, and anticipating the Feast of All Saints tomorrow, November 1. It is harvest time, and so we also consider death as a harvest of souls. It is a good time of year for such stuff, with cold weather, and with leaves changing color in the Northern Hemisphere approaching winter. Hamlet famously converses with an apparition that claims to be the ghost of his father, after the apparition had been previously seen a number of times by sentinels, finall...

HAMLET, SUPERMAN, AND FRANCIS OF ASSISI WALK INTO A BAR.  What do they talk about? Fathers.  Was it ever more honorable to disobey your father than to obey him?  SUPERMAN, in the latest film (dir. James Gunn, 2025), faces a choice: His biological father on Krypton had recorded messages for him. One had been damaged, at first thought irretrievable. When finally decoded, Superman learned that he was sent to earth because its inhabitants were weaker, so that he could dominate them.  Should he obey his biological father’s plans for domination?  He disobeys and heeds the advice of his adoptive parents, using his powers to serve.  The first sentinel in Hamlet?  FRANCISO, named after FRANCIS OF ASSISI, once a soldier and prisoner of war. His father, a rich merchant, was not quick to ransom him for early release.  Francis later heard a voice: “Repair my church.” At first he thought this was about church buildings, but soon realized it was about repairin...

In light of Taylor Swift’s new album on which her song “The Fate of Ophelia” appears, Emily Rome (creator of the podcast @shakespearesshadows) has good reflections: Why in the song does Ophelia have to be rescued by a man? Shakespeare borrowed and adapted freely, so if we’re going to revise Ophelia, why not do so in ways that imagine her having more agency? On Instagram, Emily has a short video in which she mentions the 2018 film, “Ophelia,” starring Daisy Ridley; the 2006 book by Lisa Klein on which it was based; the Lauren M. Gunderson stage play, “A Room in the Castle,”; and the 2019 video game, “Elsinore,” all of which adapt Ophelia’s story in creative ways. (And yes, video games are no longer merely ping-pong, but contain complex plots and characters, with interesting original soundtracks and visual effects, as well as effective voice actors; they generate more revenue than new releases in TV and Film, so an Ophelia video game may make interesting, significant impressions on new...

How old is the death letter motif in Hamlet, where did it come from, and is there anything special about the way Shakespeare uses it? In Hamlet, Shakespeare retains the motif of the death letter from the Danish source. Claudius sends a letter with Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet on their journey to England [4.3.67-77], but they don’t know that it orders Hamlet’s death. People in Shakespeare’s time knew this death letter motif by way of the biblical story of David’s affair with Bathsheba (circa 10c. BCE). King David sends Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to the battlefront with a letter that he is to be placed at the front of battle, and others should pull back. He is killed [1]. A later Greek version of the motif comes from the 8th century BCE myth of Bellerophon [2]. The reluctance of kings to violate rules of hospitality plays a key role in delaying fatal plans and helping Bellerophon prevail in the end. For anyone who is sad to hear of Uriah’s fate, a faithful soldier deceived b...

When Hamlet says, “Denmark’s a prison…in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons,” there is a bitter, sarcastic echo of John 14:2, “In my father’s house there are many dwelling places” – but all four major reference works on Shakespeare and the Bible since 1905 ignore it [1] HAMLET What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune that she sends you to prison hither? GUILDENSTERN Prison, my lord? HAMLET Denmark’s a prison. ROSENCRANTZ Then is the world one. HAMLET A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o’ th’ worst. (2.2.58-66) Compare: In my Father’s house are many dwelling places: [...] - John 14:2 [2] Instead of God sending people to their dwelling as in John 14, Fortune sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hence to Denmark as prison, in Hamlet's statement.  Why do these reference works miss or ignore this allusion? Probably for its bitter twist to sarcasm. Especially by Act 5, scene 2, Hamlet’s biblical ...

Hamlet is in part about a contested succession, a hot topic in Elizabethan England. The first line in Hamlet, “Who’s there?” sounds like “who’s th’ heir?” [1]. Hamlet believes Claudius is a murderous usurper, an illegitimate successor to his father. Contested succession applies not only to politics, but also to religion in Shakespeare’s time and Christianity in general, and to scientific authority as well. At least some people in Shakespeare’s time would have noticed that the story of Jesus is one of contested succession in which Jesus is heaven’s prince [2]. After the Roman occupation in 63 BCE, Jewish authorities were corrupted in Rome’s favor [3]. Some of these used the letter of the law to condemn the preacher and miracle-worker, Jesus, who like John the Baptist had attracted the attention and concern of Roman authorities. The gospels claim that Jesus associated with revolutionaries (zealots), and that he was crucified with a sign that mocked him as “King of the Jews.” [4] After ...