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Hamlet, Prodigals, Fatted Calves, and Caesar as Capital Calf

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References to Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from Horatio (1.1) and from Polonius (3.2) may remind us that Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar (published 1599), only shortly preceded his Hamlet (published 1603-4); the earlier play may still have been in the company’s repertoire. But besides good advertising, why mention Julius in this play? HORATIO: “In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets” (1.1.125-8) Horatio is at first a doubting Thomas, yet he mentions not graves opening after Jesus’ death (Matt 27:51-53), but another J.C.: Julius Caesar, tyrant who crossed the Rubicon with his army, violating the social order. Polonius mentions playing Caesar at university, killed in the capital: “Brutus killed me.” HAMLET: It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a calf there.” (3.2.111-2) This foreshadows that Hamlet will stab Polonius in a later sce...
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Hamlet's Use of the Trojan War & Consequences of the Judgment of Paris

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Why does Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” refer to the Trojan war? Some may think that Trojan War references in Shakespeare merely represented a Renaissance obsession with things Greek. But the Trojan War speech in Hamlet also alludes to (1) a Greek-themed Marlow play [1]; (2) the widow Hecuba’s grief [2] (a contrast with Gertrude); (3) the pause of Pyrrhus (like Hamlet hesitating to kill Claudius at prayer) [3]. When the players arrive in Elsinore and perform a speech at Hamlet’s request, he asks for a speech about Hecuba, mother of Paris, witnessing the revenge killing of her husband, King Priam. Priam is about to be killed by Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, in revenge for Priam's son Paris having killed Pyrrhus’ father. Revenge begets revenge and more grieving widows, a terrible cycle. Appropriate for Hamlet. “The Judgment of Paris” involves Paris having to choose the fairest goddess. Each goddess offers bribes, with Aphrodite promising Helen of Troy. Paris chooses Aphrodite, and soon abducts ...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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In Hamlet, is "Lenten entertainment" oxymoron, royal hypocrisy, or foreshadowing?

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"LENTEN ENTERTAINMENT": OXYMORON, ROYAL HYPOCRISY, OR FORESHADOWING?  Rosencrantz says to Hamlet,  To think, my lord, [...]  what Lenten entertainment the players shall receive from you. (2.2.339-341).  Students unfamiliar with Christian liturgical seasons may skip over the word “Lenten.”  The more curious may look it up: A solemn season of fasting and repentance before Easter.  So what does “Lenten entertainment” imply?  1. Does “Lenten entertainment” pleasantly break up the drudgery of Lent?  - In 1598, Elizabeth I issued an edict prohibiting public theatrical performances during Lent, while privately still sponsoring such entertainment at court.   - Was Shakespeare subtly drawing attention to the hypocrisy of Elizabeth’s policy?  2. If taken literally, while the opening scene of the play (1.1) was cold at night, perhaps in winter (with Christmas mentioned), does 2.2 occur later during Lent? (Too literal?)  3. In 1.2, Hamle...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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How is Shakespeare's Hamlet a Reformation play?

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HOW IS SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET A REFORMATION PLAY, pointing to efforts by Catholics and Protestants to reform Christian institutions and hearts? 1. First on stage is Francisco. Francis of Assisi was a famous church reformer [1] (demonstrating that "reformation" - reforming the church - was a popular  topic centuries before Martin Luther). 2. Second is Bernardo. Bernard of Clairvaux was a famous Cistercian monastic reformer [2]. 3. Hamlet goes to university at Wittenberg, where Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door [3]. 4. The ghost tells Hamlet that he is being purged of sins (purgatory, believed in by many Catholics, doubted by many Protestants) [4]. 5. Hamlet tells the players not to overact. The actors say they have "reformed" that; Hamlet replies, "reform it altogether" [5], reformation wordplay. 6. Hamlet mentions a "convocation of politic worms," ‘your only emperor for diet” [6]: A council, the “Diet of Worms,” questioned Luther’s orthod...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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What was Termagant to Hamlet - and to Shakespeare?

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When Hamlet mentions “Termagant” in advice to the players, he says it as if “everybody there would know exactly what [he] was talking about” [1]. What did Shakespeare assume his audience would know about Termagant, and why would dropping his name fit this play? The earliest known mention of Termagant is from “The Song of Roland” (an 11th-century work about a Frankish warrior, Roland (archetype of a Paladin) who fought in AD 778 under Charlemagne [2]. Termagant was a fictional god, assumed to be violent, falsely associated with Muslims by Christians who feared and did not understand their Saracen enemies [3].  The tale of Roland resembles aspects of Hamlet, in that Roland dies a martyr’s death in what seems in the end a suicide mission. Roland had a horn made of an elephant (oliphant) tusk that he was reluctant to blow for fear of being cowardly and dishonorable [4].  In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, after cowardly faking death in battle, Falstaff calls Hotspur a "hot te...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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Five Allusions in Hamlet to Islam

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ALLUSIONS TO ISLAM IN HAMLET:  BACKGROUND: Some Protestants like Luther viewed Islam with concern and envy as a false religion but admiring the unity of the Ottoman Empire compared to Christianity. Luther compared discipline in Islam to Catholic admiration for works (not "faith alone") for salvation. Luther aided in the publication of a German translation of the Qur’an. The Ottoman Empire was a geopolitical threat; Turkish pirates in the Mediterranean had captured Christians, and some of these converted to Islam.  There are three relatively direct references in Hamlet to Islam or its adherents, plus two more indirect references:  A. Hamlet refers to Termagant [1] in 3.2.14, with Termagant as a fictional god, in Christian propaganda, falsely attributed and used to discredit Islam [2].  B. Hamlet’s fortunes may “turn Turk” (3.2.302, may betray him like a Christian converting to Islam); but this may be ironic given Shakespeare’s later play about Othello the Moor, and th...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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2025 RETROSPECTIVE and THANKS

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2025 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR for the “Hamlet’s Bible” blog… VIEWS FOR THE YEAR came to about 77.6k, averaging about 1.5k views per week. This was a significant increase over the average for the past eight years, which was about 23.5k per year and .45k  per week, out of an eight-year total of 188k views from more than 80 countries since 2018. In 2025, I completed two series begun the previous year: One on Claudius [1], and one on the Twelve Days of Christmas - including Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night [2]. See also MASTER INDEX (for series) [3].  In all of my posts and research, I strive to welcome the strange, and to let my curiosity lead my research to new insights. Among my three favorite posts: New realizations about how references to classical gods and deified Roman Caesars should be reconsidered in conjunction with references to Jesus: All of these involve divinity claims, sometimes in stark contrast with one another. See my post, Hamlet's Christmas, Caesar, Taxes, and Conte...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE JONAH ECHO in HAMLET

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SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE JONAH ECHO in HAMLET The Jonah echo is perhaps better understood with consideration for the following (not an exhaustive list):  a) The success of A Looking Glass for London and England (c. 1590); see Hannibal Hamlin, Staging prophecy: A Looking Glass for London and the Book of Jonah,"Part III, chapter 10 in Enacting the Bible in Medieval and Early Modern Drama, Eds. Eva Von Contzen and Chanita Goodblatt, Manchester University Press, 2020. b) Elizabeth’s having dedicated one of her naval ships “Elizabeth Jonas” (1559) with a speech that exhibited poor biblical exegesis than propaganda;  "The 3 day of July, 1559, the Queen's Grace took her barge at Greenwich unto Woolwich to her new ship, and there it was named Elizabeth Jonas, and after her Grace had a goodly banquet, and there was great shooting of guns, and casting of fire about made for pleasure ' (Diary of Henry Machin, Camden Society, p. 203). The ship ' was so named by her ...
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Location: Northfield, MN 55057, USA
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