Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Shakespeare's Hamlet was something fresh in English revenge tragedies. The most popular of them, The Spanish Tragedy, either conveyed the assumption that God was on England's side, against Spain and Rome, or according to some, the play's violence was so over-the-top that it may have been intended to cause its audience to question the impulse for revenge against national enemies. Hamlet turned this on its head and used the end of a royal house in Denmark as an analogy for England's hope for a heroic ending to the House of Tudor. Think of the film, Avatar, which worked as an analogy for resource wars led by the US against smaller (and increasingly Muslim) nations, and against indigenous peoples over centuries. Planet Earth wants to mine "unobtanium" at the cost of many alien lives; earthlings are, mostly, the bad guys, while the aliens live in better harmony with their planet. But the film Avatar struck a nerve and was a record-breaking box-office hit. Obvi...

Some of the harder biblical allusions to spot in Shakespeare's plays are the ones that are more thoroughly paraphrased or subtle plot echoes. ~ Some of these might have been made subtle for aesthetic reasons (e.g. to avoid cliches) or to avoid the censors (avoid criticizing the crown and its advisers with political commentary laced with righteous biblical quotes). ~ But some of the paraphrased and subtle references may be among the most important, in part because, to paraphrase or create a subtle plot echo, you must have internalized the scripture reference very deeply and insightfully; then you can make it your own in fresh writing that resonates with the influence of the buried allusion. This idea contradicts most of the major works (and many minor ones as well) that attempted to catalog all the (obvious) biblical allusions in Shakespeare's plays. These include Bishop Charles Wordsworth (1864), Thomas Carter (1905), Richmond Noble (1935), Naseeb Shaheem (tragedies, 1987),...

I am writing a book about biblical allusions in Shakespeare's Hamlet. But to appeal to the young, when I speak to younger groups, I can say I'm writing a book about religious #EasterEggs in the story that Disney's The Lion King was based on. To people between 14 and 25, an allusion sounds too much like "illusion," but its the same as what the young refer to as an "easter egg" in a movie (hidden meaning or reference). There are many, many youtube videos claiming to reveal the easter eggs in Disney films, Star Wars films, etc. And many young people who have not read or seen Hamlet have seen #TheLionKing. It's just hard for the young to imagine that the ghost of Simba's dad might be a demon in disguise, and Simba kills Nala's dad accidentally, thinking he's killing Scar in revenge. But we cross that bridge when we come to it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Links to a description of my book project: On LinkedIn: https://l...

I attended the last performance of #King Lear at the #Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota tonight. The backdrop to the stage made it seem the story was unfolding in a missile silo. It was acted very enthusiastically, with Edmund sometimes clownish in his villainy. [ Trailer ] Please chime in to discuss the play if you're a Lear fan. I was struck at how Lear's discussion with Burgundy of Cordelia's dowry treated her like a whore for sale, and reminded me of Ophelia speaking of Hamlet's "tenders" of his affection, and her father saying she should charge a higher rate (legal tender), as well as other Shakespearean moments where a wife complains about a husband's secrecy and that she feels treated like a whore, for pleasure and comfort, but not for the sharing of secrets. Favorite lines: "'Tis the time's plague when madmen lead the blind." "Get thee glass eyes; And like a scurvy politician, seem To see the things ...