PARAPHRASED BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS OR PLOT ECHOES MAY BE AMONG THE MOST DEEPLY INTERNALIZED
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), and Peter Milward (tragedies, 1987). These four focus mostly on allusions that can be identified by association with a translation available at the time Shakespeare was writing, and therefore, they neglect paraphrase and plot echo in favor of the more obvious allusions.
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Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 3/20/17 on LinkedIn]
~ 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), and Peter Milward (tragedies, 1987). These four focus mostly on allusions that can be identified by association with a translation available at the time Shakespeare was writing, and therefore, they neglect paraphrase and plot echo in favor of the more obvious allusions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 3/20/17 on LinkedIn]
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