Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

I’ve said that Francisco and Bernardo in Hamlet were probably named after Francis of Assisi and Bernard of Clairvaux, saints associated with Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries in England, because of correlations between the lives of the saints and the plot and themes of Hamlet. That these were also the names of two Pazzi Conspiracy assassins * may have been convenient (anti-Catholic) cover, to avoid suspicion from the censors. Consider the proximity of Franciscan and Cistercian monasteries within 20 miles of Stratford Upon Avon, and others in (present-day) London, or on the way: Franciscan: Coventry Greyfriars, 19 mi NE Oxford Greyfriars (en route to London) In/near London: Aldgate Abbey Greenwich Greyfriars Newgate Greyfriars Richmond Greyfriars Abbey of the Minoresses Cistercian: Stoneleigh Abbey, 14 mi NE Bordesley Abbey, 16 mi NW Coombe Abbey, 23 mi NE In/near London: Eastminster Abbey Stratford Langthorne Abbey Also, we might note that Henry Carey, 1st...

In 2.2, Hamlet describes his melancholy to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern: " I have of late... lost all my mirth ...this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, ...this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears... a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. ...what is this quintessence of dust? man delights* not me...." This resembles a description of Francis of Assisi in his youth From pt.1, ch.2, par.3 of Thomas of Celano's "Vita Beati Francisci " (Life of Blessed Francis), commissioned 1228. After soldiering, being a P.O.W. , and a long illness, Francis goes for a walk, "But neither the beauty of the fields, the pleasantness of the vineyards, nor anything that is fair to see could in any way delight* him. And he wondered at the sudden change in himself and began to deem the lovers of such things to be very fools, and from that...

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 books by authors Bishop Charles Wordsworth (1864), Thomas Carter (1905), Richmond Noble (1935), Naseeb Shahee...

FROM HANNIBAL HAMLIN'S INTRODUCTION (SEE PIC BELOW) to his book, "The Bible in Shakespeare," which offers a systematic study of Shakespeare's biblical allusions in a wide array of his plays - but no focused analysis of many/most such allusions in a single play (as I'm attempting with Hamlet). Even audience members and readers of the plays who notice some of the biblical allusions often do not recognize how profoundly biblical Elizabethan culture was, but Hamlin grasps this, as the following sample from the first page of his introduction shows. If you're a fan of Shakespeare and the bible, Hamlin's book is a good investment. If you can't afford it, try local libraries, or inter-library loans. The samples available on Google Books are incomplete, and a scholar like Hamlin deserves to have his work supported, and not to have Google Books reproduce major parts of it by way of legal loopholes. If you work in a college, university, or theater with a res...