Old King Hamlet as Caesar figure, not Christ figure
After the death of King Hamlet, the sentinels are nervous confronting one another at the end of Francesco’s shift and the start of Bernardo’s. They are also anxious about why Denmark is so busy preparing for war.
Shakespeare’s play was written at a time when many Protestants thought biblical prophecies in the biblical books of Revelations and Daniel were coming true (see Apocalypse & Armada in Kyd's Spanish Tragedy by Frank R. Ardolino); many believed the end times were approaching, and that Rome was the Whore of Babylon. The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580, a 1598 appearance of Haley’s Comet, and a 1598 total eclipse visible across much of England and Scotland (“disasters in the sun”) only increased such speculation.
Bernardo and Marcellus tell Horatio about the hour of the night when the ghost had appeared and begin describing the positions of the stars, when the ghost appears again. After the ghost leaves, as Horatio composes himself, he notes somewhat matter-of-factly,
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….”
Various scholar/critics note that near the end of Matthew’s gospel (27:52), after the crucifixion of Jesus, graves were opened and the dead rose, so they want to see in this passage of Hamlet a reference to events surrounding the death of Jesus, with perhaps a little extra advertising for Shakespeare’s recent play of the same period, Julius Caesar.
But if the playwright wanted to compare King Hamlet to Jesus, and the events around his death to gospel events after the crucifixion, he could have made that explicit. Instead, he refers to Julius Caesar, who was power-hungry, not always the model of a good leader, and killed by an insider; King Hamlet was land-hungry and recklessly met Old Fortinbras in single combat on the day Prince Hamlet was born. There, King Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras, which caused a situation of impending war as the play begins. Furthermore, King Hamlet has been killed by an insider, his own brother. Some viewers and readers trust that Claudius deals with this well through messengers sent to Norway, but others (including me) think he trusts Norway and his messengers too much.
So no, Shakespeare is not saying King Hamlet is a Christ figure. He’s saying King Hamlet is a Julius Caesar figure, and specifically not a Christ figure. Yes, the passage was meant to make people in the audience recall the gospel passages about events after the crucifixion, but the allusion, interestingly, says “Things like this happened just before the death of... Caesar,” not Christ. If it brings to mind Matt 27, it is really only to rule it out.
Why does this matter? Because we should not put the ghost on a pedestal given what we learn about the ghost throughout the play, and the details we learn about Hamlet's father when he was alive. Prince Hamlet finally begins to come out from under the shadow of his father only after having been captured by pirates, and encountering the skull of his beloved jester, Yorick, who was like a foster father to him when the prince was young. King Hamlet had killed Old Fortinbras, and this caused the problem of impending war that hangs over the play. The dead king doesn't deserve a pass, and definitely not a comparison to Jesus. The comparison makes it explicit: This man was not like Jesus. He was more like Caesar.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paul Adrian Fried has an MFA in English & Creative Writing and taught university English for 21 years. His current project is a book, tentatively titled "Hamlet's Bible," about biblical allusions and deep plot echoes in Shakespeare's play. He posts weekly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 8/28/17 on LinkedIn]
After the death of King Hamlet, the sentinels are nervous confronting one another at the end of Francesco’s shift and the start of Bernardo’s. They are also anxious about why Denmark is so busy preparing for war.
Shakespeare’s play was written at a time when many Protestants thought biblical prophecies in the biblical books of Revelations and Daniel were coming true (see Apocalypse & Armada in Kyd's Spanish Tragedy by Frank R. Ardolino); many believed the end times were approaching, and that Rome was the Whore of Babylon. The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580, a 1598 appearance of Haley’s Comet, and a 1598 total eclipse visible across much of England and Scotland (“disasters in the sun”) only increased such speculation.
Bernardo and Marcellus tell Horatio about the hour of the night when the ghost had appeared and begin describing the positions of the stars, when the ghost appears again. After the ghost leaves, as Horatio composes himself, he notes somewhat matter-of-factly,
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….”
Various scholar/critics note that near the end of Matthew’s gospel (27:52), after the crucifixion of Jesus, graves were opened and the dead rose, so they want to see in this passage of Hamlet a reference to events surrounding the death of Jesus, with perhaps a little extra advertising for Shakespeare’s recent play of the same period, Julius Caesar.
But if the playwright wanted to compare King Hamlet to Jesus, and the events around his death to gospel events after the crucifixion, he could have made that explicit. Instead, he refers to Julius Caesar, who was power-hungry, not always the model of a good leader, and killed by an insider; King Hamlet was land-hungry and recklessly met Old Fortinbras in single combat on the day Prince Hamlet was born. There, King Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras, which caused a situation of impending war as the play begins. Furthermore, King Hamlet has been killed by an insider, his own brother. Some viewers and readers trust that Claudius deals with this well through messengers sent to Norway, but others (including me) think he trusts Norway and his messengers too much.
So no, Shakespeare is not saying King Hamlet is a Christ figure. He’s saying King Hamlet is a Julius Caesar figure, and specifically not a Christ figure. Yes, the passage was meant to make people in the audience recall the gospel passages about events after the crucifixion, but the allusion, interestingly, says “Things like this happened just before the death of... Caesar,” not Christ. If it brings to mind Matt 27, it is really only to rule it out.
Why does this matter? Because we should not put the ghost on a pedestal given what we learn about the ghost throughout the play, and the details we learn about Hamlet's father when he was alive. Prince Hamlet finally begins to come out from under the shadow of his father only after having been captured by pirates, and encountering the skull of his beloved jester, Yorick, who was like a foster father to him when the prince was young. King Hamlet had killed Old Fortinbras, and this caused the problem of impending war that hangs over the play. The dead king doesn't deserve a pass, and definitely not a comparison to Jesus. The comparison makes it explicit: This man was not like Jesus. He was more like Caesar.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paul Adrian Fried has an MFA in English & Creative Writing and taught university English for 21 years. His current project is a book, tentatively titled "Hamlet's Bible," about biblical allusions and deep plot echoes in Shakespeare's play. He posts weekly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 8/28/17 on LinkedIn]
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