THE GHOST OF LAZARUS HAUNTS HAMLET
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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are allusions to the bible story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man (“Dives”) from Luke 16:19-31, read every First Sunday After Trinity Sunday, and also read every 5 March, 4 July, and every 30 October as the second lesson for Morning prayer.
It is as if the playwright took parts of that story, diced them up, and sprinkled them throughout:
1. The Ghost (1.5) says his skin became “Lazar-like” from poison;
Lazarus had skin-sores, which dogs licked.
[Edit 9/11/2023: The ghost also says that his brother Claudius, in the “..porches of mine ear didst pour the leperous distillment” - in some paintings and illustrations of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the beggar Lazarus, the leper, is left outside, untended on the porches of the rich man’s house.]
2. The rich man asks if Lazarus can return to life to warn the rich man's brothers;
the ghost claims to be sent to warn and give Hamlet a task;
Ophelia (2.1) describes Hamlet visiting as if “loosed out of hell.”
3. Hamlet tells Polonius to be sure the players are well-bestowed (2.2.1563-73),
like telling the rich man to be sure to be generous with the beggar Lazarus.
4. Hamlet (4.3) tells Claudius of kings and beggars (like Dives & Lazarus).
5. Ophelia (4.5) mentions, “the owl was a baker’s daughter,”
a tale of a (Lazarus-like) beggar and a (bread-rich) baker (a tragic version of the Emmaus story: the beggar/stranger is rejected, not welcomed).
- Edit 9/20/2023: Ophelia also sings, "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy," believed to be a reference to a now lost song that some speculate to be part of the Robin Hood tradition. Robin Hood robbed from the rich (like Dives, the rich man) and gave to the poor (like the beggar Lazarus). On "bonny sweet Robin" as pointing to the Robin Hood tradition, see
Morris, Harry. “Ophelia’s ‘Bonny Sweet Robin.’” PMLA 73, no. 5 (1958): 601–3. https://doi.org/10.2307/460304.
- It is possible that Ophelia views Hamlet as a kind of Robin Hood figure, who confronts Claudius and Polonius, who hoard their power, like a prophet Nathan, or John the Baptist, regarding the incestuous marriage as a kind of hoarding. Hamlet wants the incestuous hoarding to stop, and Ophelia may very well perceive this in him, and name him as a Robin Hood.
6. Laertes (5.1) tells the “churlish” priest that his sister will be in heaven (like Lazarus with Abraham), while the priest “liest howling” (like the rich man, looking up from hell to see Lazarus).
7. After Hamlet dies (5.2), Horatio says “angels sing thee to thy rest,” referring to the requiem mass, which ended with a prayer based on the Lazarus tale, with angels escorting the dead to Abraham in heaven.
8. More than any other character, Hamlet describes himself or is described by others as "poor" or "beggar" or "begging." He may also have been like a beggar for his father's affection, but received fatherly affection instead from Yorick. Claudius and Gertrude are among those who are rich in something withheld from Hamlet, but Hamlet also begs honesty of his former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and they are slow to be honest and generous with him.
How might this recognition affect our reading of the play?
* Besides being read every First Sunday After Trinity Sunday, this reading was also read every 5 March, 4 July, and every 30 October as the second lesson for Morning prayer.
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Images:
Top image:
Workshop of Domenico Fetti, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, 1618/1628. Domenico Fetti 1589 - 1623. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Public domain via https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.229.html
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INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES:
See this link:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/02/index-series-on-rich-man-and-beggar.html
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Hamlet quotes: All quotes from Hamlet (in this particular series on The Rich Man and Lazarus in Hamlet) are taken from the Modern (spelling), Editor's Version at InternetShakespeare via the University of Victoria in Canada.
- To find them in the first place, I often use the advanced search feature at OpenSourceShakespeare.org.
Bible quotes from the Geneva translation, widely available to people of Shakespeare's time, are taken from an internet source somewhat close to their original spelling, from studybible.info, and in a modern spelling, from biblegateway.com.
- Quotes from the Bishop's bible, also available in Shakespeare's lifetime and read in church, are taken from studybible.info.
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
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My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
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