IN HAMLET, MUST AN ALLUSION TO THE INCARNATION IMPLY A DIVINE INFANCY NARRATIVE?
FOR SHAKESPEARE, MUST AN ALLUSION TO THE INCARNATION IMPLY A DIVINE INFANCY NARRATIVE?
Two weeks ago, I posted regarding how Hamlet 1.1 refers to many Christian mysteries: Incarnation, teachings, passion, resurrection, and end times.
The allusion to the incarnation takes the form of an allusion to “that season... / Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated.”
But the gospels show that the Christian idea of God can be incarnate in more ways than a Bethlehem-born infant:
—The Emmaus tale shows how one can find the risen Jesus in the stranger who does for us things like those things that Jesus did.
—Ophelia’s mention of the story about how “the owl was a baker’s daughter” is an example of how we sometimes reject the presence of Jesus in the stranger or beggar, with negative consequences.
So we should not assume that mention of “our savior’s birth” is a foreshadowing of another infancy narrative in the play. That never comes.
Hamlet finds God’s hand at work in the pirates; perhaps in the memory of Yorick as well. So as the first scene alludes to the mystery of the incarnation, we have to think more broadly than the infancy narrative of a Christ born in Bethlehem.
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[Originally posted around the week of 6/18/18
on LinkedIn]
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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
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#Shakespeare #Bible #Hamlet #Literature #LiteraryCriticism #Drama #Theatre #EarlyModern #religion #Renaissance #BritishLiterature #theology #comparativeliterature
Two weeks ago, I posted regarding how Hamlet 1.1 refers to many Christian mysteries: Incarnation, teachings, passion, resurrection, and end times.
The allusion to the incarnation takes the form of an allusion to “that season... / Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated.”
But the gospels show that the Christian idea of God can be incarnate in more ways than a Bethlehem-born infant:
—The Emmaus tale shows how one can find the risen Jesus in the stranger who does for us things like those things that Jesus did.
—Ophelia’s mention of the story about how “the owl was a baker’s daughter” is an example of how we sometimes reject the presence of Jesus in the stranger or beggar, with negative consequences.
So we should not assume that mention of “our savior’s birth” is a foreshadowing of another infancy narrative in the play. That never comes.
Hamlet finds God’s hand at work in the pirates; perhaps in the memory of Yorick as well. So as the first scene alludes to the mystery of the incarnation, we have to think more broadly than the infancy narrative of a Christ born in Bethlehem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Originally posted around the week of 6/18/18
on LinkedIn]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#Shakespeare #Bible #Hamlet #Literature #LiteraryCriticism #Drama #Theatre #EarlyModern #religion #Renaissance #BritishLiterature #theology #comparativeliterature
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