HAMLET & CONTRASTING CRITICAL TRADITIONS
Some interpreters of Hamlet assume that
~Hamlet’s praise of his father should be trusted (that King Hamlet was mostly good); and that
~the prince was obliged to avenge his father's murder.
Yet Horatio describes the king as “pricked on by a most emulate pride”; the ghost describes himself as in a state of sin when he died, not having confessed or received the sacraments. This leads some to question the king’s legacy.
Hamlet's hyperbolic praise compares his father to pagan gods: Idolatry, or mere Renaissance tradition? Does this merit scrutiny?
The dead king doesn't seem to have been a loving father involved in the life of his son; he seems harsh and demanding, while Yorick seems the loving surrogate father.
The prince’s analogies of pagan gods might imply that he idolizes his father too much before the sea-voyage, after which Hamlet is silent about his father.
This would support the Jonah plot echo: From the belly of the fish, Jonah mentions vanity (or in some translations, idolatry); the prince stops idolizing his father after the sea-voyage.
Did Bardolatry and Hamletolatry go out of favor at the same time?
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[Originally posted around the week of 7/9/18
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
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#Shakespeare #Bible #Hamlet #Literature #LiteraryCriticism #Drama #Theatre #EarlyModern #religion #Renaissance #EnglishLiterature #Jonah
~Hamlet’s praise of his father should be trusted (that King Hamlet was mostly good); and that
~the prince was obliged to avenge his father's murder.
Yet Horatio describes the king as “pricked on by a most emulate pride”; the ghost describes himself as in a state of sin when he died, not having confessed or received the sacraments. This leads some to question the king’s legacy.
Hamlet's hyperbolic praise compares his father to pagan gods: Idolatry, or mere Renaissance tradition? Does this merit scrutiny?
The dead king doesn't seem to have been a loving father involved in the life of his son; he seems harsh and demanding, while Yorick seems the loving surrogate father.
The prince’s analogies of pagan gods might imply that he idolizes his father too much before the sea-voyage, after which Hamlet is silent about his father.
This would support the Jonah plot echo: From the belly of the fish, Jonah mentions vanity (or in some translations, idolatry); the prince stops idolizing his father after the sea-voyage.
Did Bardolatry and Hamletolatry go out of favor at the same time?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Originally posted around the week of 7/9/18
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 #EnglishLiterature #Jonah
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