Hamlet: Priest, Prophet, King (part 2)

Last week I posted about #Shakespeare portraying #Hamlet as conforming to the "threefold office" Christ is said to exemplify, which all Christians are said to share:

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/09/hamlet-priest-prophet-king-part-1.html

More details:

1. PROPHETS in the biblical sense were not so much fortune-tellers as sent by God to speak against sin, often speaking truth to power. Hamlet condemns Denmark's sins* even as John the Baptist condemned Herod's marriage to his brother's ex-wife.

2. PRIESTS in the bible oversaw ritual sacrifice (a dove, a lamb), the meat later used as food. Jesus is called priest as he freely offers himself as sacrifice on the cross, and in Eucharist, offers body and blood as spiritual food and drink. Similarly, Hamlet freely embraces his fate and the possibility of death.

3. KINGS were seen by many in the Renaissance as ruling by divine right; some argue that Hamlet is rightful king. But only after a Jonah-like conversion at sea and in the graveyard does he better embrace his *Christian* kingship: Jesus said those who lead must be servant of all; Hamlet achieves this more in the last act, ruling more virtuously over his own wild and whirling passions.


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Photo credits & *notes:
Photo credits:
Cumberbatch: Tristram Kenton
Burton: Hulton Archive/Getty images
Branagh: From the Branagh-directed Hamlet
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Prophet:
*Hamlet condemns Denmark's sins, like John the Baptist condemning Herod--
but unlike John the baptist, the Hamlet who has dedicated himself to his "bloody thoughts" soon exemplifies them himself (accidentally killing Polonius, and sending to their deaths Rosencrantz and Guildenstern).

Regarding John the Baptist condemning Herod's marriage to his brother's ex-wife: Joseph Ritson, an interesting figure in literary history, was certain that the name "Baptista" (the player queen) was an an allusion to John the Baptist—and he was probably right, although he had to argue his position against others who were strangely thick about considering it.

Ritson was a lawyer and antiquarian as well as a Shakespeare scholar, with a reputation of being a bit harsh in his criticism of his peers, but usually accurate, though not always the most kind sort of literary scholar. Toward the end of his life, he suffered a breakdown and set fire to his papers in his living quarters, and eventually died from the injuries he sustained.

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[Originally posted around the week of 10/01/18
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 #EnglishLiterature