HAMLET’S (Mystical?) MELANCHOLY (or PTSD?)

Discussion of Elizabethan melancholy often turns to Robert Burton’s 1621 work, The Anatomy of Melancholy. Others claim melancholy was fashionably pretended by lovers, poets and scholars.

Or Hamlet might be in a mystical dark night of the soul as described by John of the Cross (1577-9) and earlier mystics such as the English 14th century author of The Cloud of Unknowing. The dark night included a purgation of sense and spirit; it resembles not only Hamlet’s “man delights not me” speech (2.2), but also St. Francis's melancholy as a young man. We find traces of it also in the Song of Songs, often thought an allegory for the love of Christ for his church, and the longing for union with a divine beloved.

Another explanation: Many members of Shakespeare's audiences were traumatized, probably suffering from PTSD after brutal public executions of Catholics under Henry VIII & Edward VI, of Protestants under Mary I, and Catholics again under Elizabeth, contributing to a disillusioning perception of government-sponsored religious revenge. Many knew and/or were related to the victims. The government spy network tore what should have been a nurturing social fabric. Depressing!


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[Originally posted around the week of 12/3/18
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