HORATIO GETS “MOTE/PLANK” EQUATION BACKWARDS IN HAMLET 1.1:
Horatio says King Hamlet fought Fortinbras of Norway, “pricked on by emulate pride.” From their catechism, early audiences knew pride was the worst of the seven deadly sins.
The kings had a signed agreement “ratified by law and heraldry” that the loser would forfeit land, but now the son of Fortinbras is gathering an army to get the land back.
Marcellus notes, Denmark is so busy preparing for war that shipwrights are not even stopping to observe Sunday as sabbath and day of rest, as required by bible and church (note: more sin).
Bernardo says that this must be the reason for the ghost’s visits, since the late king “was and is the question of these wars.”
Then Horatio downplays the seriousness of the situation:
“A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5 says that, if you wish to help take the mote (dust speck) from your neighbor’s eye, you should first take the plank from your own.
Scholars have noted this allusion.
But Horatio gets it backwards, claiming Denmark merely has the speck, implying that Young Fortinbras has the plank.
The irony:
Horatio's "mote" claim is diametrically opposed to what the gospel requires.
This may affect our reading of the play.
[Originally posted around the week of 6/26/17 on LinkedIn]
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IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
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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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
The kings had a signed agreement “ratified by law and heraldry” that the loser would forfeit land, but now the son of Fortinbras is gathering an army to get the land back.
Marcellus notes, Denmark is so busy preparing for war that shipwrights are not even stopping to observe Sunday as sabbath and day of rest, as required by bible and church (note: more sin).
Bernardo says that this must be the reason for the ghost’s visits, since the late king “was and is the question of these wars.”
Then Horatio downplays the seriousness of the situation:
“A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5 says that, if you wish to help take the mote (dust speck) from your neighbor’s eye, you should first take the plank from your own.
Scholars have noted this allusion.
But Horatio gets it backwards, claiming Denmark merely has the speck, implying that Young Fortinbras has the plank.
The irony:
Horatio's "mote" claim is diametrically opposed to what the gospel requires.
This may affect our reading of the play.
[Originally posted around the week of 6/26/17 on LinkedIn]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
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