Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property) . For more notes on the series and an index of previous posts in this series, see the end of this post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What do we find if we view Claudius through Lewis Hyde’s lens of gift exchange dynamics? Hyde shows how people receive gifts, and when awakened to the gift’s potential, they may respond in gratitude and labor to become like the gift or the giver. This is a transformative process that may yield dynamic characters who evolve through their interactions rather than remaining static and unchanged, or in terms Christians may have used in Shakespeare's time, remaining proud, stubborn, and hard-hearte...

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This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property ). For more notes on the series and an index of previous posts in this series, see the end of this post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does the mutual love Hamlet and Ophelia seem to share (at least before Hamlet’s father dies and Ophelia’s father forbids her to see him) make Hamlet a better person, more of a servant-prince, in love with a young woman who is not of royal blood, a Cinderella-type figure? I think so. After Hamlet experiences the other-worldly, terrifying, life-changing apparition of his father’s spirit (in hell or purgatory), does his fear of punishment in an afterlife and his love for Ophelia move him to tell ...

This is the latest installment in a multi-part series examining how characters interact in Hamlet, offering opportunities, gifts, planting seeds for future inspiration, or for changes of heart & mind. It follows ideas from Lewis Hyde (“The Labor of Gratitude,” a chapter in his book, The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property ). For more notes on the series and an index of previous posts in this series, see the end of this post. [L: Nathaniel Parker as Laertes in the last scene of Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 Hamlet , surprised to hear that Gertrude will drink from what Laertes and Claudius know is the poison cup; R: Image from the final scene of Kenneth Branagh's 1996 Hamlet: Laertes (played by Michael Maloney) realizes that in falling, he has lost hold of the poison rapier he used to scratch Hamlet, but now it has slid across the floor to Hamlet. It will soon be used by Hamlet, unaware of the poison, to scratch Laertes in return.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...