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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Detail from 1839 painting by Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (Public Domain)] Horatio and Hamlet enjoy a special friendship , though perhaps any friendship with a prince might at times seem one-sided. Horatio seems to have left Wittenberg of his own free will to honor the death of his king, his friend’s father. He was not commanded to come. When Hamlet asks in 1.2 what brings him to Denmark, Horatio jokingly says “A truant disposition,” an answer Hamlet will not accept because he knows Hora...

Thanks to readers for the week of 11/19 - 11/26 from the following countries and more: Argentina Australia Bangladesh Canada France Germany Hungary India Italy South Africa United Arab Emirates United States The analytics feature of the blog lists only 10-12 lines, so some get cut off. If you read the blog but don’t find your country listed, don’t feel bad. Listed or not, thanks for reading! I am grateful and humbled.

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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduction: I have been writing a series of blog posts about characters in Hamlet who undergo change due to interactions or events that result in gratitude or regret. This has been inspired in part by Lewis Hyde’s chapter called “The Labor of Gratitude.” Yet in part it has also been inspired by my work on biblical allusions in Shakespeare. It sprang from a basic question: If Shakespeare quoted from scripture, paraphrased scripture, and also echoed biblical plots in various moments of his plays...

Thanks to readers for the week of 11/12 - 11/19 from the following countries and more: Argentina Canada France Germany Hungary India Ireland Spain United Kingdom United States The analytics feature of the blog lists only 10-12 lines, so some get cut off. If you read the blog but don’t find your country listed, don’t feel bad. Listed or not, thanks for reading! I am grateful and humbled.

[MORE THAN A PASSING RESEMBLANCE? Was Freud reincarnated as Brian Blessed, who played the Ghost of Hamlet's Father in Branagh's 1996 Hamlet ? YOU DECIDE!] I had planned to blog this week about whether Horatio benefits from gratitude or regret (or whether he is more simply a foil for Hamlet) , and I still plan to blog on that topic soon. But I’m always looking for new books and articles to read about Shakespeare, Hamlet, and religious issues in the Early Modern period, and I came across the article, “Painted Women: Annunciation Motifs in Hamlet” by R. Chris Hassel Jr. It was published in the journal, Comparative Drama (Volume 32, Number 1, Spring 1998, pp. 47-84). I'll summarize some favorite ideas and use his essay as a spring-board for some of my own. I have been wrestling with Hassel’s insights, and there are many. As I’ve noted before in light of work by Katherine Goodland and Ruben Espinosa, when Polonius gives a prayer book to Ophelia, he wants her to appear li...

Thanks to readers for the week of 11/5 - 11/11 from the following countries and more: Australia Canada France Germany Hungary India Italy Sweden Sri Lanka United Kingdom United States The analytics feature of the blog lists only 10-12 lines, so some get cut off. If you read the blog but don’t find your country listed, don’t feel bad. Listed or not, thanks for reading! I am grateful and humbled.

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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Rufus Sewell as Fortinbras in Hamlet , directed by Kenneth Branagh (1996] Does Fortinbras Benefit from Gratitude or Regret (or is he more a cipher for James VI & I)? (part 13, Labors of Gratitude & Regret in Hamlet ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Postscript: Also see my post from a year and two months later than this one, regarding Fortinbras as a remarkable Jephthah figure, if one pays attention to the details of the biblical Jephthah tale: https://pauladrianfried.b...