Hamlet Had an Uncle: A Comedy of Honor—J.B. Cabell (Holiday Post #1)

Around the Christmas—New Year holidays, I often post things that stray from the topic of Hamlet and the Bible. Here's a first post that indulges in such straying, but not far.

Someone recommended to me that I should read a book by (James) Branch Cabell called Hamlet Had an Uncle: A Comedy of Honor. I don't recall who recommended it, but I started it over the holidays and have found it to be fun. Other Hamlet fans may also enjoy it, especially those familiar with the source tales.

The book was published in 1940 and the reviewer for Kirkus Reviews didn't care for it much, but Goodreads has a much more positive review that perhaps places the book in historical context as an influence on writers such as Neil Gaiman. Those who have studied Hamlet and the source tales from Saxo Grammaticus and Belleforest may find it a fun romp.

A number of monarchs or princes in the story were, as it turns out, conceived when their mothers had affairs. These include Hamlet and the King of Britain. So for example, Hamlet in this telling is actually the son of the man he thinks is his uncle Fengon, who killed the man who actually was his uncle, but which he had been told was his father. So Hamlet thinks he's avenging the death of his father, but he's really trying to kill his biological father, with whom his mother was having an affair.

So this is great Freudian fun: You may recall that Oedipus did not know that the man he killed on the road was his biological father, because it was a stranger to him at the time.

The story is based in some ways more on the source tales than it is on Shakespeare, but it's also written very much with Shakespeare's version of the tale in mind as well, with a humorous share of irreverence.

For Shakespeare fans who are familiar with the source tales, this can be a fun read. For others, perhaps not so much. But I'm certainly finding it to be fun.

The ebook version can be obtained from a variety of sources for $3.99.

To the person who recommended this book, thanks! Please refresh my memory and let me know if it was you!

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All six of my holiday posts:

Twelfth Night & Epiphany, Malvolio & the Cecils, and Antonio & Essex (Holiday Post #6)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/twelfth-night-epiphany-malvolio-cecils.html

Rise of Skywalker, Oedipus, & George Eliot: Saved by Heroes or Collective? (Holiday Post #5)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/rise-of-skywalker-oedipus-george-eliot.html

Frozen II: Dams, Aboriginal Peoples, & Addressing Historical Injustices (Holiday Post #4)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/frozen-ii-dams-aboriginal-peoples.html

Wonder Woman, Paul Ricœur, & Refusing the Second Naïveté (Holiday Post #3)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/wonder-woman-paul-ricur-refusing-second.html

Much Ado & the "Jade's Trick"— as coitus interruptus? (Holiday Post #2)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/much-ado-and-jades-trick-as-coitus.html

Hamlet Had an Uncle: A Comedy of Honor—J.B. Cabell (Holiday Post #1)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/hamlet-had-uncle-comedy-of-honorby.html

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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 subscribing.