Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Before the COVID-19 crisis shut down libraries, I had a number of books on inter-library loan from college and university libraries in Minnesota, within a few hours of where I live. The books are now long overdue, but as libraries are all closed, I’m getting no notices of late books. Two of these books are about absent fathers, one by Avi Erlich relating to Hamlet (Hamlet’s Absent Father, Princeton University Press, 1977), the other by Paul Rosefeldt relating to modern drama in general (The Absent Father in Modern Drama, Peter Lang, 1995). The second book (Rosefeldt) gives a good overview of work on absent fathers by Freud and some of his contemporaries, and also an essay on Oedipus, The Libation Bearers, and Hamlet. Yet quite a bit of the thinking on absent fathers seems muddied in a number of ways: 1. FREUD ON KILLING THE FATHER: Freud’s position is one of atheistic scientific reductionism. He assumes that religions and the idea of a father-god are human inventions, which ...

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries and perhaps more: Brazil Canada Georgia Germany India Ireland Macao Mexico Netherlands Pakistan Russia Serbia Singapore Slovakia Switzerland United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown Region The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss others that pop up. Some may get cut off or listed as from "Unknown Region." Listed or not, thanks for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ...

The Folger Shakespeare Library and Two River Theater company offer a production of Macbeth that they have made available to view, especially appropriate for those observing Shakespeare's (approximate) birthday, usually observed on 23, April. You can view it on Facebook here in its full length (about 2 hours), with a brief introduction by some of the actors. You can view it on YouTube in two parts: Youtube, Macbeth: Part One is Here ; Youtube, Macbeth: Part Two is Here . To support The Folger Shakespeare Library with your donations, click here . ~~~~ And if you missed my previous blog post , for those more interested in tragic young love than tragic old love and regicide, Shakespeare's Globe Theater still has their production of Romeo and Juliet available to view through 9 May: To view the play on YouTube, click here . For more information on other Shakespeare's Globe shows yet to come, also free, click here . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

ROMEO & JULIET: If I could change just two things about how most people think about the play (and how it is sometimes taught) what would they be? 1. IT'S NOT MERELY ABOUT YOUNG LOVE, but also about how little chance young love has when families are stuck in old grievances. 2. JUST BECAUSE IT'S SET IN VERONA DOESN'T MEAN IT'S ABOUT VERONA. Shakespeare often used far-off settings to talk about things in his own England that were prohibited or difficult to address directly. - Shakespeare's England was torn by religious feuding between Catholics and Protestants (& other factions). - Shakespeare's family is believed by some to have had strong Catholic sympathies, but not many years after he wrote the play, his daughter Suzanna married a Puritan, John Hall, perhaps bridging a denominational divide. - When early audiences heard "Capulet & Montague," the syllables may have prompted more than a few to think: "Catholic & Protestant....

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries and perhaps more: Argentina Bangladesh Brazil Canada France Georgia Germany Hungary India Ireland Italy Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Poland Serbia Slovenia Taiwan Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Vietnam Unknown Region The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss others that pop up. Some may get cut off or listed as from "Unknown Region." Listed or not, thanks for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 p...

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries and perhaps more: Canada France Georgia Hong Kong Hungary India Ireland Italy Kosovo Malta Mexico New Zealand Pakistan Peru Poland Romania Serbia Singapore Spain Taiwan Tunisia United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown Region The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss others that pop up. Some may get cut off or listed as from "Unknown Region." Listed or not, thanks for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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...

Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London, a recreation of the Globe Theater in which Shakespeare’s acting company originally performed, is making plays available to watch for free, for two weeks each, during the COVID-19 crisis (as mentioned in last week's post). The first play they’ve made available is a recording of their 2018 production of Hamlet , free from April 6 - April 29. You can view a PDF with program information about the cast and production here . https://cdn.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/2020/04/Hamlet-programme-for-digital-release.pdf You can view the play itself here by way of the ShakespearesGlobe.com website . This will also take you to a variety of options to "READ / LISTEN / WATCH," (worth exploring), but also takes you to the play on YouTube . Other plays will follow, two weeks per run, also free. The programme includes many insightful bits, including the fact that the rehearsals for the play were open to the public. What a wonderful way to give ...

Shakespeare’s Hamlet doesn’t merely have a number of allusions to prophets among its many biblical allusions; the play may serve as a reflection on what it means to be prophetic, and to strive to be more effectively and authentically prophetic, for both individuals and for art, and perhaps especially in politically dangerous contexts.  What does it help to oppose immoral and criminal behavior among the powerful, or in a corrupt system, if the result is that one’s life is snuffed out without reforming the corruption one spoke out against? What does it help to claim one is a prophet, sent to correct injustices and corruption, if one is part of the corruption (prince Hamlet in a reckless moment kills Polonius), or if one drives people away (Hamlet bids Ophelia get to a nunnery, offends his mother and uncle) instead of winning them over to one’s view? (In this way, many prophets are dismissed because they are imperfect messengers. Instead of heeding or debating the message, the st...

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries and perhaps more: Argentina Bangladesh Canada Denmark Germany Georgia Hong Kong Hungary India Ireland Israel Lebanon Qatar Russia Spain Taiwan United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Unknown Region The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss others that pop up. Some may get cut off or listed as from "Unknown Region." Listed or not, thanks for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ...