Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

MILESTONE: I'm grateful to report that, on the morning of October 20, this blog, Hamlet's Bible , passed 10,000 views from a total of 84 different countries, over a period of about 20 months. Here's a screen shot of the blog's analytics, showing the number of view from the top 18 countries, also including views from "Unknown Region" and "Other": I'm guessing that "Unknown" is views from places where Blogger is unable to identify the country of origin, and "other" includes all those where the origin could be identified, but the number of views was under 23. LIST OF 84 COUNTRIES: Here is the list of the 84 countries from which the blog received views since March 1, 2019: Albania Algeria American Samoa Argentina Australia Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belgium Brazil Canada Cayman Islands Colombia Chile Costa Rica Cyprus Czechia Denmark Egypt Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Guatemala Hong Kong ...

Thank you to readers of this blog this past week, which the blog's analytics say come from the following countries and more: The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss some 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 like and consider subscribing.

Thank you to readers of this blog this past week, which the blog's analytics say come from the following countries and more: In this case, views from "other" nations not listed were significant: of the nine nations listed, views from the US and Canada had the largest totals, but views from "other" nations just about equaled all the other views combined. The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss some 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 ever...

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries: Australia Brazil Canada France India Italy Kenya Netherlands Palestine United Kingdom United States The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss some 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 like and consider subscribing.

In his two-volume Guide to Shakespeare , Isaac Asimov has an interesting reflection on Hamlet's remark regarding eating air, "the chameleon's dish." One can find it in Vol. II, pages 122-3. Asimov's Guide is just an introduction to the plays of Shakespeare, so his treatment of each play is relatively brief; in certain places where we might like more depth, at times perhaps he moves on too quickly. But Asimov's observations are worthwhile to consider, as they might inspire even more reflection on Hamlet's "chameleon" remark. Asimov notes the "formal politeness of Claudius' question (II.122) regarding how Hamlet "fares" - which to Claudius, means merely "How are you doing?" - but Hamlet takes the question and the word "fares" another way, deliberately misreading Claudius' meaning: Asimov notes that Hamlet's response is "nonsensical" (II.122), and that it supports Hamlet's feigning o...

In the second volume of his 1970 book on Shakespeare, Isaac Asimov has some interesting comments about Hamlet and his thoughts on suicide (considerations others have raised as well), and in particular about his "To be or not to be" speech, often assumed (perhaps incorrectly) to be about suicide. THE EVERLASTING FIXED HIS CANON 'GASINST SELF-SLAUGHTER Before considering Asimov's remarks, let's consider Hamlet's references to suicide in the play: We know that in the second scene of Act One, Hamlet endures the show Claudius puts on justifying his hasty marriage to Gertrude, and when alone, he begins: Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! (1.2.313-316) Hamlet is saying: If only God had not made laws that not only prohibited killing others, but also prohibited suicide! At least at this moment of the play, he wishes he could k...

Isaac Asimov makes a number of helpful comments about Polonius in the second volume of his 1970 book on Shakespeare. These include observations on why Hamlet seems to hate Polonius (II.90); on Polonius as ungenerous (II.97); on why Hamlet remarks to Polonius about his daughter conceiving if she walks "in the sun" (II.110); and on Hamlet's comparison of Polonius to the biblical figure of Jephthah (II.113). CLAUDIUS' DEBTS OF GRATITUDE TO POLONIUS - RELATED TO HAMLET'S DISLIKE FOR POLONIUS   The text of the play doesn't support speculation about Polonius being involved in Claudius' plot to kill his brother the king. Yet Act I, scene 2, in which Claudius grants Laertes' request to return to France, has Claudius also mention the deep gratitude Claudius feels for Polonius' service to him, in spite of Claudius not having reigned very long. This makes us wonder what Polonius may have done in that short time to inspire such a debt of gratitude in Claudi...

Thanks to readers for the past week, which the blog's analytics show as being from the following countries: Australia Brazil Canada France Georgia Germany India Italy Kenya Netherlands Singapore United Kingdom United States Venezuela The analytics feature is limited, so unless I check it daily, I may miss some 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. This may be my last "thanks to readers" post, as blogger is changing their interface, and so far, it's unclear whether the old analytics that show countries of readers may not be available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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://paula...