Monarchs & Outstretched Heroes as Beggars’ Shadows: Lazarus in Hamlet 2.2 (part 16)
Then are our beggars bodies,
and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows.
[Lazarus and the Rich Man, painting by Barent Fabritius, 1661. Rijks Museum via Google Arts and Culture. Public Domain. The rich man on his death bed to the far left, and to the near right, the beggar Lazarus. Far right, above, Lazarus in heaven; below, rich man in hell.]
What a strange thing to say. It must be either meaningless, or perhaps it is so meaningful that a great deal of meaning is packed into a small number of words.
We should remember that in 1.5, Hamlet heard the ghost say that the poison turned his skin “lazar-like,” or in other words like the skin of Lazarus, who was believed to have been a leper. Having heard the ghost claim that the circumstances of his death and the fact of his being in purgatory is somehow tied up with the gospel tale of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man, we might consider that Hamlet’s later references to rich men and beggars are colored by, or to be read in light of, that gospel tale of a neglected beggar.
In 2.2, Hamlet converses with Rosencrantz about Denmark as a prison, bad dreams, ambition, and shadows. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern keep trying to steer the conversation toward Hamlet’s ambition, perhaps because many expected Hamlet to become king on his father’s death, but Claudius married Gertrude hastily and became king instead. Claudius has recruited Hamlet’s schoolmates to spy on him, and of course, this must include concern about Hamlet’s ambitions for the throne:
Hamlet: Denmark's a prison.
Rosencrantz: Then is the world one.
Hamlet: A goodly one, in which there are many
confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o'th' worst. (2.2.1289-93)
Notice that Hamlet’s description of the world as a prison resembles Jesus’ statement in John 14:2 about how his father’s house has many rooms; Denmark is not only a prison to Hamlet, but also a hellish version of Jesus’ imagining of his father’s house.
Rosencrantz disagrees:
Rosencrantz: We think not so, my lord.
Hamlet: Why, then 'tis none to you, for there is nothing
either good or bad but thinking makes it so. To me it is
a prison.
Rosencrantz: Why, then your ambition makes it one. 'Tis
too narrow for your mind. (2.2.1294-99)
Hamlet believes the problem is not in himself, but in Denmark, and in particular, in his uncle who killed his father. So Hamlet must feel it an insult, to be schooled by his schoolmate with the claim that the problem with Denmark is only in Hamlet’s mind, in his ambition being too limited, as if he should perhaps learn a new language, or take up cartography, be more creative in his ambitions, and then he might not feel so bad about Denmark.
Hamlet replies:
Hamlet: Oh, God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and
count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that
I have bad dreams.
Guildenstern: Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the
very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow
of a dream. (2.2.1300-05)
Guildenstern steers the conversation back to ambition, which is what he feels Claudius would want. But he is being redundant in using both “shadow” and “dream” as a layered metaphor for ambition, so Hamlet points out his redundancy:
Hamlet: A dream itself is but a shadow. (1306)
So Rosencrantz comes to Guildenstern’s defense:
Rosencrantz: Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and
light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. (2.2.1307-8)
What a bunch of meaningless twaddle. Rosencrantz, sponsored by Claudius, is trying to convince Hamlet not to be ambitious for the throne, which is what Claudius fears. But notice how Hamlet replies with something more substantive, and perhaps related to our larger consideration of the Luke 16 Lazarus tale:
Hamlet: Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows.
Shall we to th'court? For, by my fay, I cannot reason. (2.2.1309-12)
We should take a moment to unpack some of the possible meanings of Hamlet’s first sentence here:
Beggars are bodies,
while “monarchs and outstretched heroes” are the beggars’ shadows.
Heroes are “outstretched” because they are ambitious, they stretch, they strive, they reach for more. Yet because ambition is, according to Rosencrantz, “so airy and light...a shadow’s shadow,” heroes who stretch ambitiously to achieve a goal are, in some way, merely shadows.
AMBITIOUS MONARCHS AND HEROES; UNAMBITIOUS BEGGARS?
If we read this in the limited context of the conversation in this scene, it seems that Hamlet is saying monarchs and “outstretched heroes” are more ambitious than beggars;
so monarchs and heroes are entirely shadows, while in contrast, the beggars (who are perhaps lacking ambition?) are bodies that cast shadows?
This still feels incomplete. How can beggars cast such shadows, as for Hamlet to call those shadows monarchs and heroes?
IF WISHES WERE HORSES, BEGGARS COULD RIDE HORSE-SHADOWS?
Perhaps one meaning could be that beggars dream of being monarchs or heroes, if they were to voice their secret ambitions? Maybe in some cases.
But certainly not all beggars secretly dream of being monarchs or heroes. It still doesn’t seem quite right.
IS THE TROUBLE THE INVERSION?
Maybe it is strange at least in part because it inverts what some might expect: Beggars in Elizabethan England often had to keep to the shadows, because begging was illegal; one could be arrested, punished, and sent back to one’s place of birth, because taxes were collected for the purpose of taking care of the poor in their home parish so that they would not wander as vagabonds or thieves, or contribute to rioting (such as in bread riots during Shakespeare’s lifetime).
And no, Hamlet doesn’t claim that beggars are mere shadows of greater men who might be thought to cast long shadows because they are so rich and powerful. Instead, he says monarchs and heroes are shadows, and beggars are the real bodies that cast shadows. And those shadows which are cast by beggars are monarchs and heroes, at least in Hamlet’s mind.
BEGGARS, SHADOWS, MONARCHS AND HEROES IN THE LANGUAGE OF LUKE 16
Now consider Hamlet’s statement about beggars and their shadows in the language of the Luke 16 tale of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus:
The beggar Lazarus is real and substantial, like a body able to cast a shadow. He goes to heaven.
The rich man who neglected him is like a shadow of the beggar, insubstantial. He pursues pleasures that are fleeting, like shadows. He goes to hell.
The gospel story seems to say that the beggar is more in harmony with heaven, perhaps because we are all beggars standing before the larger powers of the universe. If we forget that we are beggars, it only takes some simple twist of fate, some small change in the plot of our lives, to remind us that we are beggars: A cancer diagnosis, a car accident, a war, the loss of a loved one. The beggar Lazarus at least knows he is a beggar. He is, therefore, in harmony with heaven and with the universe. In that sense, perhaps he is more real, more solid, more able to cast shadows?
The rich man, on the other hand, thinks he is in control, the master of his own fate, and he ignores the beggar. Perhaps he enjoys many things in part because he exploits the labors of others, servants, advisers. The fortress of his wealth rests on the backs of many servants and beggars, literal or figurative. He enjoys many things from his riches, but lacks compassion for the beggar. His pleasures are selfish and fleeting.
The riches of the universe have passed on to him through luck or skill. He could have been grateful in such a way as to pass along many of his riches to others, just as the universe passed them to him. If he had done so, then he might have been more in harmony with the universe, at least according to some of the teachings of the gospel. Even if he had come to a realization late in life, he might have been like the penitent or crafty steward in Luke 16:1–13, who strives to make friends with his master's debtors by generously reducing their debts. But without compassion for others less fortunate than him, without helping the beggar Lazarus, the rich man is but a shadow of the many servants and beggars on whom his riches depend. He is insubstantial, because he’s out of tune with the universe that helped make him rich. Or at least certain passages in the gospels would seem to imply as much.
In a larger sense, to the extent that any nation takes care of its poor, that nation is perhaps in harmony with the universe, or at least has more domestic harmony to avoid rebellion, insurrection, revolution. To the extent that it neglects the beggars and their numbers grow (as in the US), it is testimony against the rich and powerful who are out of sync, predators and parasites feeding off the economic system of which they are stewards.
They say many rich people made fortunes during the COVID pandemic, while many other people lost their jobs and went hungry, or experienced “food insecurity.” Food lines got much longer, but CEOs and many of the rich got much richer.
The poor are the bodies, and the rich and powerful who lack compassion are the shadows.
HAMLET AND HIS FATHER AS OUTSTRETCHED HEROES, AS SHADOWS?
Another consideration is that Hamlet may feel himself outstretched by the task of setting right what is wrong in Denmark: After he speaks with the ghost in 1.5 and is reunited with his friends, he says,
The time is out of joint. Oh, cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right! (1.5.885-6).
It certainly seems that he feels outstretched by the task, a task given to him by his father, who is but a shadow, a ghost. And his father, too, was an outstretched hero who killed Fortinbras of Norway in single combat. And that, in part, may have played a role in his "foul crimes" (1.5.697) that sent him to purgatory instead of heaven. Outstretched? Stretched too far in his ambition toward greed and "emulate pride" (1.1.100)?
WHO IS THE BEGGAR CASTING SHADOWS OF MONARCHS AND HEROES?
If Hamlet is an outstretched hero, then who is the beggar casting Hamlet as a shadow?
Is the beggar Claudius, who begs to let his crime go unnoticed, unpunished, who begs for mercy, even though he had no mercy for his brother?
Is the beggar all of Denmark, that longs for a just and good and merciful king, instead of a murderous, smooth-talking, lying usurper?
Or is the beggar one part of Hamlet? As I've noted before, no other character in the play refers to him/her self, or is referred to by others, as "beggar" or "begging" or "poor," as often as Hamlet. Can Hamlet be both the beggar, the body casting shadows, and also the monarch or outstretched hero within? Jung might say so. It is one of the possibilities that must be considered.
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MORE TO COME: This is part 16 in a multi-part series on how the Lazarus allusion in Hamlet 1.5 can be considered as a mirror held up to the play, or a lens through which to view various characters and scenes. There are a variety of beggar Lazarus figures, and people who are beggars in one scene might be something else in another. Various aspects of how the tale was manifest in Shakespeare's culture are considered. There is more to come.
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POSTS IN THIS SERIES SO FAR:
1. New Series: Lazarus & Dives (the Rich Man) in Hamlet - 16 February, 2021
2. If the Ghost was Like the Rich Man, Who was His Lazarus? - 23 February, 2021
3. Illegal to be Beggar Lazarus in Shakespeare's England - 3 March, 2021
4. Beggars & Players' Ill Report: Polonius Measuring, Being Measured - 9 March, 2021
5. Sleuthing Hamlet's Lazarus Echoes in their Biblical Contexts & Implications - 16 March, 2021
6. Ophelia in 1.3 as the Beggar Lazarus - 23 March, 2021
7. Beggars, Thieves, & Cranmer’s Conflations - 30 March, 2021
8. Welcome Lazarus & Lord Strange's Men, for You Were Once Strangers - 5 April, 2021
9. Lazarus & the Beggar-Thief-Rioter-Revolutionary Continuum - 13 April, 2021
10. Lazarus & other Hamlet-correlations in Cranmer's Homily IX - 20 April, 2021
11. The Beggar Lazarus at the Baker's Door in Hamlet 4.5 - 27 April, 2021
12. Jewell's Homily V & Lazarus-Hamlet-Claudius Correlations - 4 May, 2021
13. Beggars and Rich Men at Ophelia's Grave - 18 May, 2021
14. Hamlet Nunnery Scene Haunted by Homily VI, Book 2 - 25 May, 2021
15. Hamlet, beggar-prince: Horatio's allusion to Lazarus and requiem Mass in 5.2 - 1 June, 2021
16. Monarchs as Beggars’ Shadows: Lazarus in Hamlet 2.2 - 8 June, 2021
17. Kings, Beggars, Worms, Excrement, Eucharist, Buddha Bunny, and Lazarus in Hamlet 4.3 - 14 June, 2021
18. In service of art: How art may have influenced the Lazarus theme in Hamlet - 22 June, 2021
19. Preview: Other instances of Lazarus/lazar/beg/beggar/poor in Shakespeare - 13 July, 2021
20. Lazarus & prodigals in Henry IV, Part I, and in Hamlet - 20 July, 2021
21. Other instances of "lazar" in Shakespeare besides Hamlet - 27 July, 2021
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Hamlet quotes: All quotes from Hamlet are taken from the Modern (spelling), Editor's Version at InternetShakespeare via the University of Victoria in Canada.
- To find them in the first place, I often use the advanced search feature at OpenSourceShakespeare.org.
Bible quotes from the Geneva translation, widely available to people of Shakespeare's time, are taken from an internet source somewhat close to their original spelling, from studybible.info, and in a modern spelling, from biblegateway.com.
- Quotes from the Bishop's bible, also available in Shakespeare's lifetime and read in church, are taken from studybible.info.
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to point out how the Bible may have influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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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
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