Preview: Other instances of Lazarus/lazar/beg/beggar/poor in Shakespeare (Part 19)
We are still in the middle of a good raspberry-picking season, but here's a preview of what's coming:
LAZARUS: The works of Shakespeare contain the word "Lazarus" only once, in 1 Henry IV, from Falstaff, who also mentions "prodigal" ("lazar" appears once in Hamlet, "prodigal" twice). This is interesting because both Hamlet and 1 Henry IV are about princes (Hamlet, Hal) with strained relationships with distant biological fathers; each finds an affectionate surrogate father in a fool/clown figure (Yorick, Falstaff).
("Prodigal" appears 25 times in Shakespeare's works.)
LAZAR: Shakespeare's works use the word "lazar" (derived from the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16) five other times besides in the word "Lazarus": once in Hamlet; twice in Henry V; and twice in Troilus and Cressida.
Often "lazar" may simply refer to leprosy or unattractive skin conditions associated with the poor and outcasts. Occasionally, as in Hamlet, it may be suggestive of the rich man - Lazarus gospel tale.
BEG/BEGGAR/POOR: The word "beg" occurs in some form about 270 times; "beggar" occurs 113 times; sometimes these occur in interesting ways, and/or in association with kings. "Poor" occurs 646 times. I will try to consider these chronologically, and to highlight some of special interest.
WHOLE PLAYS: There are also whole Shakespeare plays that resonate with the themes of the beggar/outcast, contrasted with a rich or powerful person who acted selfishly or oppressively. Beggars can be made kings, and kings brought low and made beggars. (For starters consider Richard II, King Lear, or The Winter's Tale, and even The Tempest).
Future blog posts will explore some of these, starting with Lazarus and Falstaff.
Until then, I'll be picking berries.
[Author photo.]
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INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES ON THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS:
See this link:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/02/index-series-on-rich-man-and-beggar.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hamlet quotes: All quotes from Hamlet (in this particular series on The Rich Man and Lazarus in 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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YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion 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 explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
LAZARUS: The works of Shakespeare contain the word "Lazarus" only once, in 1 Henry IV, from Falstaff, who also mentions "prodigal" ("lazar" appears once in Hamlet, "prodigal" twice). This is interesting because both Hamlet and 1 Henry IV are about princes (Hamlet, Hal) with strained relationships with distant biological fathers; each finds an affectionate surrogate father in a fool/clown figure (Yorick, Falstaff).
("Prodigal" appears 25 times in Shakespeare's works.)
LAZAR: Shakespeare's works use the word "lazar" (derived from the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16) five other times besides in the word "Lazarus": once in Hamlet; twice in Henry V; and twice in Troilus and Cressida.
Often "lazar" may simply refer to leprosy or unattractive skin conditions associated with the poor and outcasts. Occasionally, as in Hamlet, it may be suggestive of the rich man - Lazarus gospel tale.
BEG/BEGGAR/POOR: The word "beg" occurs in some form about 270 times; "beggar" occurs 113 times; sometimes these occur in interesting ways, and/or in association with kings. "Poor" occurs 646 times. I will try to consider these chronologically, and to highlight some of special interest.
WHOLE PLAYS: There are also whole Shakespeare plays that resonate with the themes of the beggar/outcast, contrasted with a rich or powerful person who acted selfishly or oppressively. Beggars can be made kings, and kings brought low and made beggars. (For starters consider Richard II, King Lear, or The Winter's Tale, and even The Tempest).
Future blog posts will explore some of these, starting with Lazarus and Falstaff.
Until then, I'll be picking berries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES ON THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS:
See this link:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/02/index-series-on-rich-man-and-beggar.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hamlet quotes: All quotes from Hamlet (in this particular series on The Rich Man and Lazarus in 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion 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 explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
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