Foolish Leaps: From Seneca, to Plautus, to law and liberty, to... Jephthah?
In a recent LinkedIn post, Pino Blasone spoke of a Pompeian fresco depicting actors, and also mentioned some other details relating to theater.
Adrienne Darvay Nagy, in a comment on Pino's post, mentioned a line from Hamlet in which Polonius seems to be reading from a handbill advertising the arrival of the players:
"...Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor
Plautus too light. For the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men."
(HAMLET - Act II. Scene 2.)
The thread of thinking at this moment in the play goes from Seneca
to Plautus, to
"For the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men."
Then Hamlet mentions Jephthah - this seems like a tangent, and Polonius seems confused at the leap of thought.
But in fact, perhaps Hamlet intuits that Jephthah *should* follow, because it has something to do with "the law of writ and the liberty" and the claim of exclusivity that Polonius has read from the handbill?
The tale of Jephthah is about keeping one's vows (something like law, but not written down, yet related to biblical promises and covenant).
Jephthah ends his daughter's liberty and life when he keeps his (foolish) vow by sacrificing her as he had vowed to do.
Because he delivered victory against the Ammonites, as promised, the leaders of the people made Jephthah a judge, a leader, who would make decisions relating to law and liberty.
All of this is a tale "writ" down in the Bible, which contains the "old" and "new law," and also speaks of liberty, the freedom of believers in / followers of Christ:
St. Paul writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:17
In John's gospel, Thomas says,
"“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”" - John 14:5-7
And earlier in the same gospel:
"The Truth Will Set You Free"
- John 8:31-32
Perhaps Hamlet thereby replies to what Polonius is reading mindlessly by saying,
No, Seneca and Plautus are not the only men for liberty and law - you should look into the mirror of Jephthah regarding liberty and law. And in the broader context of the movement of the play, while Polonius is looking in the Bible, perhaps he should consider St. Paul's letters, and John's gospel, on the topic of liberty?
Why? Because Hamlet moves from the dread of his revenge vow to the ghost, to a kind of liberty: The freedom of coming to "let be" and to believe that "the readiness is all." Hamlet had made a Jephthah-like vow to the ghost of his father, but later in the play he rediscovers a heavenly father in "Providence" who seems to help him replace the letter on the ship to England ordering his death, and seems to have a hand in saving him from the pirates who spare his life.
Hamlet soon rediscovers his emotional surrogate father-figure, Yorick, as some have noted, a man who had a god-like quality, being "of infinite jest."
We might paraphrase John 14:7:
If you know and have seen Hamlet, who sometimes plays the court fool, then you have seen in him the father-fool of "infinite jest," his beloved Yorick," who dwells in Hamlet's heart.
And why does a play with this stuff in it begin with a character named Francisco on stage, and another character asking "Who's there?"
Many Christians named their children after saints. "Francisco" probably points at least in part to Francis of Assisi, who called himself the "Fool of God."
So the leap Polonius doesn't seem to grasp, regarding Jephthah, may be one that makes sense for Hamlet;
and leaps even the character Hamlet may not grasp
are leaps that the play seems to grasp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Adrienne Darvay Nagy, in a comment on Pino's post, mentioned a line from Hamlet in which Polonius seems to be reading from a handbill advertising the arrival of the players:
"...Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor
Plautus too light. For the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men."
(HAMLET - Act II. Scene 2.)
to Plautus, to
"For the law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men."
Then Hamlet mentions Jephthah - this seems like a tangent, and Polonius seems confused at the leap of thought.
But in fact, perhaps Hamlet intuits that Jephthah *should* follow, because it has something to do with "the law of writ and the liberty" and the claim of exclusivity that Polonius has read from the handbill?
The tale of Jephthah is about keeping one's vows (something like law, but not written down, yet related to biblical promises and covenant).
Jephthah ends his daughter's liberty and life when he keeps his (foolish) vow by sacrificing her as he had vowed to do.
Because he delivered victory against the Ammonites, as promised, the leaders of the people made Jephthah a judge, a leader, who would make decisions relating to law and liberty.
All of this is a tale "writ" down in the Bible, which contains the "old" and "new law," and also speaks of liberty, the freedom of believers in / followers of Christ:
St. Paul writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:17
In John's gospel, Thomas says,
"“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”" - John 14:5-7
And earlier in the same gospel:
"The Truth Will Set You Free"
- John 8:31-32
Perhaps Hamlet thereby replies to what Polonius is reading mindlessly by saying,
No, Seneca and Plautus are not the only men for liberty and law - you should look into the mirror of Jephthah regarding liberty and law. And in the broader context of the movement of the play, while Polonius is looking in the Bible, perhaps he should consider St. Paul's letters, and John's gospel, on the topic of liberty?
Why? Because Hamlet moves from the dread of his revenge vow to the ghost, to a kind of liberty: The freedom of coming to "let be" and to believe that "the readiness is all." Hamlet had made a Jephthah-like vow to the ghost of his father, but later in the play he rediscovers a heavenly father in "Providence" who seems to help him replace the letter on the ship to England ordering his death, and seems to have a hand in saving him from the pirates who spare his life.
Hamlet soon rediscovers his emotional surrogate father-figure, Yorick, as some have noted, a man who had a god-like quality, being "of infinite jest."
We might paraphrase John 14:7:
If you know and have seen Hamlet, who sometimes plays the court fool, then you have seen in him the father-fool of "infinite jest," his beloved Yorick," who dwells in Hamlet's heart.
And why does a play with this stuff in it begin with a character named Francisco on stage, and another character asking "Who's there?"
Many Christians named their children after saints. "Francisco" probably points at least in part to Francis of Assisi, who called himself the "Fool of God."
So the leap Polonius doesn't seem to grasp, regarding Jephthah, may be one that makes sense for Hamlet;
and leaps even the character Hamlet may not grasp
are leaps that the play seems to grasp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
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