Emmaus Key Change in Hamlet & Merchant of Venice (Emmaus in Hamlet, part 6)

When a song or orchestral piece changes keys, we not only hear it with our ears, but also feel it in our bodies, our bones, vibrating at a new frequency.

Shakespeare accomplishes something similar, not only in Hamlet, but also in The Merchant of Venice when he sets up one character as a Christ-figure, then changes key, shifting to a new (improved) Christ figure.

[Image: “Supper at Emmaus” (French: Le Repas d'Emmaüs), 17th century, by Matthias Stom (1615–1649). Collection: Museum of Grenoble. Public domain, via Wikimedia.]

In Luke 24:13-35, after Jesus dies and rises, he later appears as a stranger on the road to Emmaus. I’ve noted previously how in Hamlet, biblical allusions suggest the ghost is a flawed Christ-figure/victim, with divine attributes.[1] But in the graveyard scene (5.1), instead of the ghost appearing as the stranger[2], our expectation is redirected: Yorick’s skull and the gravedigger-clown fill the role of the stranger in whom divine "infinite jest" appears.[3]

Similarly, in The Merchant of Venice, we are set up to view Antonio as the self-sacrificing Christ-figure. Yet in the courtroom scene, the Emmaus-like stranger and saving Christ-figure is Portia in disguise.[4] (But interestingly, many critics get stuck on Antonio as Christ-figure, and totally miss Portia as Emmaus Christ figure.)

So in contrast with the gospel’s consistency of Christ-figures, these plays enact, or invite the audience to, something like a conversion regarding the focus of a transcendent/divine analogue.

What do these divine key changes imply?

Shakespeare’s society may have been too inclined to view idolized monarch-victims (poor Elizabeth!) as Christ-figures. He invites us instead to view the “infinite jest” of fools and clowns as sources of divine grace.

His society may also have been too inclined to idolize merchant-patrons like the rich and self-pitying Antonio, who risks all to be generous with his protégé Bassanio, but not with Shylock the Jew. Instead, the divine is to be found in Bassanio’s resourceful new bride, who saves Antonio’s life.

Marriage was a sacrament for English Catholics, but not English Protestants. Yet by making the disguised Portia the equivalent of the Emmaus stranger, Shakespeare offers Portia as a sacrament of the divine for Bassanio.

Critics complain, with good reason, that Portia who speaks eloquently of mercy in the courtroom is unmerciful to Shylock to require the forfeit of his goods and his forced conversion to Christianity. This (rightly) seems to put her at odds with her role as Emmaus stranger and Christ-figure.

In fact, as Leah S. Marcus has noted, female Shakespeare characters disguised as men echo Queen Elizabeth I dressed in masculine armor for her speech to troops at Tilbury at the time of the Spanish Armada.[5]

Portia is instrumental in the court’s decision to require Shylock to be converted from the older faith, Judaism, to the new, Christianity. This echoes Elizabeth forcing Catholics (who had been faithful to the old faith of Catholicism) to conform to the newer faith, English Protestantism.

So in both Hamlet and Merchant, Shakespeare surprises audiences with key changes: novel Emmaus strangers; not warlike monarchs or risk-all merchants, but “infinite jest” and a generous, resourceful bride.

In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare adds a cleverly camouflaged political critique of forced religious conformity.

What’s not to like?

~~~~~
NOTES:

[1] Hamlet frequently compares his father to classical gods.

Horatio is a doubting Thomas (1.1.32-43), implying that the ghost is a Christ figure (though a very flawed one).

Doubting Thomas in Hamlet: Choosing Reductionism or the Rabbit Hole?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2020/01/doubt-thomas-hamlet-reduct-rabbit.html

Yet this is ambiguous, as even in the first scene, the ghost shifts to a Peter figure:
Horatio's Gift-Dynamics & Christ-Figures Shifting Ground in Hamlet 1.1
(Ghost shifts from Christ-figure to a Peter figure, who denied Christ)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/11/horatios-gift-dynamics-christ-figures.html

Horatio’s description of the dead rising in Rome, and the eclipse, echo gospel details after Jesus’ crucifixion (1.1.125-132).
On the eclipse:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/why-mention-lunar-eclipse-in-hamlet-11.html

The ghost echoes Jesus at the Last Supper: “Remember me.” (1.5.98).

The ghost is a very flawed Christ figure, yet he is idolized and compared to classical gods by Hamlet.

[2] “Emmaus in Hamlet,” 21 May, 2018:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/05/emmaus-in-hamlet-in-emmaus-story-1.html

[3] From Fear & Power to Fools & Affection (Emmaus in Hamlet 5.1, Part 3)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/from-fear-power-to-fools-affection.html

[4] “In The Merchant of Venice, a surprising variation on Emmaus”
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/emmaus-in-merchant-of-venice-in.html

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pauladrianfried_shakespeare-literature-renaissance-activity-6399817971908296705-z_wt?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

[5] Although Christianity has a terrible history and was often oppressive to Jews, and although Martin Luther has been rightly criticized as anti-Semitic, the Roman Catholic church repeatedly condemned forced conversions of Jews, and this was incorporated into canon law as early as 1234. See Rome Has Spoken, eds. Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben, 1998, Crossroad Publishing, “The Jewish People,” 68.

[6] See Puzzling Shakespeare (1988), by Leah S. Marcus, University of California Press. 98-103.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Puzzling_Shakespeare.html?id=NCfzCbucno4C

Image: “Supper at Emmaus” (French: Le Repas d'Emmaüs), 17th century, by Matthias Stom (1615–1649). Collection: Museum of Grenoble. Public domain, via Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Le_Repas_d%27Emma%C3%BCs.jpg


~~~~~
OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES:

INTRODUCTION: “Emmaus in Hamlet,” 21 May, 2018:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/05/emmaus-in-hamlet-in-emmaus-story-1.html

"Emmaus in Merchant of Venice," 7 May, 2018:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/emmaus-in-merchant-of-venice-in.html

1. Blasphemy in Hamlet 5.1 Emmaus figures: Part 1
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/blasphemy-and-heresy-in-hamlets-emmaus.html

2. Heresy in Hamlet 5.1 Emmaus figures: Part 2
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/heresy-in-hamlet-51-emmaus-figures-part.html

3. From Fear & Power to Fools & Affection (Emmaus in Hamlet 5.1, Part 3)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/from-fear-power-to-fools-affection.html

4. Why Rhenish, not Bread? Emmaus in Hamlet 5.1, Part 4
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/why-rhenish-not-bread-emmaus-in-hamlet.html

5. Hamlet, Emmaus, Eucharistic Controversy, and Semiotics: Part 5
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/hamlet-emmaus-eucharistic-controversy.html

6. Emmaus Key Change in Hamlet & Merchant of Venice (Emmaus in Hamlet, part 6)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/emmaus-key-change-in-hamlet-merchant-of.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 subscribing.