Laertes' "double blessing": Echoes of Jacob, Esau, & Rachel in Hamlet, part 1

LAERTES:
…But here my father comes.
A double blessing is a double grace.
Occasion smiles upon a second leave.
(1.3.57-59)

This is a curious statement by Laertes before receiving advice from his father Polonius, with his father’s blessing, before he returns to France.

Naseeb Shaheen believes the relevant biblical allusions here might be Isaiah 40:2, “Double grace, whereas she deserved double punishment,” and Ecclus. 26:15, “A shamefast and faithful woman is a double grace.” (542) [1]

But this seems an example of how scholars like Shaheen and his predecessors [2] often prefer searching for words and phrases, rather than considering biblical tales and plots.

So instead of asking,
Where in the Bible we find the words, ‘Double blessing’ or ‘Double grace,’
scholars of Shakespeare and the Bible might do better to ask,
In what biblical tale does a son receive a double (or second) blessing from a father? [3]

One place is in the tales of Jacob and Esau, twins for whom there is confusion about who deserves the birthright (Gen 25-33).

A hungry Esau sells Jacob his birthright earlier in exchange for a bowl of stew.[4]

In Gen 27, Jacob and his mother conspire to Jacob receive the blessing and birthright instead of Esau. Jacob’s father Isaac is going blind; they deceive him into giving Jacob the blessing. [5]

Esau finds out and is mad, but he gets a (*second*, problematic, debated) blessing from Isaac anyway.

Jacob’s mother Rebekah advises him to get out of town, and go find a wife among the daughters of her brother Laban. (Jacob wants to marry Rachel, but Laban withholds her from him, as Polonius withholds Ophelia from Hamlet. Laban famously substitutes the older sister, Leah, on the wedding night, a motif used by Shakespeare called the “bed trick.) [6]

In Gen. 28:1-4 Isaac blesses Jacob a second time upon his departure to seek out his uncle Laban. [7]

Instead of reading Hamlet as if it has an Oedipal complex, let’s consider that it has a Jacob-Esau complex, in perhaps two ways:

OPHELIA:
First, maybe the biblical allusions imply Polonius gives his blessing to the wrong child, as Isaac was inclined to do by preferring Esau?

Shakespeare is progressive in issues of gender, often making female characters stronger and more interesting than male characters, and having female characters dress as males (similar to the way that Jacob disguises his arms with animal fur to make his father think he is Esau).

Instead of Laertes, maybe Ophelia should have been given her father’s blessing (like the birthright) - to marry Hamlet, as they seemed to love each other, and as this would make her the next queen of Denmark. Gertrude will say later at her grave,

I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife;
I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid,
And not have strewed thy grave. (5.1.255-7)

Perhaps Polonius was a false steward for his daughter (like Ophelia hints in 4.5.196).

HAMLET: Secondly, note that Hamlet could be considered a Jacob figure because he received a first blessing, being announced as Claudius heir, while Laertes is merely asking permission to return to France.

Laertes returns to France, but Hamlet is later sent to England. These journeys may parallel Esau's hunting and travels, and Jacob traveling to his uncle Laban.

Laertes is more prone to anger and violence, perhaps like Essay the hunter.

Although Laertes receives a generous blessing from Polonius before his return to France, his father will soon send a spy after him, and will advise the spy to seek out gossip about his son by suggesting false stories that include "drabbing" (2.1.29), or in other words, associating with prostitutes. This may parallel the disapproval that Esau's parents feel toward his wives: The Geneva notes Esau's wives in Gen 26:35 as "a grief of mind," or in the margin note, "disobedient and rebellious." In Jewish commentary, the wives of Esau are associated with idolatry, adultery, and harlotry. [8] The last of these aligns with "drabbing," It is unclear whether these understandings of Esau's wives were available to Shakespeare. Yet France was associated with the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, and in that way, with corrupt Roman Catholicism as the "whore of Babylon," so it's possible that Shakespeare is developing this theme implied in the "disobedient and rebellious" qualities Isaac and to Rebekah perceived in Esau's wives.

Hamlet (on the good advice of his mother) offers Laertes some “gentle entertainment” (5.2.220-2), similar to the way Jacob sends gifts ahead before his reunion with Esau, so that they might reconcile.[9]

In some ways, then, Hamlet is like Jacob who receives the birthright and is the royal heir; Hamlet will prevail, though he will die in the process.

NOTES:
POSTS IN THIS SERIES:

Part 1: Laertes' "double blessing": Echoes of Jacob, Esau, & Rachel in Hamlet - August 2, 2022
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/08/laertes-double-blessing-jacob-essau-and.html

Part 2: “Hoist with his own petard”: Jacob - Hamlet Echoes - September 6, 2022
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/09/hoist-with-his-own-petard-jacob-hamlet.html

Part 3: Marriage & Maternal Approval: Jacob - Hamlet Echoes - September 13, 2022
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/09/marriage-maternal-approval-jacob-hamlet.html

Part 4: Series conclusion: Hamlet & Jacob - September 20, 2022
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/09/series-conclusion-hamlet-jacob.html

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NOTES:
[1] Naseeb Shaheen, Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays (542), 1999.
A sample of early chapters of this book is available at Google Books ("preview this book"):
https://books.google.com/books/about/Biblical_References_in_Shakespeare_s_Pla.html?id=4eoC5BigGc0C

[2] Shaheen’s main predecessors (authors of reference books about biblical allusions in Shakespeare) included the following:

Peter Milward,
Biblical Influences in Shakespeare's Great Tragedies (1987)

Richmond Noble,
Shakespeare's Biblical Knowledge and Use of the Book of Common Prayer, as Exemplified in the Plays of the First Folio (1935)
Available to access for free at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/shakespearesbibl0000nobl/page/n5/mode/2up

Thomas Carter,
Shakespeare and the Holy Scripture, with the Version He Used (1905)
Available to access for free at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924077732570/page/n5/mode/2up

William Burgess,
The Bible in Shakespeare (1843)
Available to access for free at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/bibleinshakspear00burg/page/n3/mode/2up

Charles Wordsworth,
Shakespeare's Knowledge And Use Of The Bible (1864)
Available to access for free at Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/shakespeareskno00wordgoog/page/n2/mode/2up

[3] Other scholars and critics have noted that Shakespeare draws upon the Jacob-Esau rivalry, often in the history plays. At the following source, the author notes,
“Hamlet wants an Esau side to complete the revenge plot. But Laertes' Esau side lacks moderation and gets Polonius' weak advice.”
https://humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare.narkive.com/97E9dNkr/the-esau-jacob-dualism-in-shakespeare

John Gillies mentions the Essay-Jacob analogy briefly in his article,
"Original Sin in Hamlet'
Shakespeare Quarterly
Vol. 64, No. 4 (Winter 2013), pp. 396-424 (29 pages)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24778492

[4] Laertes returning to France (where his father will spy on him, and plant stories about him, to discern his prodigality) associates him both with the Prodigal Son, and with Essau who sold his birthright. It’s not an exact parallel, in part because Polonius is not like the merciful and generous father of the Prodigal Son story, but Laertes and Polonius both misdirect the word “prodigal” toward Ophelia, when it would be better directed toward themselves. See https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/getting-prodigal-wrong-in-hamlet-13.html

Image: Matthias Stom (1615–1649) "Selling the Birthright," 1640. Public domain, Wikimedia.

[5] Govert Flinck, "Isaac Blessing Jacob," 1638. Rijksmuseum, Ámsterdam. Public domain, via Wikimedia.

[6] Michelangelo (1475-1564), Jacob with Leah and Rachel, Sistine Chapel (c. 1508-1512). Public domain, via Painting-Mythology at Blogspot.

[7] Some consider the fact that Isaac blesses Jacob, and then also blesses Esau, a problematic second blessing itself. In this sense, perhaps Shakespeare, using the lines of Laertes, is pointing to Laertes as an Esau figure who receives the second blessing. For further discussion of the second blessing that goes to Esau, see https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-source-of-jacobs-two-blessings

[8] In The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, the entry on "Esau, Wives of: Midrash and Aggadah" by Tamar Kadari notes, Esau’s first two wives, Adah and Judith, are described as adulterous and idolatrous. Adah (also called Basemath) is linked with harlotry, as her name is linked with jewelry and perfume. Judith (also called Ohlibamah) is similarly linked by her name to idolatry and is also described as adulterous." https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/esau-wives-of-midrash-and-aggadah
See also the following from the Jewish Biblical Quarterly, which cites Jewish commentary from centuries before Shakespeare: https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/424/jbq_424_Kleinwivesofesau.pdf

[9] Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), "The reconciliation of Jacob and Esau" (German: Versöhnung von Esau und Jakob), c. 1625 - 1628. Bavarian State Painting Collections, Schleißheim State Gallery. Public domain. Via Wikimedia.

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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.
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