Hamlet to Gertrude: "when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you" (part 1)
In Hamlet 3.4, after scolding his mother to repent of her marriage to his Uncle Claudius, Hamlet says a curious thing:
"when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you." (3.4.192-3) [1]
If his mother desires or needs to be blest, why would Hamlet beg blessing of her? If someone desired medical aid, would you ask them to heal you? If they were hungry, would you ask them to feed you? This is counter-intuitive. But it may foreshadow something yet to come; it may also reflect a certain spiritual dynamic.
To understand Hamlet’s cryptic statement, we might ask: Are there Bible stories that conform to this pattern, asking a favor of a person who is in need? Stories with which Shakespeare and his age were familiar?
The answer is yes. Certain Bible tales demonstrate this dynamic. These include tales of Elijah and Elisha helping widows, and gospel tales of Jesus feeding multitudes. In each, a person or group is in need, and the prophet or Jesus first asks a favor before helping.
In the first such Elijah tale (1 Kings 17:7-16) [2], a famine afflicts the land. Elijah asks for water and bread from a widow who says that, with her son, she is near starvation and waiting for death. The widow feeds Elijah, and in return, he blesses her that her jar of flour and jug of oil will not run out until the famine ends.
Later in the same chapter (1 Kings 17:17-24), Elijah raises the widow’s son from death, and in the next chapter, a relatively small amount of bread and water does not run out for a hundred men.
Many medieval and Renaissance works of art depicted these tales, which were read every year in church. Church attendance was required by law, enforced with fines. An approved sermon goes on for two paragraphs about the first widow tale: [3] It is impossible for Shakespeare not to have been familiar with the scripture tales.
Hamlet is alluding to the same economy of gifts and grace that is at work in the Elijah-widow stories and the feeding of the multitudes. But instead of a prophet of God sent to a poor widow in need, Hamlet is a prince speaking to his own mother, the queen. She is not poor in a worldly sense, which might in part explain why this is not listed as among the many biblical allusions in the play by scholars like Naseeb Shaheen. But there are also political implications, for a playwright to write a play at the end of the life of his queen, in which a prince treats his mother and queen like a poor widow in need of blessing.
A study of Elizabethan poor laws might also reveal that the spiritual economy of asking something of a person who is already in need seems to have been applied with a vengeance to policies for the treatment of beggars: Begging was illegal, and beggars were punished, publicly shamed, and forced to return to their home parish where the community was expected to take care of them. Yet the persistence of poverty in the age shows that its causes were often stronger than the solutions demanded by the law. For these reasons, it is even more striking that Hamlet would place his mother and queen in the role of the poor beggar.
Hamlet's remark suggests perhaps that when Gertrude is most ready to repent and seek grace, then she will also become a better vessel of grace; and also that when she desires to be blest, her readiness may be tested by characters (Hamlet, or others in his place) who ask something of her.
Next week, in part 2, we’ll look more closely at an tale involving Elisha (the prophet-successor to Elijah) and a widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7 and its echo in Hamlet, involving an effort to save sons from the burden of a dead father's debts.
The week after that, in part 3, I’ll consider these questions:
1. Is Hamlet’s statement to Gertrude fulfilled?
2. If Gertrude becomes “desirous to be blest,” do we notice it, or is it something unseen, but perhaps implied?
3. Does Hamlet beg a blessing of her? Or does someone very close to Hamlet, like an extension of him, beg of her a blessing?
4. Does she offer any favors or blessings to certain characters without Hamlet having to beg?
~~~~~~~
NOTES:
1. All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version:
https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
2. Read in church in Shakespeare's lifetime every May 14 at morning prayer. See 1559 Book of Common Prayer, “May hath Thirty One Days” (3 Reg = 1 Kings): http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Kalendar_1559.htm
3. See "THE THIRD PART OF THE HOMILY OF ALMSDEEDS," pages 395-397, in The Two Books of Homilies Appointed to be Read in Churches, 1859 edition, Oxford Press. https://archive.org/details/twobookshomilie00grifgoog/page/394/mode/2up?q=Widow&view=theater
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX to posts in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-when-you-are-desirous-to-be-blest.html
See also my previous post, "Gertrude as Recipient & Source of Gifts: Labors of Gratitude & Regret in Hamlet, part 9": https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/10/gertrude-as-recipient-giver-of-gifts.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIVE-IMAGE COLLAGE:
Top row, L-R:
Left: Ciro Ferri (1633–1689), “Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta” (Sarepta, Zarephath) 1669-1689, National Trust, Italy. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ciro_Ferri_(1634-1689)_-_Elijah_and_the_Widow_of_Serepta_(Zarephath)_-_108845_-_National_Trust.jpg
Center: Italiano: “Elia e la vedova di Sarepta” (Elijah and the widow of Sarepta). 1624-1625, by Giovanni Lanfranco - Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elia_e_la_vedova_di_Sarepta_-_Lanfranco.JPG
Right: Jan Victors (1619–1676), “Elijah and the widow of Zarephath,” Poland, 1640s, Museum of John Paul II Collection. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victors_Elijah_and_the_widow_of_Zarephath.JPG
Bottom L-R:
L: Cornelius van Poelenburgh (1594/1595–1667), “The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath,” circa 1630, National Gallery of Art. Public Domain via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Prophet_Elijah_and_the_Widow_of_Zarephath_A10797.jpg
THREE IMAGE COLLAGE: R: Bernardo Strozzi (1581–1644), The prophet Elias and the widow of Sarepta, 1640-1644. Kunsthistorisches Museum. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernardo_Strozzi_-_The_prophet_Elias_and_the_widow_of_Serepta.jpg
THREE-IMAGE COLLAGE on Elijah raising widow’s son:
Left: Ms. Ludwig IX 19 (83.ML.115), fol. 70, detail: “Border with Elijah Raising the Son of the Widow of Sareptha,” circa 1525–1530, Simon Bening (Flemish, circa 1483 - 1561). No copyright (Public Domain), via Getty: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107SF6
Center: Simone Brentana (1656-1742), “Elijah [restoring the son of] the Widow of Zarephath,” before 1742. Pubic Domain, via Wikimedia, via art.net (past auction): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brentana-Elijah.jpg
Right: Elijah Raising the Widow's Son, ca.1522 to 1526, by Rensig, Everhard, Lower Rhine (Germany). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Public Domain, via https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64900/elijah-raising-the-widows-son-panel-rensig-everhard/?carousel-image=2006AL0058
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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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
To find the subscribe button, see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
"when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you." (3.4.192-3) [1]
If his mother desires or needs to be blest, why would Hamlet beg blessing of her? If someone desired medical aid, would you ask them to heal you? If they were hungry, would you ask them to feed you? This is counter-intuitive. But it may foreshadow something yet to come; it may also reflect a certain spiritual dynamic.
To understand Hamlet’s cryptic statement, we might ask: Are there Bible stories that conform to this pattern, asking a favor of a person who is in need? Stories with which Shakespeare and his age were familiar?
The answer is yes. Certain Bible tales demonstrate this dynamic. These include tales of Elijah and Elisha helping widows, and gospel tales of Jesus feeding multitudes. In each, a person or group is in need, and the prophet or Jesus first asks a favor before helping.
Later in the same chapter (1 Kings 17:17-24), Elijah raises the widow’s son from death, and in the next chapter, a relatively small amount of bread and water does not run out for a hundred men.
Hamlet is alluding to the same economy of gifts and grace that is at work in the Elijah-widow stories and the feeding of the multitudes. But instead of a prophet of God sent to a poor widow in need, Hamlet is a prince speaking to his own mother, the queen. She is not poor in a worldly sense, which might in part explain why this is not listed as among the many biblical allusions in the play by scholars like Naseeb Shaheen. But there are also political implications, for a playwright to write a play at the end of the life of his queen, in which a prince treats his mother and queen like a poor widow in need of blessing.
A study of Elizabethan poor laws might also reveal that the spiritual economy of asking something of a person who is already in need seems to have been applied with a vengeance to policies for the treatment of beggars: Begging was illegal, and beggars were punished, publicly shamed, and forced to return to their home parish where the community was expected to take care of them. Yet the persistence of poverty in the age shows that its causes were often stronger than the solutions demanded by the law. For these reasons, it is even more striking that Hamlet would place his mother and queen in the role of the poor beggar.
Hamlet's remark suggests perhaps that when Gertrude is most ready to repent and seek grace, then she will also become a better vessel of grace; and also that when she desires to be blest, her readiness may be tested by characters (Hamlet, or others in his place) who ask something of her.
Next week, in part 2, we’ll look more closely at an tale involving Elisha (the prophet-successor to Elijah) and a widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7 and its echo in Hamlet, involving an effort to save sons from the burden of a dead father's debts.
The week after that, in part 3, I’ll consider these questions:
1. Is Hamlet’s statement to Gertrude fulfilled?
2. If Gertrude becomes “desirous to be blest,” do we notice it, or is it something unseen, but perhaps implied?
3. Does Hamlet beg a blessing of her? Or does someone very close to Hamlet, like an extension of him, beg of her a blessing?
4. Does she offer any favors or blessings to certain characters without Hamlet having to beg?
~~~~~~~
NOTES:
1. All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version:
https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
2. Read in church in Shakespeare's lifetime every May 14 at morning prayer. See 1559 Book of Common Prayer, “May hath Thirty One Days” (3 Reg = 1 Kings): http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1559/Kalendar_1559.htm
3. See "THE THIRD PART OF THE HOMILY OF ALMSDEEDS," pages 395-397, in The Two Books of Homilies Appointed to be Read in Churches, 1859 edition, Oxford Press. https://archive.org/details/twobookshomilie00grifgoog/page/394/mode/2up?q=Widow&view=theater
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INDEX to posts in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-when-you-are-desirous-to-be-blest.html
See also my previous post, "Gertrude as Recipient & Source of Gifts: Labors of Gratitude & Regret in Hamlet, part 9": https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/10/gertrude-as-recipient-giver-of-gifts.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIVE-IMAGE COLLAGE:
Top row, L-R:
Left: Ciro Ferri (1633–1689), “Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta” (Sarepta, Zarephath) 1669-1689, National Trust, Italy. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ciro_Ferri_(1634-1689)_-_Elijah_and_the_Widow_of_Serepta_(Zarephath)_-_108845_-_National_Trust.jpg
Center: Italiano: “Elia e la vedova di Sarepta” (Elijah and the widow of Sarepta). 1624-1625, by Giovanni Lanfranco - Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elia_e_la_vedova_di_Sarepta_-_Lanfranco.JPG
Right: Jan Victors (1619–1676), “Elijah and the widow of Zarephath,” Poland, 1640s, Museum of John Paul II Collection. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victors_Elijah_and_the_widow_of_Zarephath.JPG
Bottom L-R:
L: Cornelius van Poelenburgh (1594/1595–1667), “The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath,” circa 1630, National Gallery of Art. Public Domain via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Prophet_Elijah_and_the_Widow_of_Zarephath_A10797.jpg
THREE IMAGE COLLAGE: R: Bernardo Strozzi (1581–1644), The prophet Elias and the widow of Sarepta, 1640-1644. Kunsthistorisches Museum. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bernardo_Strozzi_-_The_prophet_Elias_and_the_widow_of_Serepta.jpg
THREE-IMAGE COLLAGE on Elijah raising widow’s son:
Left: Ms. Ludwig IX 19 (83.ML.115), fol. 70, detail: “Border with Elijah Raising the Son of the Widow of Sareptha,” circa 1525–1530, Simon Bening (Flemish, circa 1483 - 1561). No copyright (Public Domain), via Getty: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107SF6
Center: Simone Brentana (1656-1742), “Elijah [restoring the son of] the Widow of Zarephath,” before 1742. Pubic Domain, via Wikimedia, via art.net (past auction): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brentana-Elijah.jpg
Right: Elijah Raising the Widow's Son, ca.1522 to 1526, by Rensig, Everhard, Lower Rhine (Germany). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Public Domain, via https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64900/elijah-raising-the-widows-son-panel-rensig-everhard/?carousel-image=2006AL0058
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
To find the subscribe button, see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
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