Part 3: When you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you

Two weeks ago,[1] I began exploring the curious and counter-intuitive thing that Hamlet says to his mother:
"when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you." (3.4.192-3) [2]

In part 3, I wish to consider:
1. Does Gertrude desire to be blessed?
2. If so, how is this desire implied?
3. Does Hamlet beg a blessing of her? Or does someone close to Hamlet, a surrogate or 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?

Gertrude does desire to be blessed, and Hamlet or his surrogates do ask blessings of her:

Gertrude's desire to be blessed is shown or implied in her feelings of guilt. We notice this when she has to face Ophelia, who seems to have gone mad, like Hamlet. When asked to speak to Ophelia, she is almost too ashamed to do so (4.5.18-25). She may feel guilty for having married Claudius: Hamlet had told her that Claudius murdered his brother, the king, Gertrude's husband. Gertrude may feel ashamed to face Ophelia and the consequences of choices. In an aside she describes her guilt; this might be viewed as a desire for blessing or forgiveness.

Does Hamlet, or surrogates for Hamlet, beg blessings of Gertrude?
Horatio presses her to speak with Ophelia after she initially resists the idea, claiming Ophelia may make people gossip.[3] So Horatio, as a kind of surrogate for, or extention of his dear friend Hamlet, begs this favor of Gertrude, and she complies. (4.5.18-25)

Does Gertrude offer blessing without being begged or asked?
Yes, in a number of ways:

a) Gertrude’s account of Ophelia’s death is that it was an accident, not suicide (4.7.187-210). This is a blessing Gertrude gives to Ophelia, either truthfully conveying what she knows of the drowning, or fictionalizing it so that Ophelia can be buried in Christian burial.[4]

b) Gertrude says within Hamlet’s hearing that she had hoped Ophelia would be his bride (5.1.254-257). This is a bittersweet blessing for Hamlet to hear his mother say before she even realizes Hamlet is there in the graveyard.[5] He doesn’t have to beg.

c) Hamlet says Gertrude “well instructs” him to give Laertes “some gentle entertainment” after their graveside argument (5.2.220-222). Hamlet doesn’t have to beg for this instruction.

d) Gertrude offers to wipe Hamlet’s face—as Veronica wiped the face of Jesus on the way to his death (5.2.314,321). Hamlet doesn’t have to beg for this favor.[6]

e). Gertrude drinks from the poison cup, knowingly or unknowingly testing it for poison (5.2.315-318). Hamlet doesn’t ask this; they don’t know it’s poison, but Gertrude may suspect it.[7] Because she does this and dies, she gives Hamlet more time to kill Claudius, who is responsible for both his father’s death and his mother’s. This is a blessing she offers without his asking.

Does this imply that Gertrude is saved and goes to heaven? Perhaps a topic for next week?[8]

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NOTES:
[1] In the first two parts of this series, I explored tales of Elijah helping widows, tales that seemed to illustrate the same dynamic: Asking a favor or blessing of someone in need.

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

[2] All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version:
https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[3] Hamlet would be grateful that his friend Horatio urged his mother to do this, and grateful that his mother overcame her reluctance to speak to Ophelia in his absence while on the sea voyage.

[4] Hamlet would similarly be grateful to his mother for at least attempting to give her account of Ophelia’s death as an accident. Truthful or not, were it not for the “churlish priest” (5.1.250) and the “crowner’s quest” (5.1.23) finding her death “doubtful” (5.1.234) as a possible suicide, the Queen’s account of Ophelia’s death should have saved Ophelia from having to be buried without full funeral rites, like a suicide.

[5] See previous blog post: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-ghost-of-veronica-haunts-hamlet-in.html

[6] Perhaps hearing Gertrude say this helps Hamlet have the courage to admit at Ophelia’s grave that he loved her (5.2.285-287).

[7] It's possible that she drinks and offers the cup to Hamlet, which he refuses ("I dare not drink yet, madam—by and by," 5.2.230), in which case it would seem she does not suspect it is poison, and is not tasting it to protect her son. But it's also possible that he assumed the cup was for him, as Claudius said, so when his mother drinks, he responds this way not because she has gestured to him, offering the cup, but simply because he assumes he is expected to drink, but decides to reject or delay drinking.

[8] 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

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IMAGES:
Left: 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



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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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Thanks for reading!
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My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

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