Mother's Day After-Party: Mothers in Shakespeare, Part 2

IS IT FAIR, for educators to hijack Mother’s Day as an occasion to examine the rich diversity of mother figures in Shakespeare, and also at times, their absence?

I would say yes. Educators often treat such occasions as “teachable moments” when they invite students to study some text or artifact so as to better come to understand history and their culture.

In Act 4, scene 4, Hamlet says,

How all occasions do inform against me [...].
Sure He that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason
To fust in us unused. (4.4.34-41) [1]

Such teachable moments should not be wasted, unused.

Educators have at their disposal many resources which can work a kind of alchemy to turn occasions like Mother’s Day into gold.
- Biology teachers can glimpse in wonder at the workings of the human body that allow conception and breast-feeding;
- teachers in the human sciences can explore Freud’s ideas about the centrality of relationships to mothers, using, as he did, the Oedipus tale to show how such relationships can become dysfunctional;
- history and social sciences can explore the changing expectations of mothers in various cultures and at various moments in time….

As it is, Mother’s Day in the U.S. was created in large part on the initiative of Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragist. She wanted the north to win the war, and to end slavery, but she also understood the horrors of war, and the mourning of mothers who lost husbands, brothers, sons and fathers in the US Civil War. Her Mother’s Day proclamation was about working for peace.

So it is ironic and sad that these origins of Mother’s Day have largely been forgotten as the occasion has been hijacked, not only by greeting card companies and other businesses, but at times by the U.S. and its war machine, to enlist mothers in the cause of war. And the US remains a nation plagued by racism, with many of its roots in slavery, and a nation increasingly resorting to proxy wars instead of diplomacy. So Mother’s Day is a rich teachable moment.

Before the week is out, I hope to glance back at just a few more mother-related themes in Hamlet:

1. Ophelia and the Virgin Mary. Polonius asks Ophelia to read a book when she waits for Hamlet to see her, and scholars have noted that he wants her to look like the Virgin Mary reading a prayer book or book of psalms, like Mary at the Annunciation. Is Ophelia ironically unlike Mary, or does this allusion hold more than we think?

2. Gertrude is compared with various biblical and mythological figures:
- a female figure in the Book of Revelations;
- Hecuba;
- Bathsheba;
- the mother of Nero;
- widows in 1 and 2 Kings; and
- Ageus, who knocks a poison cup from a son’s hand.

More soon!


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

[2] A few resources on Julia Ward Howe:
Julia Ward Howe biography:
https://www.thoughtco.com/julia-ward-howe-early-years-3529325

The Original Mother’s Day Proclamation (and biographical background) - Julia Ward Howe
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/culture/holidays/mothers-day/the-original-mother-s-day-proclamation

Julia Ward Howe - Glessner House Museum
https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2016/3/7/julia-ward-howe


IMAGES:
Left: A Younger Julia Ward Howe (About 1855).Public domain via
https://riheritagehalloffame.com/Julia-Howe/


Center: Julia Ward Howe, 27 May 1819 - 17 Oct 1910.
Begun by John Elliott, 1858 - 1925
Finished by William Henry Cotton, 22 Jul 1880 - 5 Jan 1958
Public domain via Smithsonian National Public Gallery https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.31

Right: Julia Ward Howe - 1902 - Colorized version, fair use, cropped, via https://www.glessnerhouse.org/story-of-a-house/2016/3/7/julia-ward-howe

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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.

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

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