(Part 12) TRY THIS: One Method for Considering Biblical Allusions

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INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/index-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus-lost.html
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In this recent series,[1] I’ve explored one scripture allusion in a Shakespeare play (Hamlet in 3.2 alluding to the boy Jesus among temple elders from Luke 2).

Readers of literature can explore allusions on their own, or instructors can do so with their students. There are many ways to do this, many possible starting points. Below is an outline of the method I used in this series. In many ways I only scratched the surface.

Some tasks listed below might benefit from working on as a whole group. Then a class might divide tasks # 3 - # 7 among groups, and then later meet to discuss results, before # 8.

1. IDENTIFY what seems to be a scripture allusion.
- People long familiar with a religion’s sacred texts may have an advantage, but religious belief is not required to identify allusions. Familiarity with the texts is essential, and perhaps with the tradition that has interpreted the texts.[2]
- Did Shakespeare allude directly to the biblical text, or echo its deep plot structure, or both?
- See Part 1 for how I identified the allusion to Luke 2:46-52.

2. RECOGNIZE THE MYSTERY AND AMBIGUITY of both the literary text making the allusion, and of the scriptural text alluded to. Explore possible meanings of the two texts. Avoid assuming too quickly that one has exhausted the meanings of the texts. Avoid treating the allusion like a cipher with only one meaning.
See part 6.


3. CONSIDER THE HISTORY OF HOW THE BIBLICAL TEXT WAS INTERPRETED OR USED - by painters, preachers, playwrights, scholars of sacred texts, even abused for political purposes, or appropriated in popular culture.
- See Part 2 (paintings).
- See Part 9 (preaching).
- See Part 10 (thematic echo in Macbeth scene) and Part 11 (allusion in King Lear)

4. CONSIDER IMMEDIATE CONTEXT: Is it easy or hard to spot the allusion? Why? Has the passing of time obscured it? Is it camouflaged? A hidden Easter egg? Why might the author have made it that way?
See Part 8 (Why has this been missed?).  

5. CONSIDER SIMILARITIES OR ECHOES between the literary text and the allusion. Is it mostly about the similarities?
See Part 3.

6. CONSIDER IRONIC DIFFERENCES OR DISSONANCE between the literary text and allusion.
See Part 4.

7. CONSIDER TARGETS OF THE IRONY: If the allusion is ironic for its contrasts, at whom is the irony aimed? By one character at another? At the audience? The culture? A combination?
See Part 5.

8. THE BIG PICTURE: How did this exercise help you to understand the work of literature and its allusions?
- Do you notice other allusions, with related themes? (Son of Odysseus, about his father’s business? Prodigal son?)
- Did you gain more insights on the writer’s historical context, and your own?
- Does the allusion offer a lens through which to view the literary text?
- Teachers: Consider having small groups discuss, and/or individuals write up, reflections on what they learned, and how students may have adjusted, changed, or fine-tuned their assumptions in the process.

You may be surprised, amazed, astonished with insight.


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NOTES:
[1] Posts in this series:

(Part 1) Hamlet as the Boy Jesus among Temple Elders
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/hamlet-as-boy-jesus-among-synagogue.html

(Part 2) Hamlet as boy Jesus among Temple Elders: Historical-Artistic Background
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/02/hamlet-as-boy-jesus-among-temple-elders.html

(Part 3) Hamlet as the boy Jesus among Temple Elders: A closer look
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/02/hamlet-as-boy-jesus-among-temple-elders_14.html

(Part 4 ) Dissonance and Irony in Hamlet's 3.2 Allusion to Luke 2
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/02/part-4-dissonance-and-irony-in-hamlets.html

(Part 5) The targets of Hamlet's 3.2 ironic allusion to Luke 2:46-52
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/02/part-5-targets-of-hamlets-32-ironic.html

(Part 6) Hamlet in 3.2 as the boy Jesus among temple elders: Plucking mysteries' hearts?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/03/part-6-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus.html

(Part 7) Hamlet’s allusion in 3.2 to the boy Jesus: Hamlet as Abbott, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as Costellos?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/03/part-7-hamlets-allusion-in-32-to-boy.html

(Part 8) Hamlet in 3.2 as the boy Jesus: Why has this been missed?
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/03/part-8-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus-why.html

(Part 9) Twisting the tale of the boy Jesus in the temple: Bishop Jewell, official book of homilies
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/04/part-9-twisting-tale-of-boy-jesus-in.html

(Part 10) A Boy Amazing Elders (and audience) in Shakespeare's Macbeth
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/04/part-10-boy-amazes-mother-in.html

(Part 11) Cordelia in 4.4 is about her father's business in Shakespeare's King Lear
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/04/part-11-cordelia-in-44-is-about-her.html

(Part 12) TRY THIS: One Method for Considering Biblical Allusions
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/05/part-12-try-this-one-method-for.html

INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/index-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus-lost.html

[2] People of the Jewish faith with life-long study of the Torah and Hebrew religious texts might have an advantage recognizing many allusions to Hebrew scripture in Shakespeare and other literatures; Muslims with life-long study of the Qur'an may have a similar advantage identifying allusions to the Qur'an in literary texts, as would people of the Hindu faith who have studied Hindu religious texts all their lives, or Buddhists with similar familiarity and study, etc.
- But sometimes we take for granted things with which we are too familiar, so those who begin with no familiarity with religious texts, and then study them, may have certain advantages as well, as might those who discover a method of defamiliarization for approaching the texts, an idea developed by Viktor Shklovsky.

IMAGES:
Left: Der zwölfjährige Jesus im Tempel (Twelve year old Jesus in the temple), or Jesus among the Doctors, 1879, Max Liebermann, Hamburger Kunsthalle. Public domain, via
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Der_zw%C3%B6lfj%C3%A4hrige_Jesus_im_Tempel.jpg
Notice that at the top of the painting, directly above the head of the boy Jesus, it might be his mother, Mary, coming down the steps upon finding him.  

Right: Jesus in the Temple as a Boy - Picture of St John's Episcopal Church, 1145 Buffalo St, Franklin, Pennsylvania. Created by Tiffany Studios c. 1910. Restored 1998-99 by Stainee Glass Resources. Fair use. http://www.stainedglassresources.com/historical_windows.html

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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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https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

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