Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

I love Grace Tiffany’s sonnet “Gertrude and Ophelia” [1] for now it reimagines Gertrude as having drowned Ophelia. The sonnet explores a possibility for Gertrude’s agency that the play chooses not to explore. Grace recently introduced the poem, tongue-in-cheek, as depicting “what really happened.” Other plays, films and novels make similar claims, exploring alternative versions from different points of view, including the 2018 film, Ophelia ; a 2022 novel by Carly Stevens called Laertes: A Hamlet Retelling; a 2008 novel by Paul Griffiths made from Ophelia’s words, Let Me Tell You ; and many more. [2] On female agency, there is a reading of Ophelia’s death that wrestles with Ophelia’s apparent lack of agency, proposing not despair, but that Ophelia uses suicide to fiercely reclaim her own agency. [3]  IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES This reading is hard to reconcile with Grace Tiffany’s poem: Ophelia probably cannot be both a victim of murder at Gertrude’s hands, and *also* a suicide. Yet

It is LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the United States[1], a celebration observed at various times of the year by a number of other countries around the globe. If you were an Elizabethan playwright and poet named William Shakespeare, you may have questioned certain passages of the Bible used by religious authorities to condemn sex between men, and used to justify related punishments of execution.[2]  Yet in Elizabethan England, one would not have been able to have a play approved for performance by the master of revels if it included a virtuous character who complained about unhelpful and outdated biblical laws. How might you have challenged such use of the Bible without getting in trouble with authorities? One could dramatize a conflict stemming from an outdated Roman or Athenian law that is analogous to an outdated biblical law, and in that way, by indirection, make the same point [3]. (I am not the first to notice this.) Early in the first scene of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream w

Deaths in Hamlet are shrouded in lies, including Ophelia’s. The play offers a king murdered by his brother, but the murderer’s lie claims it was by snake bite [1], and an Ophelia who died from the accident of a broken branch [2], but the “churlish priest” insists that she died by suicide.[3] The ghost says, "… the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus’d Upon my secure hour thy uncle … … … in the porches of my ears did pour The leperous distilment Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatch’d (1.5.36–8, 61–4, 74–5) So the king was killed by Claudius with intent, but the truth was obscured by his murderer’s lies of accidental death. Ophelia drowned by accident, but the truth was obscured by claims that she died by intent, suicide. A reversed echo? One could say (paraphrasing), "… the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of (Ophelia'sdeath Rankly abus’d..." I tend to believe Gertrude’s stor

Thanks to readers, 1-31 May, 2023 ~~~~~~~ Thank you to readers of this blog for this past month, which the blog's analytics say came to 1.81k views from the following countries: Thank you for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 projec

If you ask an average Shakespeare reader or viewer to tell you how Ophelia dies in Hamlet, many might say “suicide,” or “she drowns herself.” But the play presents a controversy of at least seven interpretations of her death, ranging from accident to suicide. [1] These are represented by 1. Gertrude; 2. the king (implied); 3. the Coroner’s Inquest; 4. the Gravedigger-clowns; 5. Hamlet; 6. the “churlish priest”; and 7. Laertes. Some of these agree more with the others, some not. Educators often say it’s good to “teach the controversy,” so instructors might have students seek, document, and reflect on the position of each party, as well as other possibilities (with or without evidence). 1. GERTRUDE offers the earliest account of Ophelia’s death, saying Ophelia fell in the brook while decorating a willow with flowers, when an “envious sliver” of a bough broke [2]. Her garments helped her float for a while [3], but they became “heavy with their drink” and “Pulled” her “To muddy