Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Thanks to readers, 1-30 July, 2023 ~~~~~~~ Thank you to readers of this blog for this past month, which the blog's analytics say came to 662 views from the following countries: Thank you for your interest. I am grateful and humbled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO and are able, you can support me on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis, you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ophelia to Claudius: “God dild [yield] you.” [1] * Some claim "God yield you" means "God reward you," which sounds a lot like "God bless you".... But yield? To whom does the verb apply? Is God the one yielding by being merciful and withholding anger and wrath, a common biblical theme? Or is this grammatically inverted, saying "You (should/must) yield (to) God"? In their ritual repetition of "The Lord's Prayer," over and over, Christians say, as if in a covenant or vow, "Forgive us our sins (or debts) as we forgive (our debtors)." This repeats another biblical idea: As we judge others, so shall we be judged. As we forgive (and yield, instead of taking revenge), so shall we be forgiven by a God who will yield in mercy instead of wrath. So in fact it seems that "God yield you" involves the verb "yield" being applied both to "you" and to "God." The tradition rep

We should resist the temptation to treat the gravediggers and their clowning in Hamlet 5.1 as mere comic relief: They prepare audiences and readers to view the “churlish priest” more critically. GRAVEDIGGER  Is she to be buried in Christian burial, when she willfully seeks her own salvation? [1] (Shouldn’t all people seek their own salvation? “Willfully” suggests a parody of the Protestant idea that we are saved by “faith alone,” not by works. But by Gertrude's account, it is not at all clear that Ophelia committed suicide - it is a mystery - so why assume?)   OTHER  I tell thee she is. Therefore make her grave straight. The crowner hath sat on her and finds it Christian burial. GRAVEDIGGER  How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her own defense? [2][3] (The gravedigger mangles “The coroner’s inquest sat to consider her death,” which becomes “The crowner hath sat on her.” Funny but disturbing, to sit on the corpse of a drowned woman. The original spelling was “sate on her.

In Act 4, scene 7, Gertrude mentions a particular purple flower that Ophelia includes in the garlands she hangs on the willow: “...long purples, That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them.” (4.7.193-196) [1] The Queen wishes to avoid saying the “grosser name” that “liberal shepherds” have for a purple flower that looks like “dead men’s fingers”: What might the grosser name be? Not too hard to guess: phallus flowers, purple penises. These “long purples” are not the only flower Ophelia includes in her “fantastic garlands,” but they are the only flowers Gertrude uses 19 words to describe instead of one. In a 1970 essay, J.G. McManaway [2] wrote of how Ophelia in her madness resembles Jephthah’s daughter “bewailing” her virginity, or in other words, mourning the fact that she would soon die childless, never having known the joys of being a spouse and mother. But Ophelia’s garlands with “long purples” are more festive than Jephthah’s d

The Seduction of Fiction: A Plea for Putting Emotions Back Into Literary Interpretation by Jean-François Vernay English translation by Carolyne Lee Arabic translation by Fuad Abdul Muttaleb Because of my connection with Fuad Abdul Muttaleb, I learned of Vernay’s book and am very happy to have obtained a copy. Vernay is concerned not only with declining interest in literature studies, but also with how the teaching of literature can be too alienating for students because it takes much of the emotion and joy out of reading: Scholars and teachers can seem more interested in forcing literature to fit into the too-restrictive boxes of various literary-critical schools of thought, so instead of being immersed in the experience of reading, literature is used as a screen upon which scholars and instructors project their predetermined literary-critical ideologies. Chapter 3 begins with an abstract: “Acknowledging the influence of New Criticism on literary studies, Vernay notes that conceptualiz

When Ophelia says, “ “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (1.3.113), people in Early Modern England would have assumed that, at least in part, she may have felt torn between apparently contradictory biblical injunctions. In Act 1, scene 3, Ophelia has her first brief lines, spoken to her long-winded brother Laertes and her even more long-winded father, Polonius. She says that Hamlet has made her “almost all the holy vows of heaven” [1]: She could be the next queen of Denmark. Laertes suspects Hamlet may be tempted to use and abandon her, needing to marry someone else to secure a treaty [2]. But the play gives no evidence of treaty-marriages, or that Hamlet would take love lightly: He wants to return to university in Wittenberg, while Laertes wants to return to France where his father suspects he will be “drabbing” (whoring), and where Ophelia suspects he will be a hypocrite for not heeding his own strict advice. Ophelia’s father similarly suspects bad intentions on Hamlet’s pa

As the tale of Ophelia’s drowning is distorted in Hamlet , the funeral procession reaches the graveyard where the “churlish priest” claims that either Gertrude or Claudius had pressured the coroner’s inquest not to rule suicide. The priest is offended at the thought of burying a possible suicide on holy ground, and does only minimal rites required. This implies a dysfunctional Denmark, king, inquest, and priest, and implies a similarly dysfunctional England. 1. “GREAT COMMAND O’ERSWAYS THE ORDER” [1]: The priest claims either Gertrude or Claudius overruled the coroner’s inquest. Ideally, an impartial inquest should seek the truth. If it's a mystery (not enough evidence) it be better to reserve judgment, than to harshly judge a soul on whom God might be quite inclined to show mercy. For some reason the coroner's inquest was inclined to rule it a suicide (why?). Gertrude or Claudius made them change that, perhaps in compassion for Ophelia, or fearful of angering Laertes, or bot

People ask at times if they can support my work, and whether I have a Patreon or Ko-fi page. The best way you can support my work is by reading my blog, commenting, and sharing my blog posts with friends, students, and colleagues. I would continue to blog for free even if I didn't receive gifts of financial support. But besides blogging every week as a record of my evolving insights and questions, my long-term goal is to collect and refine those thoughts in book form. Donations could free me up to work more on that goal. So after much thought, I set up a Ko-fi page especially for those who are financially able, and perhaps enjoy a specific blog post, and would like to offer a "tip." Unlike Patreon, Ko-fi allows for one-time donations, but also for recurring donations. I also set up a Patreon page for those who prefer that (very popular) platform, and who would like to support my work on a regular/recurring basis (although you can also do that on Ko-fi). I want

Thanks to readers, 1-30 June, 2023 ~~~~~~~ Thank you to readers of this blog for this past month, which the blog's analytics say came to 4.28k views from the following countries: Most of the views were from Signapore, from people using "Mobile Safari" (3.74k) according to the blog's statistics. If this is not a mistake, it means many first-time readers, so welcome, new readers! If it's a mistake, oops, never mind... 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! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~