Hamlet Act I: "'Tis Strange," a Poisoned King, and a Poisoned Lord Strange

In the first act of Hamlet, the first five uses of the word "strange" all refer to the poisoned king.

HORATIO: 'Tis *strange.*
(1.1.75)

HORATIO: ...This bodes some *strange* eruption to our state.
(1.1.80)

HAMLET: 'Tis very *strange.*
(1.2.233)

GHOST: Murther most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, *strange,* and unnatural.
(1.5.34)

HORATIO: O day and night, but this is wondrous *strange*!
(1.5.185)

HAMLET: And therefore as a *stranger* give it welcome.
(1.5.186)

Shortly after that, some of the next occurrences of the word "strange" refer to the way Hamlet may act while feigning madness. Having spoken to the ghost and learned of the poisoning, Hamlet warns Horatio and the sentinels that he may act *strange* (1.5.190), but that they are to keep his secret (1.5.201-202).

IT SO HAPPENS that until the death in 1594 of Lord Strange, Ferdinando Stanley, more than half of the actors in Shakespeare's playing company were "Strangers," or in other words, members of the Lord Strange's men.

By the will of Henry VIII, Lord Strange and his mother were in the line of succession to follow Elizabeth I, but some found him too ambiguous in his religious allegiances, so some Protestants feared he may have been hiding Catholic allegiances, and others claimed the Jesuits feared him because he didn't have strong enough Catholic allegiances.

Many believed that Lord Strange, Ferdinando Stanley, patron of the arts and in line for the succession, had been poisoned.

It may have been far too dangerous and prohibited for a play to speak openly in speculation about the possible poisoning death of a possible successor to Elizabeth. (It was, in fact, specifically against the law for people to speak or write in speculation about Elizabeth's successor.)  The master of the revels and the censors would not have allowed such things to be discussed in a play.

In the original Hamlet/Amleth tale from Saxo Grammaticus, there was no ghost of the dead king, and he did not die by poison. But after 1594 and the suspected poisoning death of Lord Strange, and the presence in Shakespeare's playing company of many former members of the Lord Strange's men, Shakespeare's Hamlet appears. It was perhaps based on an earlier play by the same name. But in Shakespeare's case, the play specifies that the king died of poison, and of the first five or so instances of the word "strange," every single one is associated with the ghost of the poisoned king.

Shakespeare also links the word to biblical passages:

"But the stranger that dwelleth with you, shall be as one of yourselves, and thou shalt love him as thyself: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Leviticus 19:34)

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have received Angels into their houses unawares."
(Hebrews 13:2) 

See also Genesis 18:2, where Abraham and Sarah show hospitality to three strangers/angels.

People in Shakespeare's time, required to attend church regularly, would have heard and been familiar with these and other, similar passages.

Shakespeare was also familiar with Ovid's Metamorphoses, and in that, the tale of Zeus and Hermes visiting the home of Baucis and Philemon, who show them hospitality, not knowing at first that they are gods.

But in times when Christopher Marlowe worked as a spy and was murdered, and when Catholics feared Protestants and vice versa, it became more difficult and dangerous to welcome and show hospitality toward strangers, who might be spies or informants.

The former members of his playing company may have suspected that Lord Strange was poisoned on orders from powerful Protestants in Elizabeth's court who feared he was not Protestant enough, or by Catholics who feared he was not Catholic enough. Either way, members of Shakespeare's playing company who had previously enjoyed the patronage of the Lord Strange may easily have harbored ill-feelings about their suspicions regarding the suspected poisoning, especially as Elizabeth I approached the end of her life and people were uncertain of her successor.

And Shakespeare's Hamlet is a play that is very much about succession, written at a time when England was anticipating - but uncertain about - the succession of its monarch.

What better time for Shakespeare and his fellow players to vent their frustrations about how the monarchy and its succession may have been manipulated by poison?

IMAGES
Left: Image of the dead King Hamlet, 1890, by Rolfe, W. J. (William James), 1827-1910. Public domain, via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_%28Hamlet%29#/media/File:Shakespeare's_Tragedy_of_Hamlet,_Prince_of_Denmark_(1890)_(14586366959).jpg
Right: Image of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, 5th Earl of Derby. Unknown author. Public domain via Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fernando_Stanley.jpg




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 project (last item on the list):

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

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider subscribing.
To find the subscribe button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can subscribe to posts and comments by filling out the contact form.