That season... Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated

“...that season … / Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated…”

There is a tendency at times for some to approach the Christmas reference in Hamlet as if it is merely about Catholic superstition. But it’s far richer than that.

The ghost appears; the cock crows; the ghost disappears (an allusion to Peter’s denial during the passion [1]). Then:

MARCELLUS:
Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes
Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad…
(1.1.173-176)

The cock crowing and season of Christmas point to a large sweep of Christian salvation history.  

Even regarding the Christmas reference alone, we might treat it as an invitation to view the play in the mirror of the Christmas season tales, which are in part hospitality tales: Some welcome guests and strangers; others inconvenience, neglect, or kill them. There is a similar contrast in Hamlet:

— The Christmas tale requires Annunciation and Mary saying “Let be” to the angel Gabriel [2]. The stranger and the strange are welcomed.
— Hamlet: “Let be.” (5.2.238)
— Some Hamlet scholars note: when Polonius asks Ophelia to read a book, there is a visual echo of paintings and prayer book illustrations of Mary reading a book of psalms at the Annunciation. [3]

— “...there was no room for them in the inn” [4] because the Roman empire and its census made proper hospitality impossible (something rotten in that empire);
— but the shepherds hear the news and welcome him [5].
— This relates thematically to Hamlet scolding Polonius for lack of hospitality to the players (2.2.555-559).

— In Matthew’s gospel, Herod deceives the magi. Like the Greek tale of Laius trying to put his son Oedipus to death, Herod fears a successor-king as a threat and orders the slaughter of innocent boys, echoing Exodus 1:15-22 and Pharaoh’s orders to have Hebrew male infants put to death.[6]
— Claudius also wants to put his named successor, Prince Hamlet, to death.
— Hamlet mentions Herod twice (3.2.14-15).[7]
— Mary, Joseph and Jesus flee into Egypt; Herod failed to have Jesus killed.[8]
— Hamlet flees on a Jonah-like sea voyage but returns [9]; Claudius failed to have Hamlet killed.

This doesn't mean Hamlet = Jesus, second person of the Trinity. It doesn't. But we can do better than to pigeonhole and underestimate this reference. 

So just say “no” to reductionism: There’s much more to find in this allusion to the season of Christmas than a mere cipher for Catholic superstition, or yet another Protestant-Catholic binary. 

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

[1] Luke 22:59–62

[2] Luke 1:38: “Behold the servant of the Lord: be it unto me according to thy word.” (Geneva)  
Regarding welcome to strangers, see Hamlet: “And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.” (1.5.186).
Regarding repetition of “strange” and “stranger” and in regard to Lord Strange, see previous blog post: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/04/welcome-lazarus-lord-stranges-men-for.html


[3] See previous blog post: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/05/ophelias-prayer-book-annunciation-of.html

[4] Luke 2:7

[5] Luke 2:8-20

[6] Matthew 2:3-18

[7] Perhaps both Herod the Great, and Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded for condemning his incestuous marriage. See previous blog post:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/11/hamlet-which-herod-which-baptista-in.html

[8] Matthew 2:13-14

[9] On Hamlet’s sea voyage as a Jonah-like voyage, see previous posts, starting here:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-ghost-of-jonah-haunts-hamlet.html


IMAGES: By Deenagh Miller, 2023, used with permission. https://www.linkedin.com/in/deenagh-miller-6b529236/

CENTER: The center image is the full artwork.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/deenagh-miller-6b529236_fifth-picture-celebrating-christmas-the-activity-7136274194987646978-wm4y?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

LEFT: Detail of the same work, showing perhaps the flight of Mary, Joseph and Jesus into Egypt, as in the tale from Matthew 2:3-18, although this tale is also portrayed in art and told in poetry and hymnody, and the image can be variously interpreted.

RIGHT: The image of a mountain on fire reminded me of thematic connections:
— In J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Hobbit. Smaug hoards his gold in the mountain…
— as Herod hoarded his throne and defended it from the foretold birth of a successor;
— as Laius hoarded and defended his throne from the foretold threat of his son Oedipus;
— and as Claudius hoards and defends his throne from the perceived threat of Hamlet, who seems to know that he murdered his own brother to usurp the throne and take his brother’s wife.

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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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