Part 38: Christ figures in Hamlet: Ophelia, Gertrude, Hamlet (Good Friday 2024 post)

Today is Good Friday. In Shakespeare’s England, church rituals spoke of baptism as a dying to self in Christ, so as to be made new in him [1]. Contrary to some Shakespeare scholars who explicitly resist the idea of Christ-figures in the plays (including Harold Jenkins, Arden editor), all the baptized are called to be Christ-figures [2], imitators of Christ.

The spiritual rhythm in medieval mystery, morality and miracle plays assumes all are sinners, but if they express sorrow for their sins, they can know God’s mercy and be saved. [3] Any drama in which a person who dies is saved, is a comedy; the only tragedies are those in which a sinner resists salvation.

In her madness, Ophelia expresses regret through her story of the baker’s daughter [4].
Gertrude explains that Ophelia falls in the brook because of an “envious sliver” of willow [5]. Willows in Psalm 137 were incorporated weekly in Christian vespers and associated by St Benedict of Nursia [6] and Martin Luther [7] with the crucifixion [5];
Jesus and John the Baptist were executed because powerful people were envious and fearful that spiritual leaders like him might lead a revolt [6].
Generous in her madness and, like Jesus, a victim of envy, Ophelia is a Christ-figure.

Gertrude expressed guilt upon seeing Ophelia [8].
Her name is shared with St. Gertrude of Nivelles, who eradicated mice [9];
Gertrude probably suspects poison in the last scene and tests the cup for her son in an act of self-sacrifice [10] — as a mouse-trap for Claudius, like St. Augustine’s idea of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as a mousetrap for the devil [11]. So Gertrude is a Christ-figure.

Hamlet’s Jonah-like sea-voyage suggests that he is a Christ figure, as Jonah was traditionally associated with Jesus’ death and resurrection [12]. He apologizes to Laertes before the duel and calls him his “brother” [13]; his mother offers her napkin to wipe his face [14] as Veronica is said to have wiped the face of Jesus on the way to his crucifixion: Hamlet becomes a Christ-figure.



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

[1] See The Book of Common Prayer, 1559, ed. John E. Booty for The Folger Shakespeare Library (1976), University Press of Virginia. See section on Public Baptism, 274-275.

[2] The Book of Common Prayer’s “Public Baptism” section makes it clear that all the baptized are called to be like Christ, or Christ figures. But this is contrary to some tendencies in Shakespeare scholarship: Since at least 1963 and the publication of Roland M. Frye’s book, Shakespeare and Christian Doctrine, many Christian and secular Shakespeare scholars have resisted the idea of Christ-figures in Shakespeare. Frye was not only a Shakespeare scholar, but also a Methodist elder who believed strongly that there was only one Christ, the Jesus of the gospels, who died once and for all, so because of his doctrinal beliefs, it is easy to understand why he (and others like him) might resist the idea of Christ-figures.
See previous blog post:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/02/roland-fryes-protestant-bias.html

It is also easy to imagine how scholars and critics who prefer to imagine Shakespeare as a thoroughly secular dramatist might similarly resist the idea of Christ-figures in the plays.

[3] Hunter, Robert Grams. Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness, 1965, Columbia University Press. See chapter 2, The Medieval Drama, 10-41.
[4] Hamlet, 4.5.47-48.

[5] See previous post,
Part 27: Ophelia's Willow, Psalm 137, & Religious Refugees - December 12, 2023.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/12/part-27-ophelias-willow-psalm137.html

On Luther’s use of Psalm 137 in a hymn, see Leahy, Anne (2011), J. S. Bach's "Leipzig" Chorale Preludes: Music, Text, Theology, Scarecrow Press, p. 37, https://books.google.com/books?id=qJTSosFmynMC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false

[6] C. AD 480–550.

[7] 1483–1546.

[8] 4.5.22-25.

[9] See previous blog post,
Part 37: Sts. Gertrude, pilgrim's lovers, & mousetraps (Interlude D.4) - March 26, 2024.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/03/part-37-sts-gertrude-pilgrims-lovers.html

[10] See especially the following previous blog posts in this series:
Part 34: Why Gertrude personifies the envious sliver of willow (Interlude D.1) - March 06, 2024.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/03/part-34-interlude-d1-why-gertrude.html

Part 35: Why Gertrude likely suspects a poison cup (Interlude D.2) - March 11, 2024.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/03/part-35-why-gertrude-likely-suspects.html

Part 36: Gertrude builds a better mousetrap for Claudius (Interlude D.3) - March 19, 2024.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/03/part-36-gertrude-builds-better.html

[11] For “The Mousetrap,” see 3.2.261 (Folger) or 3.2.232 (Arden).
— Editor Harold Jenkins, in the Arden note for line 232, writes,
“J. Doebler (SQ XXXIII, 161 ff.) discusses the theological symbolism of the mousetrap, as in Augustine’s allusion to the cross of Christ as the mousetrap of the devil, who is trapped by his own corruption. The analogy with Claudius is pertinent;”
and as Jenkins lived in a time when scholars were sensitive about certain claims regarding literary Christ-figures, he adds,
“but we had better stop short of seeing Hamlet therefore as a Christ-figure.”
In this scene, yes; by the last line of the play, I disagree.
— Augustine of Hippo: “The Devil exulted when Christ died, and by that very death of Christ the Devil was overcome: he took food, as it were, from a trap. He gloated over the death as if he were appointed a deputy of death; that in which he rejoiced became a prison for him. The cross of the Lord became a trap for the Devil; the death of the Lord was the food by which he was ensnared. And behold, our Lord Jesus Christ rose again.” — See Thomas L. McDonald (accessed 1/22/2023): https://weirdcatholic.com/2019/03/25/the-devils-mousetrap-an-image-of-the-annunciation/

[12] See previous blog posts:
THE GHOST OF JONAH HAUNTS SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET - April 23, 2018.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-ghost-of-jonah-haunts-hamlet.html

Hamlet's Sea-voyage, Christ in the Tomb, and "the Sign of Jonah" - April 16, 2022.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/04/hamlets-sea-voyage-christ-in-tomb-and.html

[13] 5.2.240-258. After Hamlet’s apology, and after witnessing the queen dying from the poison, Laertes’ conscience almost stops him from poisoning Hamlet, but not quite. Laertes is misled by Claudius, but in the end, he confesses his mistake, apologizes to Hamlet, and points to Claudius as the one to blame (5.2.344-351, 359-364). Shakespeare implies that Laertes’ deathbed confession may warrant his salvation. We might easily say Laertes is a model of a repentant sinner, more than a Christ-figure.
[14] 5.2.314.


IMAGES

Gertrude: Detail, William Salter Herrick (c.1807-1891). Hamlet in the Queen's chamber (ca. 1857). Public domain via Folger Shakespeare Library at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/555420566546390752/

Representing Ophelia:
The Owl, by 1863. Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904). Public domain via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Il_Barbagianni_The_Owl_by_Valentine_Cameron_Prinsep.jpg

Representing Hamlet:
Young Man holding a Skull (Vanitas), c.1626 Oil on canvas.
Frans Hals  (1582/1583–1666). National Gallery. Public domain via   
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Man_with_a_Skull#/media/File:Young_Man_with_a_Skull,_Frans_Hals,_National_Gallery,_London.jpg



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INDEX OF OPHELIA POSTS:
My 2023 series on Ophelia, and earlier Ophelia posts:

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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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