INDEX: When you are desirous to be blest, I'll blessing beg of you (Elijah/Elisha and widow tales)

It's good sometimes to pay special attention to things that we don't understand. This was the case for me with a statement that Hamlet makes to his mother Gertrude in her closet: "When you are desirous to be blest, I'll blessing beg of you." (3.4.192-3) It seems counter-intuitive, that Hamlet would tell his mother that when she is in need of blessing, he would beg one of her.

But it occurred to me that a similar dynamic happens in the Bible, as when the disciples notice that the crowd to which Jesus is preaching is becoming hungry, and instead of creating a miracle, he first asks what food they do have: a few fish and loaves.

Something similar and perhaps even more relevant happens in 1 and 2 Kings, in tales about Elijah (and later, his successor prophet, Elisha) and a widow or widows. In 1 Kings, a widow is hungry or in need, and 2 Kings, her late husband left the family in debt, so the sons may be arrested and taken into debt slavery, to work until the debts are paid in full.

In the first such tale, Elijah asks the woman for something to eat, and she says they only have a little, which they were going to eat and then assume they would starve and die. But the widow does not refuse the "blessing" of hospitality that Elijah asks of her, and she is rewarded.

These allusions, or plot echoes, are especially interesting because they don't use the name "Elijah" or "Elisha," or the word "debt," or "widow," but instead, it points to the dynamics of the tale in a kind of summary abstraction. But the tale was familiar and referenced in official homilies, so at least for some in Shakespeare's original audiences, the allusion would still have worked.

INDEX: Below is an index of the posts in this series:

Part 1, Hamlet to Gertrude: "when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you"
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/11/hamlet-to-gertrude-when-you-are.html

Part 2, Hamlet and inherited debt (2 Kings 4:1-7): "when you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you"
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/12/part-2-hamlet-and-inherited-debt-2.html

Part 3: When you are desirous to be blest, I’ll blessing beg of you (continued)
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/12/part-3-when-you-are-desirous-to-be.html

Part 4: Gertrude's Blessings: Does it matter? - Part 4
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/12/gertrudes-blessings-does-it-matter-part.html

See also my previous post, "Gertrude as Recipient & Source of Gifts: Labors of Gratitude & Regret in Hamlet, part 9": https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/10/gertrude-as-recipient-giver-of-gifts.html

THIS INDEX:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-when-you-are-desirous-to-be-blest.html
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IMAGES:
Top left:
Elijah Raising the Widow's Son, ca.1522 to 1526, by Rensig, Everhard, Lower Rhine (Germany). Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Public Domain, via https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64900/elijah-raising-the-widows-son-panel-rensig-everhard/?carousel-image=2006AL0058

Top center:
Ms. Ludwig IX 19 (83.ML.115), fol. 70, detail: “Border with Elijah Raising the Son of the Widow of Sareptha,” circa 1525–1530, Simon Bening (Flemish, circa 1483 - 1561). No copyright (Public Domain), via Getty: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107SF6

Top right:
Italiano: “Elia e la vedova di Sarepta” (Elijah and the widow of Sarepta). 1624-1625, by Giovanni Lanfranco - Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elia_e_la_vedova_di_Sarepta_-_Lanfranco.JPG

Bottom left:
Jan Victors (1619–1676), “Elijah and the widow of Zarephath,” Poland, 1640s, Museum of John Paul II Collection. Public Domain, via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victors_Elijah_and_the_widow_of_Zarephath.JPG

Bottom center:
Cornelius van Poelenburgh (1594/1595–1667), “The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath,” circa 1630, National Gallery of Art. Public Domain via Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Prophet_Elijah_and_the_Widow_of_Zarephath_A10797.jpg

Bottom right:
Simone Brentana (1656-1742), “Elijah [restoring the son of] the Widow of Zarephath,” before 1742. Pubic Domain, via Wikimedia, via art.net (past auction): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brentana-Elijah.jpg

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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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My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

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

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