Part 1: Hamlet's uncle "Claudius" as lame, satyr, & polysemous
Last week I hinted at reasons why Shakespeare may have named Hamlet’s uncle Claudius. Consider a prerequisite: Too many people limit thinking to binaries, either-or, yes-no, treating words like “Claudius” as ciphers with a single meaning, an allusion to one historical or literary figure. The trick is not to decode a single meaning, but to embrace multiple possibilities, like stepping into a multiverse [1], or what Julia Kristeva and others call “intertextuality” [2]. The name “Claudius” can mean more than one thing (can be polysemous), each meaning relevant in its own way. Next, note that “Claudius” can mean “lame” [3]. Maybe King Hamlet’s brother was disabled and was thought less fit for rule than his brother, like Richard III (of hunched-back fame, blamed in another Shakespeare play for killing the young princes in the tower, getting rightful heirs out of his way). First, “Claudius” can mean “lame” [3] Maybe King Hamlet’s brother was disabled and was thought less fit for rule than hi...
