Discussion: The Twelve Days of Shakespeare's Christmas

I had such fun discussing Christmas in Shakespeare with host Rodney Hakim of New York Shakespeare, and with historian Carol Ann Lloyd Stanger!

The discussion was recorded on December 24, which you can find on YouTube at this link:
https://youtu.be/5LqZQ9sS9l8

My curiosity was especially focused on the question: What Bible tales did #Shakespeare and his contemporaries hear in church during the Twelve Days of #Christmas, and how might we find those motifs and themes transformed in Shakespeare's plays?

Researching the Bible readings scheduled in the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer led to some interesting surprises for me, including
"three kings" and "Herod" making an appearance (in the same sentence!) in 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘢 -
and a royal infant attended by shepherds in 𝘈 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦, among other things.

For those who are interested in this topic, for greater detail on biblical connections from the Christmas Bible readings to the plays, also see the INDEX for posts in my series on the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS in Shakespeare’s time (and possible influences on the plays):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html

* When speaking of Shakespeare plays that contain the word "Christmas," I misspoke and said the word occurs once in The M erry Wives of Windsor; Actually, the word "Herod" occurs once in that play. It is The Taming of the Shrew" in which "Christmas" occurs once.

Carol Ann is author of
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘺 (2023),
and
𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘐 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴,
both available at booksellers near you, and/or online.



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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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