Sixth Day of Christmas: Paul's shipwreck, Pericles (Series, Part 6)

On the 6th day of Christmas (December 30) if Shakespeare attended church for morning or evening prayer, what Bible passages would he have heard?

MORNING:
Psalm 30 - The House of David [1].
Isaiah 63 - A vengeful God [2].
Acts 27 Paul shipwrecked.*

EVENING:
Isaiah 64 - Divine intervention [3]?
3 John 1 - Welcome strangers [4]? “Demetrius” [5]?

* Acts 27 is about St. Paul and a shipwreck, reminding us of Shakespeare’s 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, which echoes the geography of Paul’s travels. Hannibal Hamlin refers to the play as “The Acts of 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴” for all of its resemblances to Paul’s journeys [6].

After Paul’s shipwreck, Roman soldiers at first want to execute all prisoners so they don’t escape, but one wants Paul to be spared, an act of mercy. Paul argues that they can all swim to shore: Paul takes the gift of the soldier’s mercy and expands it to include all of the prisoners, not just himself (like a figurative multiplication of loaves [7]).

A shipwrecked Paul may have had special appeal in the British Isles.

This story of mercy is part of the Biblical fabric that informs Shakespeare’s understanding (and “thieves of mercy” in Hamlet 4.6.20-22). While Portia in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 is not very merciful to Shylock, her speech about “the quality of mercy” [8] articulates a biblically-influenced view that is embodied also in this reading (not an allusion to this reading, but strongly related and supported via historical accretion of the theme).

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴’ Pauline echoes might make one wonder if some medieval versions of the tale were designed that way, using a romance tale of a prince seeking a bride as an entertaining way to teach the geography of Paul’s journeys. If Christ is the bridegroom, and the church, his bride, a tale of a bride-seeking prince with losses at sea but human transformation, healing, and reunion in the end, may have made for an engaging way to remember Paul’s travels. It is a tale of reconciliation, finding a lost voice, and struggling to speak against evil [9].


INDEX for posts in this 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

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

[1] A song of dedication for the House of David, but also a Geneva footnote about the sexual sins of King David’s rebellious son, Absalom.

[2] Revenge is one of the most frequent themes in Shakespeare, even in comedies such as Much Ado About Nothing, in which Beatrice asks Benedick to prove his love by killing Claudio - in revenge for his harm to Hero.

[3] The prophet prays that God would intervene, “break the heavens, and come down, and that the mountains might melt at thy presence!” - like the First Player’s speech in Hamlet (2.2.518-522):
Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune! All you gods
In general synod take away her power,
Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel,
And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven
As low as to the fiends!
It also speaks of human depravity (a popular Protestant Reformation theme, voiced by Hamlet in his confession of sins to Ophelia in the “Nunnery Scene,” 3.1.131-140).

[4] Welcome to strangers (like the players - 2.2.548-559) and welcome to what Horatio finds to be “wond’rous strange!” (1.5.185-186) is a repeated theme in Hamlet.

[5] v.12: “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself” (Demetrius happens to be a main character name in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream).  

[6.a.] Hannibal Hamlin, "The Acts of 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴: Shakespeare’s Biblical Romance," from
The Bible on the Shakespearean Stage: Cultures of Interpretation in Reformation England
Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2018. Eds Thomas Fulton and Kristen Poole,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/bible-on-the-shakespearean-stage/acts-of-pericles-shakespeares-biblical-romance/1ED42DDFE9770047AFBC08671D002F94

See also
[6.b.] Hunt, Maurice. “Shakespeare’s ‘Pericles’ and the Acts of the Apostles.” Christianity and Literature 49, no. 3 (2000): 295–309. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44312773 .

[6.c.] Walsh, Brian. “‘A PRIESTLY FAREWELL’: GOWER’S TOMB AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN PERICLES.” Religion & Literature 45, no. 3 (2013): 81–113. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24397716

[6.d.] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Apollonius of Tyre." Encyclopedia Britannica, December 2, 2014. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollonius-of-Tyre

[6.e.] Dean, Paul. "Pericles' Pilgrimage." Essays in Criticism 50.2 (Apr 2000): 125-44.
Cited in John Gower Bibliography Online: https://gower.lib.utsa.edu/items/show/9409

[6.f.] “Appendix: The “Pericles” Story in Gower and Twine,” Folger Shakespeare Library, https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/pericles/appendix-the-pericles-story-in-gower-and-twine/

[7] The multiplication of the loaves and fishes, or the feeding of the multitude, is a story told in each of the canonical gospels: Mark 6:31–44, Matthew 14:13–21, Luke 9:12–17, and John 6:1–15.

[8] 4.1.190-212, Portia (as Balthazar) in her speech before the court of Venice.

[9] Beckwith, Sarah, 'The Recovery of Voice in Shakespeare’s 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴', Shakespeare and the Grammar of Forgiveness (Ithaca, NY, 2011; online edn, Cornell Scholarship Online, 18 Aug. 2016), https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9780801449789.003.0004


IMAGES:
Left: Laurent de La Hyre, French, 1606-1656.
Saint Paul Shipwrecked on Malta (about 1630).
Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art;
Purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. William T. Ratliff, Jr., AFI.1.2004
Courtesy Birmingham Museum of Art.
https://media.artsbma.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11081129/SAN_VOL2BMA_Repositorydb_photod2946u10829468AFI12004_01_p01_o2.jpg

Right: Alfred Enoch as Pericles, Leah Haile as Thaisa in an August 2024 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Pericles. Fair use, via RSC:
https://cdn2.rsc.org.uk/sitefinity/images/productions/2024-shows/pericles/pericles-production-photos/pericles-production-photos_-july-2024_2024_photo-by-johan-persson_378672.tmb-img-1824.jpg?sfvrsn=b1829f21_1&_gl=1*18d49vo*_gcl_au*MTk2NTA4MzY2OC4xNzM1NTkzOTA5


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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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