Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Letter and Mousetrap, Twelfth Night and Hamlet: Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night, and his tragedy, Hamlet, were written around the same time: Certain details of themes, motifs, and plot mechanics suggest a variety of connections (in addition to Hamlet feigning madness and Viola feigning being a young man...). One of these is the function of the letter that brings about the demise of the steward Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and “The Mousetrap” playlet used by Hamlet to catch the conscience of his monarchs. Both are used to entrap a powerful person, both artifacts of writing (letter) or based on them (playlet). The letter in Twelfth Night is written in the hand of Maria for how it resembles that of Olivia, so it is like a forgery, but never called that. Some form of the word forgery occurs three times in Hamlet, spoken by the ghost, Polonius, and Claudius, usually in a metaphorical rather than literal sense [2]. Hamlet on the ship to England finds the letter from Claudius to England...

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night , there is a curious exchange of a message with a ring, spread over multiple scenes: 1.5: Olivia sends Malvolio with a ring (of her own) and a message, claiming (falsely) that Cesario (Viola in disguise) had delivered it for Duke Orsino  [1]. But it was not actually Orsino's ring as Olivia claims to Malvolio; it was Olivia's ring, so this lie to Malvolio is like a kind of forgery. - Malvolio is to "return" the ring to Cesario - who never actually gave it in the first place - and who (Olivia says) should return it to Orsino. - Actually, Olivia wants an excuse for Cesario to return, since Oliva enjoys Cesario’s company. - Malvolio is to tell Cesario only to come back if it is to report how Duke Orsino received the ring. The rest of this unfolds in 2.2 (ring delivered to a dumbfounded Cesario) and 3.1 (Olivia apologizes for any confusion or dishonor caused by the ring conceit) [2]. In October of 2020, Alicia Hughes of the University of Gl...

How might Londoners have reacted to seeing Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at its first public performance on February 2, 1602 [1]? The play’s character Olivia, mourning a father’s and brother’s deaths, and reluctant to marry, might easily remind them of their queen, Elizabeth I. Olivia hides her face with a veil (1.1; 1.5); Elizabeth survived smallpox and hid her facial scars with thick makeup [2]. Olivia’s steward, Malvolio, might remind many of the late William Cecil, long-time advisor to Elizabeth and sometime spymaster [3]. Malvolio intercepts a letter - a forgery by Maria, designed to entrap him and bring about his downfall, which he believes contains a code - this would remind audiences of the downfall of Mary Queen of Scots (executed February 1587), accomplished in part by intercepted letters – some in code, some alleged forgeries - overseen by Cecil [4]. Mary claimed at her trial “That it was an easy matter to counterfeit the Ciphers and Characters of others” [5]. It was an old ...

If Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is related to Christmas and Epiphany, how so? Some would say only by title [1] and only in a secular sense for having Sir Toby Belch as a “Lord of Misrule,” a secular Christmas tradition [2]. There’s no baby Jesus, no shepherds, no angels, no Magi.  But consider: Viola and Sebastian come from far away, like the Magi. They are shipwrecked, like St. Paul, saved from water, or like the inhabitants of Noah’s ark (which Sir Toby mentions) after storms and flood. The scripture readings for both St. Paul’s shipwreck and Noah’s ark were read every year in English churches during the Christmas season [3]. The twins are refugees in enemy land, like the Holy Family in Bethlehem under Herod the Great [4]. “Wise men/man” is spoken six times in the play by various characters [5].   The use of Sir Toby Belch as “Lord of Misrule,” and the downfall of the proud and Puritanical Malvolio, echo what the Virgin Mary says in reply to the angel Gabriel on being told ...

People argue about Hamlet’s age. The ghost calls him “thou noble youth” (1.5); Ophelia describes his “blown youth / Blasted with ecstasy” (3.1). Hamlet was a university student: Rhodri Lewis notes, “the median age of matriculation at Oxford for the years 1600-02 was 17.1. Among the aristocracy and gentry it was substantially lower, at 15.9 years” [1]. But given the gravedigger’s remarks in two later editions [2] regarding Hamlet’s birth and Yorick’s death, people assume Hamlet was 30 and ignore references to his youth. Yet why would he still be at university at 30, and want to go back? [3] Rhodri Lewis makes an argument for the gravedigger feigning a competence with numbers that he doesn’t possess [4].   Perhaps too many assume that Shakespeare was writing under the same rules as modern writers regarding faithfulness to details. The gravedigger’s estimate of 30 years may also have pointed to at least [edit] four famous Elizabethan men who died in their 30s, and perhaps also a rel...

2024 was a very good year for the Hamlet’s Bible blog… VIEWS FOR THE YEAR came to about 17k, averaging about 326 views per week over the year. This was slightly more than a 90% increase over the average for the past six years, which was about 9k per year and 172 per week, out of a six-year total of 53.6 k views (and possibly higher [1]) from more than 80 countries since January 1, 2019. So overall, views have been steadily increasing. 17 SERIES SO FAR: Since I started posting (first on LinkedIn in 2017), I have done 17 series [2], for an average slightly more than two series per year. OPHELIA In 2024, I finished my series on Ophelia (my longest) [3]. CLAUDIUS This past year I started a new series on Claudius (to be continued at greater length in 2024) [4]. TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS I did a brief series on the twelve days of Christmas (concluding soon) [5]. POSTS WITH HIGHEST VIEWS Views of posts from the Ophelia series dominated the year, as might be expected for a long series, but o...

MASTER INDEX to quickly find the index for each series on the blog (reverse-chronology): I have long wanted to compile a master index to make it easier for readers to find the various series I have written over the years. Here it is! Thank you for your interest. 17 - The Twelve Days of Christmas in Churches of Shakespeare’s Time (Dec. 25, 2024-Jan. 2025) INDEX https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html 16 - Claudius (Nov 19, 2024-) INDEX https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/11/index-why-claudius-not-feng-whats-in.html 15 - Ophelia (and Gertrude) (June 2023-Aug. 2024). INDEX: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/10/index-of-ophelia-posts-2023-series-and.html 14 - Hamlet as Boy Jesus in Temple (Jan. 31-May 2, 2023). INDEX: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/index-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus-lost.html 13 - Jonah (23 April, 2018, 16 April - 5 May, 2022 + April 12). INDEX: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.co...

The FEAST of the EPIPHANY in churches of Shakespeare’s time [1], JANUARY 6, celebrates the magi “from the east” who followed a star, met with Herod, paid homage to Jesus, and were warned in a dream to go home by another way [2]. City-dwellers may neglect the stars, but in Shakespeare they can be foreboding or determine fate; one can be “star-crossed” ( Romeo and Juliet ), or out of another’s star (Ophelia/ Hamlet ), or one might guide a ship by them; Shakespeare mentions them more than 100 times (a sample): “Look, the unfolding star calls up the shepherd.” - Measure for Measure “That I should love a bright particular star” - All's Well That Ends Well “O eastern star!” - Antony and Cleopatra “Our Jovial star reign'd at his birth” - Cymbeline “When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his course t' illume that part of heaven Where now it burns…” - Hamlet      “I am constant as the northern star” - Julius Caesar In the gospel, and in sleepless dreams of...

From a 2023 post [1]: ...Balthazar (the dark-skinned magi of the evolving Epiphany tradition) became a kind of touchstone or symbol of otherness, diversity, and tolerance. And so it is also perhaps no surprise that the name Balthasar occurs five times in Shakespeare’s plays, twice as servants (in Romeo and Juliet, and in The Merchant of Venice), once as a singer in Much Ado About Nothing, once as a merchant in The Comedy of Errors, and once as a lawyer, Portia’s courtroom disguise in The Merchant of Venice, where she is called a "Daniel"; a play in which Portia considers suitors from many lands. Shakespeare also has a play named after the night before the Epiphany, Twelfth Night. The three Magi are outsiders, foreigners, and so are the siblings in Twelfth Night who are shipwrecked on the island of Illyria, the land of their enemies. But by the end of that play, the siblings both marry leading personages from Illyria, contributing to themes of diversity, tolerance, reconcili...

ON THE 12TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS IN CHURCHES OF SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, JANUARY 5, here are the scriptures congregations would have heard: In Psalm 5, David again assumes that God is vengeful and will come to his aid [1]. In Romans 4 we hear of works vs. faith, and again, of circumcision of the heart, a topic repeated in church every day since the Feast of the Circumcision [2]. (How does a character in a play outwardly manifest inner change?) Genesis 7 and 8 continue the Noah tale, referenced in at least two Shakespeare plays [3]. In Gen 7, the flood comes, 40 days and nights of rain. In Gen 8, rains stop, floods subside; all on the ark are saved. From December 30 (Paul’s shipwreck, with echoes of Pericles ) [4], to January 4-5, we get perils on water, a theme in many Shakespeare plays in which the sea features prominently [5]. Shakespeare had many sources for his plays, but the scriptures stories read in church that involved water – Noah, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jonah, Jesus walking on w...

On the 11TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, JANUARY 4, church congregations would have heard the following scriptures, part of the religious-literary fabric from which Shakespeare borrowed: Psalm 4 involves David’s prayer when he was persecuted by King Saul. David must be clever to avoid being killed by Saul, as Hamlet must be clever to avoid being killed by Caudius. Genesis 5 tells of Lamech, descendant of Seth and Methuselah, not to be confused with Lamech descendant of Cain, mentioned on the 3rd, “Lameth” being an anagram of “Hamlet” [1]. Matthew 3 speaks of John the Baptist (mentioned on Christmas Day, "First Day of Christmas," and on the last two Sundays of Advent), and of his baptizing of Jesus in the Jordan, an echo of Moses leading the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s Egypt. John the Baptist, as previously mentioned [2], is alluded to in Hamlet and his player queen, “Baptista” (3.2.263). Romans 3 speaks again of circumcision, as did the Feast of the Circumcision ...