Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Ophelia and Laertes know their father’s burial was abbreviated and secretive [1]. Claudius says, For good Polonius’ death, and we have done but greenly In hugger-mugger to inter him… [2] Claudius confides in Laertes that Hamlet killed his father [3]: This suits his purposes, to enlist the help of Laertes to kill Hamlet without Claudius revealing that he killed his brother, the king. But Claudius does not reveal to Ophelia how her father died. While he confides in Laertes, Ophelia is drowning [4]. There is no scene in Hamlet in which a character tells Ophelia that Hamlet killed her father. None. No character refers to Ophelia having been told, or knowing it, or finding out via gossip from Elsinore guards or servants. This may *not* be a small point: It is one thing to assume that Ophelia should be defined mostly by her familial and romantic relationships, and to have gone mad merely because of them. Yet it is very different for her to be defined by political awakenings, to have - lov...

On Instagram, ShakespearesSchoolroom notes, "during the restoration of Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall in 2016 a rare medieval wall painting was uncovered. Identified by experts as John the Baptiste..." [1]. Interesting to think of a young Shakespeare perhaps seeing that and other paintings of the prophet, and later naming the player queen in Hamlet as "Baptista," after the prophet who condemned the marriage of Herod Antipas to his brother's divorced wife. Also, when Jesus goes to be baptized by John at the Jordan River, John says to Jesus, *you* should be baptizing *me* - but Jesus replies, "Let be." Famous line also in Hamlet, and in Paul McCartney's song catalog. In some of the old variorum Shakespeare editions, some editors resisted the idea that "Baptista" was an allusion to John the Baptist, claiming it was merely a common female name, but Joseph Ritson (1752-1803) held his ground and said it was. Good for him. Even centuri...

Last week I posted [1] about a 1948 journal article by E. G. Berry [2], arguing that Shakespeare’s Hamlet resembled Roman Emperor, Claudius I. [3]. Berry argued that these resemblances are stronger in Shakespeare than in the 1200 A.D. source story from Saxo Grammaticus. What Berry doesn’t emphasize, but makes clear: 1. Saxo did not fashion his prince as a mirror image of his murderous uncle, although Amleth does resemble aspects of Claudius I. No similarity between prince and uncle is emphasized by Saxo. 2. By naming the uncle “Claudius,” Shakespeare invites audiences to view the prince and uncle in a radically revised relationship. Instead of a simple opposition between hero and villain, by changing the uncle’s name from “Feng” to “Claudius,” Shakespeare creates a new mirror effect between the two that was not present in Saxo’s older source tale. By pointing to Claudius I, Shakespeare points to Rome, which has an origin story involving a twin, Romulus, who kills his brother Remus [4...

CLAUDIUS I, EMPEROR OF ROME, IS IN MANY WAYS A MIRROR IMAGE OF HAMLET, making “Claudius” a fascinating name choice for Hamlet’s uncle. In 1948, E. G. Berry explained this, drawing on Suetonius [1]: Claudius, like Hamlet, pretended to be mad or stupid as a survival strategy (74). [2] “Like Hamlet, Claudius is delayed and obstructed in his coming to his rightful authority [...]; Claudius has to remain in a state of pupillage to a late age, kept in that state by his uncle Tiberius, and Hamlet [...] spent a longer time than usual at Wittenberg and then [...] is detained a virtual prisoner by his uncle Claudius.” (76) Hamlet’s “extraordinarily loose, even obscene language in addressing Ophelia in III, i  and in the play scene” resembles Suetonius’ description of Claudius’ behaviors. (76) “In [...] ability and scholarship there is [...] likeness between Hamlet the scholar and the talented and scholarly Claudius. [...] denied authority and recognition by the usurping emperor.” (76-77) “...

Claudius I (reigning 41-53 AD) married his niece [1], which in Shakespeare’s time would have been considered incestuous. The same niece and wife later allegedly poisoned him [2]. During “The Mousetrap,” while the court views the playlet about a poisoned king, Hamlet says the poisoner is “nephew to the king” [3]. Instead of merely catching his uncle’s conscience, Hamlet makes a veiled threat upon the life of Claudius. [4]. INCEST, ANTI-TRANSCENDENCE, CANNIBALISM: In Shakespeare, incest has more than literal meanings: Monarchs who marry too close a familial relation may fear they must defend their throne from outsiders (so foreigners and strangers may not be welcome, contrary to biblical mandate). Fear and self-concern become more important than more healthy and transcendent concerns. Incest also took on great importance as the reason Henry VIII gave for seeking a divorce from his first wife [5]. In Pericles, Shakespeare will later pair cannibalism (traditionally and metaphorically) ...