Bullough, Jenkins, Asimov on Claudius as changed name of Hamlet's uncle Feng (Part 13, Claudius series)
Asimov:
"The reigning King of Denmark, who has succeeded the elder Hamlet[...] is Claudius. Shakespeare has chosen an aristocratic Roman name for the purpose. (It was the name of a patrician family in the time of the Republic and one from which several of the early emperors were descended—including Claudius, the fourth Emperor, under whom Britain was conquered in the years following Cymbeline's death.[1]) In Saxo Grammaticus' original tale, the new King was named Feng, and perhaps Shakespeare did well to change that." (87) [2]
Jenkins:
"The King's name is knows from his first entry-direction and first speech-heading, after which, however, it is never used again." [3]
Jenkins continues:
"It was evidently suggested by that of the Roman emperor who married Agrippina, his niece and the mother of Nero, referred to at III.ii.384-5. Claudius was cited by Erasmus (Institutio Principis Christiani) along with Caligula as the type of the bad ruler, and in the incestuous marriage and the uncle-stepfather the analogies with Hamlet are obvious. Equally obviously, since the emperor was murdered by his wife, who was murdered by her son, one must resist the temptation to extend them." *
[* them - the analogies]
Bullough: Shakespeare "… certainly intended the parallel …” [4]
Jenkins: "...resist the temptation to extend" the analogies:
Don’t expect Gertrude to poison Claudius (as Nero’s mother did Claudius I of Rome), or to be killed by Hamlet (as Nero killed his mother). With Shakespeare, better to tolerate some allusive inconsistencies: As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously noted, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." [5]
Also, the fact that the parallelism works with Claudius I of Rome doesn’t mean the name is based *only* on this one Claudius, and not other rich intertextual possibilities.
INDEX for series on the uncle’s name as “Claudius” in Shakespeare's Hamlet instead of “Feng” in the Danish source from 1200 AD:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/11/index-why-claudius-not-feng-whats-in.html
NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
[1] Asimov, Isaac. Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, Volume Two: The English Plays. New York: Doubleday, 1970. In another part (pp. 52-76) of the same volume (II) cited here, Asimov goes into more detail regarding Cymbeline and Roman Emperor Claudius I under whose authority Britain was invaded and conquered.]
[2] Ibid, Asimov (87).
[3] This is curious, as if Shakespeare's reluctance to name him in dialogue intends to erase his existence? See footnote 2, p. 163,
Hamlet, Arden edition, ed. Harold Jenkins (London: Methuen, 1982, reprinted by Thompson Learning, 2000, from which page numbers for Jenkins' notes are taken here).
[4] Bullough, G., 1996. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Volume 7. London, Routledge.
[5] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essay, “Self Reliance,” 1841.
IMAGES:
Upper left: Geoffrey Bullough, The British Academy 1982, fair use.
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1226/68p495.pdf
Upper right: Harold Jenkins, The British Academy 1982, fair use.
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1574/111p553.pdf
Lower left: Isaac Asimov, Encyclopædia Britannica, fair use.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Asimov#/media/1/38699/218437
Access Date: April 6, 2025.
Lower right: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ralph-Waldo-Emerson#/media/1/185770/235807
Access Date: April 6, 2025.
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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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