Claudius and his Mini-Me in Hamlet and Chaucer (Claudius series, Part 14)
The repetition of the name Claudius may imply both that the servant is like a fawning courtier, and that Appius Claudius was vain to hire a servant who shared his name. The villain-with-a-sidekick is a tradition also tapped into by the Austin Powers spy-comedy, Goldmember, with its villain, Dr. Evil, who has a sidekick Mini-Me (played by Verne Jay Troyer) [3].
I mentioned in Part 4 that scholars note the influence of Chaucer in as many as nine Shakespeare plays [4]. So it’s clear that Shakespeare knew Chaucer’s work.
But did he know of Claudius-times-two in that tale?
It would be easier to believe that he did, and was indicating so in Hamlet, if only he had included some servant of Claudius who was also named Claudius....
Hmmm....
Try Hamlet 4.7, when a messenger (via sailors) brings letters from Hamlet:
~~~~~
MESSENGER: Letters, my lord, from
Hamlet.
These to your Majesty, this to the Queen.
KING [CLAUDIUS]: From Hamlet? Who brought them?
MESSENGER:
Sailors, my lord, they say. I saw them not.
They were given me by Claudio.
(4.7.39-44)
~~~~~
Claudio!
To be clear, the role Claudio plays in Hamlet is much smaller than the role that the servant Claudius plays in Chaucer's "The Physician's Tale." Claudio never has any lines.
Any number of names could have been given as the source of the messages. This is information we don't need, which does not advance the plot in the least.
For these reasons, inserting “Claudio” may likely be a nod from Shakespeare to Chaucer's pair of Claudiuses (Claudii) in "The Physician's Tale."
INDEX on “Claudius” in Hamlet instead of “Feng” (Nov 19, 2024-)
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] Part 4: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/02/claudius-hamlet-and-chaucers-physicians.html
[2] As mentioned earlier in the series, I’m indebted to Riccardo Cocchi for noticing the possible connection between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chaucer’s “The Physician’s Tale” with its characters of Appius Claudius and his “churl” (yet another) Claudius.
[3] Note how Hamlet comments to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern regarding the popularity of images in little - small drawings or paintings - of the new king (mini-portraits, like Mini-Me, an example of a kind of idolatry for fawning courtiers):
HAMLET It is not very strange; for my uncle is King of
Denmark, and those that would make mouths at
him while my father lived give twenty, forty, fifty,
a hundred ducats apiece for his picture in little.
’Sblood, there is something in this more than natural,
if philosophy could find it out.
(2.2.386-391)
[4] Drawing on “Shakespeare's Chaucer” by Ann Thompson, and “The Swan at the Well” by E. Talbot Donaldson, Michael Plunkett cites nine Shakespeare plays that show clear influences of Chaucer:
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594–1595)
The Taming of the Shrew (1593–1594)
Romeo and Juliet (1594–1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595–1596)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600–1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601–1602)
Cymbeline (1609–1610)
The Tempest (1611–1612)
The Two Noble Kinsmen (1612–1613)
(Listed, for better or worse, according to E.K. Chambers' 1930 chronology)
See Michael Plunkett,
Shakespeare and Chaucer: Dream Visions and Dramatic Designs (Ph.D dissertation):
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4011&context=gc_etds
IMAGES:
Left: Verne Jay Troyer as Mini-Me and Austin Powers as Dr. Evil in the 2002 film, Goldmember (New Line Cinema), via Austin Powers fan page at Fandom-dot-com: Fair use.
https://austinpowers.fandom.com/wiki/Mini-Me?file=Mini_Me_5.jpg
Right: Patrick Stewart as Claudius in the 2009 BBC film of Hamlet. Stewart also played the ghost in this production. Image fair use via BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/hamlet/characters/claudius.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
Comments
Post a Comment