Jonah swallowed by Fish, Hamlet by Pirate Ship, Christ by Tomb
Hannibal Hamlin notes that a popular play, “A Looking Glass for London and England,” featured the prophet Jonah [1] (performed when Shakespeare was with The Lord Strange's Men), and that Elizabeth I named one of her ships Elizabeth Jonas, with a speech that (strangely?) read the Jonah story as a triumph over enemies [2].
Two gospels quote Jesus speaking of the “sign of Jonah” [3]. English citizens were required to attend church, and would have heard these every year of their lives [4].
Many people only know that Jonah was swallowed by a fish. Fewer know that, even after being saved from the fish’s belly, Jonah would rather witness the destruction of Nineveh than see them repent and be saved by God’s mercy. Dennis Taylor notes that Hamlet sparing Claudius at prayer, only to damn him later, is like the vengeful Jonah [5].
Christianity has traditionally considered Jonah in the belly of the fish as a “type” or foreshadowing of Jesus in the tomb for three days. Jonah’s vengefulness is traditionally interpreted in antisemitic terms, with Jonah resembling a stereotypical Judaism preferring an eye for an eye, and Jesus preaching love of enemies [6].
Why does Shakespeare change the Amleth source tale so that Hamlet’s sea-voyage echoes Jonah’s, without mentioning Jonah by name? Perhaps it was already overdone for his audiences, who had already seen a recent popular play with a prophet Jonah character that retold the tale.
The Book of Jonah contrasts Jonah’s vengefulness with God’s mercy, so the Jonah plot echo is especially appropriate in Hamlet: A purgatorial ghost awaits mercy, and after being saved by pirates and rediscovering the memory of Yorick, Hamlet begins (tho’ never fully completes) a slow arc toward mercy.
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] Regarding the Elizabeth Jonas as an Early Modern connection to the Jonah story, I'm indebted to Hannibal Hamlin for an essay/chapter he wrote about A Looking Glass for London and England.
See Hamlin, Hannibal, Part III, chapter 10: “Staging prophecy: A Looking Glass for London and the Book of Jonah," in
Enacting the Bible in Medieval and Early Modern Drama
Eds. Eva Von Contzen and Chanita Goodblatt,
Manchester University Press, 2020.
[2] See previous post: “ Hamlet’s Unnamed Ghost of Jonah, and Elizabethan Executions,” - May 03, 2022:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/05/hamlets-unnamed-ghost-of-jonah-and.html
[3] Luke 11:29-32 and Matthew 12:38-42.
[4] Even if the life of a performing actor made attending morning or evening prayer difficult for an adult Shakespeare, he would have been more available to attend as a boy and younger man before leaving for London. These two readings from Lk 11 and Mt 12 were heard at morning prayer every year on
January 14 (Mt),
February 28 (Lk),
May 14 (Mt),
June 28 (Lk),
September 11 (Mt),
October 25 (Lk)
(See "The Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer")
.
[5] Taylor, Dennis, Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Reformation: Literary Negotiation of Religious Difference. Lexington Books, 2022, p.389.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666902082/Shakespeare-and-the-Elizabethan-Reformation-Literary-Negotiation-of-Religious-Difference
[6] See especially McDERMOTT, RYAN. “The Ordinary Gloss on Jonah.” PMLA 128, no. 2 (2013): 424–38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23489069.
The Ordinary Gloss was a medieval text collecting detailed observations and interpretive insights about scripture and its phrases and wording.
IMAGE TEXT:
Jonah and Hamlet:
- Both have "prophetic souls" or a prophetic destiny they are reluctant to fulfill ("O cursed spite..."), and both find themselves "chosen" to help a sinful/rotten nation toward repentance or reform.
- Both take a boat west, away from their prophetic destinies.
- Both volunteer to leave the boat mid-sea (Jonah volunteers to be thrown overboard; Hamlet, thinking his bloody thoughts, boards the pirate ship to fight them off).
- Both are swallowed, Jonah by a fish, Hamlet outnumbered on the pirate ship and figuratively "swallowed" when the ships separate.
- In both cases, the original ship continues on its course.
- In both, the new mode of transport brings them back to where they will fulfill their prophetic destinies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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