MARLOWE EASTER EGGS CONNECT CLAUDIUS to FAUST in HAMLET (part 15, Claudius series)
It’s like an Easter Egg [1]. Fans of the 1982 film, E.T., have noticed that one of the Halloween trick-or-treaters wears a Yoda costume, a Star Wars reference, and that in the 1999 film, The Phantom Menace, some members of the galactic senate appear as if from E.T.’s home world.
An Easter Egg in this context is often another way of saying “allusion.” If you know the feelings associated with an image or line in one film, later characters (within or outside of that particular franchise) can repeat that phrase to evoke a similar idea or feeling, with variations.
Filmmakers know that many moviegoers are “literate” in this way regarding other films.
The same was true of Shakespeare, who knew that many in his audiences were familiar with Christopher Marlowe’s plays, including Dr. Faustus.
Massaro and Usher noted in 2022 that the names Cornelius and Voltemand, Ambassador-servants of Claudius, are very like the names of two servants of Marlowe’s Faustus:
"In scene 1.2 of Hamlet, Claudius dispatches
the ambassadors Cornelius and Voltemand to
the king of Norway [...], Their names are
reminiscent of the two friends of Dr Faustus,
Cornelius and Valdes, that appear in Act 1 of
Marlowe’s drama, and this may be one of the
references Shakespeare makes to the most
famous drama written by his possible friend
and inspirator who had been murdered some
years before.” [2]
Why might the names of faithful servants of Claudius echo names of friends of Dr. Faustus? Shakespeare suggests that Claudius is like Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus [3], foreshadowing his damnation.
And here I always assumed that Shakespeare merely liked the electric sound of “Voltemand”...
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] “Easter egg” is a term coined in the late 1970s related to images or messages hidden in video games, but now even more frequently it is another way of saying “allusion.”
[2] From p.755, Enrico Massaro and Peter D. Usher,
“Ancient and Renaissance Astronomers in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy Of Hamlet,”
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 25(4), 745 – 759 (2022).
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter-Usher-2/publication/380210005_ANCIENT_AND_RENAISSANCE_ASTRONOMERS_IN_SHAKESPEARE'S_THE_TRAGEDY_OF_HAMLET/links/6631554a7091b94e93e9ca40/ANCIENT-AND-RENAISSANCE-ASTRONOMERS-IN-SHAKESPEARES-THE-TRAGEDY-OF-HAMLET.pdf
[3] Many scholars have noticed that the first player’s speech in Hamlet echoes aspects of Marlowe’s play, Dido, Queen of Carthage. See also Wikipedia section on Marlowe’s reputation among his contemporaries, which lists a number of passages in Shakespeare plays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Marlowe#Reputation_among_contemporary_writers
IMAGES:
Left: Cover page for Marlowe’s Faustus, 1631 printing, public domain, colorized, via Amazon (fair use):
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/710f2W5XZtL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
Right: Christopher Marlowe, portrait by unknown, 1585, public domain via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Christopher_Marlowe.png
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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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