Hamlet, Uriah, and Shakespeare's Transformation of the Death Letter
In Hamlet, Shakespeare retains the motif of the death letter from the Danish source. Claudius sends a letter with Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet on their journey to England [4.3.67-77], but they don’t know that it orders Hamlet’s death.
People in Shakespeare’s time knew this death letter motif by way of the biblical story of David’s affair with Bathsheba (circa 10c. BCE). King David sends Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to the battlefront with a letter that he is to be placed at the front of battle, and others should pull back. He is killed [1].
A later Greek version of the motif comes from the 8th century BCE myth of Bellerophon [2]. The reluctance of kings to violate rules of hospitality plays a key role in delaying fatal plans and helping Bellerophon prevail in the end.
For anyone who is sad to hear of Uriah’s fate, a faithful soldier deceived by his king and killed, tales like those of Hamlet, Amleth, and Bellerophon may allow the reader or playgoer the satisfaction of a clever hero who turns the tables on his oppressors and survives.
This is at least the third allusion to the biblical David stories in Hamlet, the earlier ones being Hamlet using a play to catch the conscience of the king (2.2.633-4) like the prophet Nathan, using a story about a shepherd (2 Samuel 12), and Hamlet sparing Claudius at prayer (3.3.93-101) like David sparing Saul on two occasions [3].
In the Danish source, the two who accompany Amleth to England are not school friends, but his uncle’s retainers. We feel less conflicted about their deaths than about Hamlet changing the death letter and sending school friends to their deaths.
In this Hamlet as writer of a death-letter becomes more like his enemy, Claudius. We may laugh at deaths of foolish retainers in the Amleth tale, but choke and recoil at Hamlet ordering the deaths of former friends.
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Postscript: The death-letter motif also seems related to efforts of the powerful to wash their hands of the deaths of their enemies, and to maintain (in their minds and in the minds of many observers) a detachment from killing:
- Pontius Pilate does not want to become more unpopular with the crowds, nor to have the death of a popular teacher, Jesus, on his hands, so he sends him off to Herod Antipas, who soon sends him back to Pilate, who washes his hands - he does not want to be dirtied by the work of unpopular executions that might spark an uprising. This is similar to King David, who does not want to kill Uriah outright, so he sends him off to the battle front; and also similar to Claudius, who does not want to kill Hamlet himself, so he commands the vassal state of England to do it for him - in a letter.
- Laius, father of Oedipus, wanted his son dead so that the prophesy that his son would kill him would not come true. Yet he would not do the dirty work of killing his son with his own hands, so he had him abandoned in the wild, tethered by his ankles, hoping that wild beasts would kill him.
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Images: Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), Uriah receiving the death letter from King David (1611, 1619), and Bellerophon (lower left).
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] 2 Samuel 11.
[2] The death letter motif is therefore sometimes called a Bellerophonic letter.
Bellerophon’s adventures in a foreign land resemble those of Amleth and his adventures in England, far more than they do Uriah’s tale.
[3] David spared the life of Saul first at En-Gedi in a cave (1 Samuel 24), and later at Ziph when Saul and his camp were asleep (1 Samuel 26). Saul was still king, considered God’s anointed, so David refused to kill him.
IMAGES:
TOP: Pieter Lastman (1583–1633).
David handing over a letter to Uriah. 1619.
Public domain via Wikipedia https://www.theleidencollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/4.-LastmanPieter.-King-David-Handing-the-Letter-to-Uriah-1611-Copy-1024x849.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_David_Handing_the_Letter_to_Uriah_1611_Pieter_Lastman.jpg
BOTTOM LEFT: Relief of Bellerophon petting Pegasus, from Aphrodisias (near Geyre), Turkey (1st century AD).
BOTTOM RIGHT:
Pieter Lastman (1583–1633).
King David Handing the Letter to Uriah. 1611.
Via Wikipedia. Public domain via https://www.theleidencollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1.-Lastman-Pieter.-David-Gives-Uriah-a-Letter-for-Joab-1619.-Copy-1024x683.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lastman,_Pieter_-_David_handing_over_a_letter_to_Uriah_-_1619.jpg
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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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