Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Margaret Jean (Smith) Arnold (1934-2025) was a literary scholar whose work on Shakespeare I encountered and enjoyed before our paths crossed in other ways: in an October, 2023 blog post [1], I considered Hamlet’s mother Gertrude as perhaps willing to secretly test the wine for poison before her son, and in that way, perhaps to be compared to the self-sacrifice of Alcestis, about whom Shakespeare would have known at least second hand through the work of Euripides, which Margaret J. Arnold cited in 1984 as “the most popular Greek dramatist in Shakespeare's time” [2]. I stumbled on Margaret’s 1984 essay because I briefly researched how Shakespeare would have known about the tale of Alcestis. This led to Euripides, and then to Margaret’s helpful work. Soon I noticed that Margaret was participating in various online Shakespeare groups to which I share my blog posts, and she often liked these and sometimes commented in kind and generous ways. Fairly soon, we exchanged messages. When I ...

HUGGER-MUGGER: Shakespeare has Claudius use these words to describe the burial of Polonius in Hamlet 4.5. "Hugger-mugger" means "secret," "chaotic," "clandestine, sly," or "disorderly, chaotic" [1].  Shakespeare consulted the 1579 Thomas North translation of Plutarch, which used “hugger-mugger” to describe the burial of Julius Caesar [2]. Polonius once played Julius Caesar in a play production, as he reveals to Hamlet in 3.2.  HUGGER-MUGGER as HOARDING a SECRET:  To do something secretly is to hoard the knowledge of the thing: Claudius hoards not only knowledge of the secret burial of Polonius, but also of his murder of his own brother.  IMPOSTUME:  Observing Norway’s troops ready to invade Poland, Hamlet notes:  This is th’ impostume of much wealth and peace, That inward breaks and shows no cause without Why the man dies. (4.4.28-30) An impostume is an abscess, as if the body is secretly hoarding puss from an infection. Hamlet impli...

References to Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from Horatio (1.1) and from Polonius (3.2) may remind us that Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar (published 1599), only shortly preceded his Hamlet (published 1603-4); the earlier play may still have been in the company’s repertoire. But besides good advertising, why mention Julius in this play? HORATIO: “In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets” (1.1.125-8) Horatio is at first a doubting Thomas, yet he mentions not graves opening after Jesus’ death (Matt 27:51-53), but another J.C.: Julius Caesar, tyrant who crossed the Rubicon with his army, violating the social order. Polonius mentions playing Caesar at university, killed in the capital: “Brutus killed me.” HAMLET: It was a brute part of him to kill so capital a calf there.” (3.2.111-2) This foreshadows that Hamlet will stab Polonius in a later sce...

Why does Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” refer to the Trojan war? Some may think that Trojan War references in Shakespeare merely represented a Renaissance obsession with things Greek. But the Trojan War speech in Hamlet also alludes to (1) a Greek-themed Marlow play [1]; (2) the widow Hecuba’s grief [2] (a contrast with Gertrude); (3) the pause of Pyrrhus (like Hamlet hesitating to kill Claudius at prayer) [3]. When the players arrive in Elsinore and perform a speech at Hamlet’s request, he asks for a speech about Hecuba, mother of Paris, witnessing the revenge killing of her husband, King Priam. Priam is about to be killed by Pyrrhus, son of Achilles, in revenge for Priam's son Paris having killed Pyrrhus’ father. Revenge begets revenge and more grieving widows, a terrible cycle. Appropriate for Hamlet. “The Judgment of Paris” involves Paris having to choose the fairest goddess. Each goddess offers bribes, with Aphrodite promising Helen of Troy. Paris chooses Aphrodite, and soon abducts ...