Lear and Cordelia as "God's Spies": Tropes and cognitive framing
The trope is present in the tale to which Ophelia alludes in Hamlet 4.5: “the owl was a baker’s daughter,” a tale about Jesus or a fairy in disguise as a beggar at the baker’s door.
It is also present when Henry V (in 4.1) moves disguised among his troops on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, and when Hamlet in 5.1 does not at first reveal to the gravedigger that he is the “mad” prince [2]: Sermons urged that monarchs should be obeyed like God’s representatives on earth, but king and prince purposefully conceal their identities, like spies.
The trope was in medieval tales: King Arthur goes among his people disguised [3], as he does centuries later in Mark Twain's novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889).
Shakespeare was fond of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the gods Zeus and Hermes, disguised like spies, go unwelcomed except by an elderly Baucis and Philemon.
It is present when Hamlet and Horatio in 1.5 see the ghost:
HORATIO: ...this is wondrous strange.
HAMLET: And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. [4]
This points to Hebrews 13:2:
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have received Angels into their houses unawares.”
The trope is present in the Nativity story in Luke 2:1-20, where not an angel but a son of God, born in a manger, is like the future leader of God's sleeper cells of spies among humanity.
We don't have to be religious for the trope to be effective in triggering beneficial cognitive framing [5]: If all treat one another as if they might be figuratively in the presence of a god or monarch in disguise, doing unto "the least of these" as we would do unto a god or the disguised monarch, then the trope and its cognitive framing encourages individuals and society to promote mutual respect and the common good.
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/04/lear-and-cordelia-as-gods-spies-tropes.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] Some since at least 1953 would note that punctuation was not standardized when the Quarto and Forlio of King Lear were published, so they would like to read it not as “God’s spies” but as “gods’ spies.” But this awkwardly forces a consistency that Shakespeare himself doesn’t observe in the play, set in pagan times, when he alludes to scripture. Also, note that the trope is found also in the pagan Ovid (8 A.D.). For one example of this preference for “gods’” see Parrott, T. M. “‘God’s’ or ‘Gods’’ in King Lear, V. Iii. 17.” Shakespeare Quarterly 4, no. 4 (1953): 427–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/2866478.
[2] The gravedigger would not have said that the mad prince went to England (where people are just as mad) if Hamlet had revealed himself beforehand. The gravedigger is also a stranger and (figuratively) a kind of angel in disguise, a fool and kindred spirit of Yorick. The gravedigger is to Hamlet and Horatio (two Danes on the road to Elsinore) something like the stranger was to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: Hamlet welcomes the gravedigger and interacts with him, and instead of recognizing him in breaking of bread, he is recognized as a kindred spirit of Yorick when the gravedigger tells a tale of Yorick pouring a flagon of Rhenish wine over his head - bread and wine being two of the main elements in the Last Supper story. See my series on this topic:
INDEX: Emmaus in Hamlet's Graveyard (and a Venice Courtroom) - August 07, 2024
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-emmaus-in-hamlets-graveyard-and.html
[3] In the Arthurian legends by Malory (c. 1469 - 1470), Arthur sometimes disguised himself as a laborer or gardener to woo Gueniverre, or to observe the court (of which Lear speaks). This may have influenced Shakespeare’s decision to have the queen of Richard II overhear a gardener speaking figuratively in an orchard about politics, and we might note frequent speculation that Shakespeare played the gardener.
[4] On a different topic, this may also point in Hamlet to Lord Strange, former patron of the playing company, who was potentially in line for the throne, but who died, suspected of poison, perhaps because some members of the Tudor court wanted to manipulate the succession. See
Hamlet Act I: "'Tis Strange," a Poisoned King, and a Poisoned Lord Strange - November 06, 2023
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/11/hamlet-act-i-tis-strange-poisoned-king.html
[5] For an excellent example of a book about how rhetoric can activate cognitive framing as in tropes - or in political rhetoric - George Lakoff shows how, once we refer to a common trope or cognitive frame, we can’t say “don’t think of God’s spies” or “don’t think of an Elephant,” because we are already thinking of them, since the cognitive framing was already triggered. See
Lakoff, George. Don't Think of an Elephant! White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004
IMAGES:
Center: King Lear, 5.3.11-20 (Folger):
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down
And ask of thee forgiveness. So we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news, and we’ll talk with them too—
Who loses and who wins; who’s in, who’s out—
And take upon ’s the mystery of things,
As if we were God’s spies. And we’ll wear out,
In a walled prison, packs and sects of great ones
That ebb and flow by th’ moon.
Geoff Elliott (King Lear) and Erika Soto (Cordelia) in King Lear, directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, at A Noise Within. (© Craig Schwartz.) Fair use via https://cs-tm-prod-photos.azureedge.net/123267.jpg
Upper Right: Tom Hiddleston as King Henry V in disguise on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt in The Hollow Crown - Henry V (2012). Fair use via https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/files/2013/10/gper-Henry-IV-mezz.jpg
Lower Right:
George W. Joy (1844–1925),
Cordelia Comforting Her Father, King Lear, in Prison.
Date: 1886. Leeds Art Gallery. Public domain via https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/George_William_Joy_%281844-1925%29_-_Cordelia_Comforting_Her_Father%2C_King_Lear%2C_in_Prison_-_LEEAG.PA.1888.0006_-_Leeds_Art_Gallery.jpg
Lower Left:
Jacob van Oost (1603–).
Mercury and Jupiter in the House of Philemon and Baucis.
Date 17th century.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Public domain via https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Jacob_van_Oost_%28I%29_-_Mercury_and_Jupiter_in_the_House_of_Philemon_and_Baucis.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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