Hamlet's "painted faces" as Shakespeare's critique of misogynistic religion?
Hamlet complains to Ophelia that he knows of the “paintings” she, and women in general, make when they take the one face God gave them and make themselves another.
This may represent more than merely a cruel and misogynistic Hamlet, mistreating a former love. Hamlet is quoting almost word-for-word similar statements in a homily of the time. Not by a fringe preacher who made misogynistic remarks about women: An official Elizabethan homily [1].
Claudius uses the analogy of “The harlot's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art,” to describe his “deed” of having killed his brother, covered by lies (3.1.59-62). All acted out by actors who put on faces other than those God gave them, with make-up.
This theme may be very related to England’s iconoclasm and the white-washing of old images in churches [2].
Shakespeare - who created many strong female characters in his plays - would not have been allowed to openly criticize official homilies. But perhaps he used Hamlet’s cruelty toward Ophelia to hold the mirror up to his culture’s contradictions and misogyny?
To further complicate things, Queen Elizabeth I was known to wear thick white makeup, especially after recovery from smallpox. In the graveyard scene, Hamlet, speaking to the skull of Yorick, says,
Now get you to my lady's
chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this
favour she must come. Make her laugh at that.
(5.1.199-202)
After condemning painted faces in the nunnery scene, this may embody a changed Hamlet, more compassionate, less misogynistic like official sermons (less… mad?).
Many condemn Hamlet’s behavior toward Ophelia in the nunnery scene and during the playlet, and rightly so. But the play isn’t over yet, and the nunnery scene itself may reveal profound dissatisfaction with the misogyny of official sermons and the church.
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] “An Homily Against Excess of Apparel,” from the second book of (Elizabethan) homilies (1563), often attributed to John Jewel. Such homilies also condemned dressing above your station (social class). Text here: https://northamanglican.com/an-homily-against-excess-of-apparel/
Excerpt:
"Who can paint her face, and curl her hair, and change it into an unnatural colour, but therein doth work reproof to her Maker, who made her, as though she could make herself more comely than God hath appointed the measure of her beauty? What do these women but go about to reform that which God hath made, not knowing that all things natural is the work of God and things disguised and unnatural be the work of the devil; and as though a wise and a Christian husband should delight to see his wife in such painted and nourished visions?, which common harlots mostly do use, to train therewith their lovers to naughtiness; or as though an honest woman could delight to be like an harlot for pleasing of her husband?"
[2] It is often noted that Shakespeare’s father was charged with the responsibility of whitewashing the walls of the church in Stratford-Upon-Avon, but not as often noted that such paintings were replaced with either commandment boards, or the ten commandments painted on the walls on the new background of white created by the whitewashing. The second commandment as numbered by Protestants was the prohibition against creating “graven images,” perhaps thematically linked to the Protestant aversion to women’s makeup. Image: restored painting on walls of the Guild Chapel in Shakespeare's home town. English: Date 9 June 2018, 08:17:18 / Author Peter K Burian / Used by Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Also see the article, “Did Toxic Makeup Kill Queen Elizabeth I?” by Jake Leigh-Howarth, Updated: September 1, 2023: https://www.culturefrontier.com/death-by-cosmetics-did-make-up-kill-queen-elizabeth-i/
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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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