Works vs. Faith in Hamlet: Changeling Letter vs. the Mercy of Pirates

When Shakespeare's Hamlet was first produced, a hot topic in reformation England was faith vs. works: Are we justified in the eyes of heaven by our faith, or our works?

All Christians (Catholic, Protestant, and others) used bible translations featuring St. Paul who wrote of salvation by faith (e.g. Romans 3:28, 5:1; Galatians 2:16).

But a letter of James said that "faith without works is dead" (2:14-26) and that "a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (v.24).

This apparent contradiction is similar to what Shakespeare's Richard II notes while imprisoned, comparing what seem to be incompatible scripture phrases:

"...thoughts of things divine, are intermixed
With scruples, and do set the word itself
Against the word..." (5.5.12-14).

On faith v. works, Protestants preferred Paul's formulations, while Catholics preferred James.

Events on Hamlet's sea voyage relate to this debate without ever using the words “faith” or “works”:

1. Hamlet thinks that by discovering the sealed letter carried by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern which orders his death, and by forging a new "changeling" letter (5.2.60), he has saved himself by his own works. This is not really true:

2. When a pirate ship comes alongside theirs, Hamlet, still thinking "bloody" thoughts (4.4.69), leaps onto it to fight them off. Then the ships separate. He is taken prisoner. The pirates (like “thieves of mercy”) bring him back to Denmark for reward: “they knew what they did: I am to / do a good turn for them” (4.6.21-11).

So in order to save his own life, Hamlet did not have to change the death letter so that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would be executed. The mercy of pirates saved him (perhaps through some unseen plan of heaven unknown to them), not his own actions.

Hamlet would later say, "There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will" (5.2.11-12). The sea voyage demonstrates this, with the mercy of pirates more necessary than Hamlet's own deadly rough-hewing in his forged "changeling" letter.

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

IMAGES:
TOP: Example of a ship from around the time of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, more than the time of the Saxo Grammaticus source tale:
Artist: Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677).
Title: A Flute. State 2.
Date: Unknown.
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.
Artwork from University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection.
Scanned by University of Toronto.
Public domain via https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Wenceslas_Hollar_-_A_Flute_%28State_2%29.jpg

BOTTOM:
Example of a ship from around the time of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, more than the time of the Saxo Grammaticus source tale:
Artist: Reinier Nooms, called Zeeman.
Title: The "Vergulde Dolphyn," a Large Merchant Vessel, and the "Kat," a Flute.
Date: c. 1652 /1654. Medium etching with drypoint on laid paper.
Collection: National Gallery of Art.
Source/Photographer https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/210448
National Gallery of Art, East Building.
This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the National Gallery of Art.
Permission: Creative Commons CC-Zero. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Reinier_Nooms%2C_called_Zeeman%2C_The_%22Vergulde_Dolphyn%2C%22_a_Large_Merchant_Vessel%2C_and_the_%22Kat%2C%22_a_Flute%2C_c._1652_-1654%2C_NGA_210448.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.