Dives and Pauper, Hamlet, Ten Commandments, and Falstaff (Series)

Dives and Pauper [1] was an English text from early 1400s, probably by a Franciscan, and although there are no direct allusions in the play to this Middle English text, it has interesting connections to Shakespeare and Hamlet, as well as representing the general influence of the Ten Commandments [2] on the evolution of English religious culture.

The title is an allusion to Luke 16:19-31 in which a rich man (Latin: "Dives") neglects the beggar Lazarus and suffers eternal punishment while Lazarus goes to heaven [3]. Lazarus, whose body had sores that were licked by dogs, was often thought to have been a leper (hence "Lazar houses," hospitals for lepers in England).

The ghost in Hamlet 1.5 thinks a “leperous distillment” of poison that his brother poured in his ear made his skin all "lazar-like" [4]. Ophelia's reference to the story of the owl and the baker's daughter is a folktale retelling, where a baker is rich in bread, but his daughter is repeatedly ungenerous with a beggar at the door who is Jesus or a fairy in disguise [5].

Dives and Pauper often takes the form of a dialogue between a rich man and a poor monk who discuss the Ten Commandments. Underlying assumption: Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven [6]). Most of the commandments are broken by characters in Hamlet.

The author favors translation of the bible into the vernacular and opposed English edicts that made such translation heresy. In part it engages with the ideas of John Wycliffe (early English Bible translator) and the Lollard movement (Sir John Oldcastle, a Lollard who was executed as a heretic, was later renamed Falstaff by Shakespeare to avoid controversy with Oldcastle’s descendents). In other ways, it distinguishes Christian orthodoxy from the Lollards.

Dives and Pauper was reprinted as late as 1536 (by Thomas Berthelet) shortly after Henry VIII had broken with Rome, but many of ideas seemed outdated as the English Reformation evolved. Yet for more than a century (circa 1402–1536 and beyond) it influenced English religious thinking, relating the Ten Commandments to civil law and evolving religious thinking.

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

[1] Dives and Pauper is still available (Middle English, Ed. P. H. Barnum, Early English Text Society, 1980), but no translation from Middle English is yet available.

[2] This post is part in a series on Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Ten Commandments: For the index to the series (still evolving), see this link:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/07/series-index-ten-commandments-in-hamlet.html

[3] In Henry IV, Part 1 (4.2), Falstaff compares his poor and ragged conscripts for military service to the beggar Lazarus, noting that he has accepted bribes to let rich men avoid service.

[4] See the series on my blog regarding these allusions to the Rich Man and Lazarus:
THE GHOST OF LAZARUS HAUNTS HAMLET - January 08, 2018:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-ghost-of-lazarus-haunts-hamlet.html

[5] See my previous post:
Owl & Beggar Lazarus at Baker's Door in Hamlet 4.5 (part 11) - April 27, 2021:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-begggar-lazarus-at-bakers-door-in.html

[6] Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, and Luke 18:25.


IMAGES:
UPPER LEFT: Workshop of Domenico Fetti, The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, 1618/1628. Domenico Fetti 1589 - 1623. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Public domain via https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.229.html

UPPER RIGHT: Text image - circa 1496, of an edition auctioned at Christies, which sold for GBP 11,750 or around $16k USD.
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-1837994

LOWER LEFT: Final page of text (approx. 1402–1405) - image via wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dives_and_Pauper#/media/File:Image_of_the_manuscript_of_Dives_and_Pauper.jpg

LOWER RIGHT: 1980 edition cover, Dives and Pauper, Text Vol. I, Part 2 (EETSO) by P.H. Barnum (Editor):
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31SHXtK8IGL._SY466_.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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Thanks for reading!
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