Hamlet and the Seventh Commandment: No adultery (series)
The Seventh Commandment (against adultery) relates to Hamlet in at least three ways:
1. GERTRUDE:
The ghost calls his brother “that adulterate beast” (1.5.49-54) [1]. But was this *before* the king’s death, or is the ghost complaining that Gertrude still belonged to him even after his death? Gertrude never admits to adultery. She may have been convinced to marry Claudius to prevent war with Norway (1.2.5-25), in spite of the scandal of a marriage to a dead husband’s brother. The spots she sees on her soul (3.4.100-102 ) may be more for a biblically incestuous marriage and denying her son the throne than adultery – or perhaps in retrospect she feels guilty for not suspecting Claudius of murder?
2. BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS TO ADULTERY IN HAMLET:
- Hamlet’s “Mousetrap” echoes that of the prophet Nathan, catching the conscience of King David after adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11-12).
- Hamlet names the player queen “Baptista,” after John the Baptist, beheaded after opposing the incestuous, adulterate marriage of a king to his brother’s wife.
- Hamlet calls Polonius a “Jephthah,” son by the adultery of Gilead with a harlot or temple prostitute.
3. ADULTERY OF TUDOR MONARCHS:
- The "Great Matter" of Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife was inextricably related to his adultery with Anne Boleyn. Henry often had relations with a new lover and future bride before he divorced or had a current wife executed. For early audiences of Hamlet, it would be very hard not to feel connections between accusations of adultery and incest against Claudius, and similar accusations against Henry [2].
- Elizabeth I was plagued by rumors of adultery with her married “favorite,” Lord Robert Dudley. Dudley’s wife Amy Rosbart died in 1560 of a broken neck, but there were rumors that she had been killed so that he would be free to marry Elizabeth. That would never be, yet rumors about his first wife’s death followed Robert until his own death in 1588.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare didn’t retell an old Danish tale of royal adultery and murder for its own sake, but to hold a mirror up to his times.
INDEX to this series on Hamlet and the Ten Commandments:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/07/series-index-ten-commandments-in-hamlet.html
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] Many readers, playgoers, and critics have long assumed that the ghost accuses Gertrude and Claudius of having a relationship before Claudius poisoned the king. But note what the ghost actually says:
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts—
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!—won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (1.5.49-53)
The ghost might believe that she still belongs to him after death, and the winning over of Gertrude may have taken place after his death. From the ghost’s point of view (clouded by sin, foul crimes for which he is being “purged”), it may seem traitorous and adulterous only because it was an incestuous and sudden marriage, even if there were no relations between Gertrude and Claudius until after he poisoned his brother.
[2] Henry had married the widow of his older brother Arthur, and sought special dispensation from Rome to marry her. So for early audiences of Hamlet, there was no way they could not hear the play and fail to feel connections between accusations of incestuous marriage adultery against Claudius, and similar accusations against Henry.
IMAGES:
Top left: Glenn Close as Gertrude and Alan Bates as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990). Fair use.
https://vinhanley.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/69d67e3f7a9bb0adf6cb8b412a54f006.jpg
https://vinhanley.com/2016/04/29/the-king-and-queen-in-hamlet/
Top right: Édouard Cibot (1799–1877), Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London, 1835. Musée Rolin. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Death_Rock_Me_Asleep#/media/File:Anne_Boleyn_London_Tower_(cropped).jpg
Middle left: The prophet Nathan catching the conscience of King David (c. 1633). Jacob Backer. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://www.pubhist.com/w7805]
Middle right: Salome with the head of John the Baptist, who had condemned her mother’s marriage to her brother-in-law as incestuous (1900). Lovis Corinth (1858–1925). Leipzig, Museum of Fine Arts. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leipzig,_Museum_der_bildenden_K%C3%BCnste,_Lovis_Corinth,_Salome_II.JPG
Bottom left: Lord Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth’s early favorite, circa 1560-1565. Attributed to Steven van der Meulen (fl. 1543–1563). Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dudley,_1st_Earl_of_Leicester#/media/File:Robert_Dudley.jpg
Bottom right: Amy Rosbart (possibly), wife of Robert Dudley. The identity of the woman portrayed is debated, but may be Amy Rosbart. 16th-century circular portrait miniature, often attributed to artist Lucas Horenbout, depicting a young woman against a blue background with Latin inscriptions indicating an age of eighteen. Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer).
https://melanievtaylor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/amy-r.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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 usually post every week.
1. GERTRUDE:
The ghost calls his brother “that adulterate beast” (1.5.49-54) [1]. But was this *before* the king’s death, or is the ghost complaining that Gertrude still belonged to him even after his death? Gertrude never admits to adultery. She may have been convinced to marry Claudius to prevent war with Norway (1.2.5-25), in spite of the scandal of a marriage to a dead husband’s brother. The spots she sees on her soul (3.4.100-102 ) may be more for a biblically incestuous marriage and denying her son the throne than adultery – or perhaps in retrospect she feels guilty for not suspecting Claudius of murder?
2. BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS TO ADULTERY IN HAMLET:
- Hamlet’s “Mousetrap” echoes that of the prophet Nathan, catching the conscience of King David after adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11-12).
- Hamlet names the player queen “Baptista,” after John the Baptist, beheaded after opposing the incestuous, adulterate marriage of a king to his brother’s wife.
- Hamlet calls Polonius a “Jephthah,” son by the adultery of Gilead with a harlot or temple prostitute.
3. ADULTERY OF TUDOR MONARCHS:
- The "Great Matter" of Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife was inextricably related to his adultery with Anne Boleyn. Henry often had relations with a new lover and future bride before he divorced or had a current wife executed. For early audiences of Hamlet, it would be very hard not to feel connections between accusations of adultery and incest against Claudius, and similar accusations against Henry [2].
- Elizabeth I was plagued by rumors of adultery with her married “favorite,” Lord Robert Dudley. Dudley’s wife Amy Rosbart died in 1560 of a broken neck, but there were rumors that she had been killed so that he would be free to marry Elizabeth. That would never be, yet rumors about his first wife’s death followed Robert until his own death in 1588.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare didn’t retell an old Danish tale of royal adultery and murder for its own sake, but to hold a mirror up to his times.
INDEX to this series on Hamlet and the Ten Commandments:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/07/series-index-ten-commandments-in-hamlet.html
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] Many readers, playgoers, and critics have long assumed that the ghost accuses Gertrude and Claudius of having a relationship before Claudius poisoned the king. But note what the ghost actually says:
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts—
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!—won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. (1.5.49-53)
The ghost might believe that she still belongs to him after death, and the winning over of Gertrude may have taken place after his death. From the ghost’s point of view (clouded by sin, foul crimes for which he is being “purged”), it may seem traitorous and adulterous only because it was an incestuous and sudden marriage, even if there were no relations between Gertrude and Claudius until after he poisoned his brother.
[2] Henry had married the widow of his older brother Arthur, and sought special dispensation from Rome to marry her. So for early audiences of Hamlet, there was no way they could not hear the play and fail to feel connections between accusations of incestuous marriage adultery against Claudius, and similar accusations against Henry.
IMAGES:
Top left: Glenn Close as Gertrude and Alan Bates as Claudius in Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet (1990). Fair use.
https://vinhanley.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/69d67e3f7a9bb0adf6cb8b412a54f006.jpg
https://vinhanley.com/2016/04/29/the-king-and-queen-in-hamlet/
Top right: Édouard Cibot (1799–1877), Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London, 1835. Musée Rolin. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Death_Rock_Me_Asleep#/media/File:Anne_Boleyn_London_Tower_(cropped).jpg
Middle left: The prophet Nathan catching the conscience of King David (c. 1633). Jacob Backer. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://www.pubhist.com/w7805]
Middle right: Salome with the head of John the Baptist, who had condemned her mother’s marriage to her brother-in-law as incestuous (1900). Lovis Corinth (1858–1925). Leipzig, Museum of Fine Arts. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leipzig,_Museum_der_bildenden_K%C3%BCnste,_Lovis_Corinth,_Salome_II.JPG
Bottom left: Lord Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth’s early favorite, circa 1560-1565. Attributed to Steven van der Meulen (fl. 1543–1563). Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dudley,_1st_Earl_of_Leicester#/media/File:Robert_Dudley.jpg
Bottom right: Amy Rosbart (possibly), wife of Robert Dudley. The identity of the woman portrayed is debated, but may be Amy Rosbart. 16th-century circular portrait miniature, often attributed to artist Lucas Horenbout, depicting a young woman against a blue background with Latin inscriptions indicating an age of eighteen. Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven. Public domain in the US (100 years or fewer).
https://melanievtaylor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/amy-r.jpg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 usually post every week.
