Hamlet, the Third Commandment, and the Downgrading of Mary (series)

Why is "Marry" invoked twelve times in Hamlet?

It’s a "diced oath": cursing or swearing by a holy name – in this case Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Of 21 diced oaths in the play, “Marry” is the most frequent [1].

In Protestant England, why would characters – in their cursing or swearing  in a play – keep invoking Mary?

Mary had been "downgraded" by Protestants during the Reformation: The Catholic Church had claimed that Mary was a perpetual virgin, even after Jesus’ birth. Catholics explained the Bible’s mention of "brothers" of Jesus [2] by saying Joseph was a widower with children by a previous wife.

Protestants were not convinced about perpetual virginity, nor about her Assumption: Such things were not in the Bible (“Solo scriptura” - scripture alone!) [3]. Many thought that superstitious Catholic authorities and laypeople had gone too far, making Mary a focus of idolatry, praying to her instead of God.

A second century Greek and third century Jewish source had claimed that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock by a Roman father [4], and that Mary was raped or taken into human slavery, prostitution, or as a lover to service a Roman soldier or archer named Pantera.

It was inevitable that such suspicion might resurface during the Reformation. In Hamlet’s phrasing, Gertrude was "whored" by Claudius (a name associated with two Roman emperors perhaps alluded to in the play) (5.2.72). This echoes old skepticism about Mary, “whored” by Rome. Ophelia's virginity is unclear: she may have been pregnant with Hamlet's child, or, according to some critics, with the child of a sexually predatory Claudius [5].

Ophelia is associated with the first two instances of "Marry" in the play (1.3,98, 114), and Polonius has Ophelia read a book to appear like Mary at the Annunciation [6]. Her death by drowning may symbolically embody anxiety over the Protestant death of the Catholic cult of Mary – more explicit expression of which may not have been allowed by authorities.

Invoking “Marry” so often may represent residual popular Catholic resistance to Protestant reforms [7].

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

[1] This may vary depending on which edition of the play is used: 

1.3: Marry - Polonius to Ophelia (twice)

1.4: Marry - Hamlet to Horatio

1.5: By St. Patrick - Hamlet to Horatio

2.1: By the mass - Polonius to Reynaldo

2.1: Marry - Polonius to Reynaldo (four times)

2.2: God’s bodkins - Hamlet to Polonius

2.2: S’blood - Hamlet to R&G

2.2: ‘Swounds - Hamlet to himself

3.2: Marry - Hamlet to Ophelia

3.2: Marry - Hamlet to Claudius

3.2: S’blood - Hamlet to R&G

3.2: By the mass - Polonius to Hamlet

4.5: By Gis (Jesus) and by Saint Charity - Ophelia to Gertrude and Claudius

5.1: Marry - Second Clown to First

5.1: Marry - First Clown to Second

5.1: Marry - Hamlet to First Clown

5.1: ‘Swounds - Hamlet to Laertes in Ophelia’s grave

[2] See Mark 3:31–35, Matthew 12:46–50, and Luke 8:19–21; also Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55–56; see also John 7:1–10.  Some mystics such as  Meister Eckhart, and also other church figures such as Augustine of Hippo, have long have differentiated spiritual virginity from biological virginity. 

[3] Since as early as the fifth century, some Catholic liturgies had celebrated the Assumption of Mary, but this would not be declared as universal truth by Rome until 1950, and again, this was not biblical. 

[4] So the Greek and Jewish claims of Pantera as father of a Jesus born out of wedlock also resonate with the conception out of wedlock of Elizabeth I, and of Shakespeare’s first child, his daughter Suzanna. 

[5] Claudius I invaded England; Claudius II allegedly ordered the execution of St. Valentine (or two by that name). A predatory Claudius as having gotten Ophelia pregnant would align with the idea of Mary as pregnant out of wedlock by a Roman soldier, but is not well supported by the earliest texts of the play (Q1, Q2, F1). For one example of an argument in favor of an Ophelia pregnant by Claudius, see

Harris, Arthur John, ‘Hearing Ophelia: "It is the false steward that stole his master's daughter"”

Hamlet Studies, Vol. 19, 1997, pp. 20-46 (no longer available online), and also as presented at the Scarab Club before the Detroit Book Club, Christmas Party, December 7, 1999: https://jackharris-bio.com/jack/ophelia.html

[6] See Lyons, Goodland, and Espinoza: 

- Bridget Gellert Lyons, "The Iconography of Ophelia," page 61: "The woman with a book was reminiscent of countless representations of the Virgin, who was most commonly shown reading when the Angel of the Annunciation came to visit her." ELH , Spring, 1977, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 60-74 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2872526 

- Katharine Goodland, Female Mourning and Tragedy in Medieval and Renaissance English Drama, Routledge, 2006:

https://www.routledge.com/Female-Mourning-and-Tragedy-in-Medieval-and-Renaissance-English-Drama-From/Goodland/p/book/9781138275638

- Ruben Espinoza, Masculinity and Marian Efficacy in Shakespeare's England. Routledge, 2011.

https://www.routledge.com/Masculinity-and-Marian-Efficacy-in-Shakespeares-England/Espinosa/p/book/9781138268111

[7] The change in England from Catholic to Protestant was not like flipping a light switch. There was lingering resistance among the laity, known Catholics conforming and attending Protestant services, secret Catholics, Catholic recusants who did not attend Protestant services and paid fines, Catholics who secretly hired priests as servants or gardeners and/or kept them hidden in "priest holes" when authorities visited, as well as Protestants who retained many Catholic views and devotions. FOR MORE, See Duffy, Eamon, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400–1580, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

IMAGES:

Top Left and right: The Angel Gabriel (left) and the Virgin Mary (right) at the Annunciation, Merton College Chapel Window, Oxford, UK. Public domain in the US (100 years or more), via https://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/Oxford-Merton/Ew-AB8.htm 

Bottom Left: Mary at the crucifixion of Jesus. Thornham Parva Retable, c.1330s-40s, St Mary’s Church, Thornham Parva, Suffolk. Public domain in the US (100 years or more), via https://i0.wp.com/theframeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/thornham-parva-retable-c1355-st-mary-s-church-thornham-parva-suffolk-sm.jpg?ssl=1

Bottom Right: Mary comforted by John at the crucifixion of Jesus, Despenser Retable, c.1380-90, Norwich Cathedral. Public domain in the US (100 years or more), via https://i0.wp.com/theframeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/despenser-retable-ed-sm.jpg?ssl=1