WHY SWOUNDS in Hamlet 2.2 and 5.1? Third Commandment (Series)
WHY "SWOUNDS" in Hamlet 2.2 and 5.1?
Third Commandment (series)
In recent posts in this series, I offered that perhaps there are good reasons why Shakespeare has characters use specific “minced oaths” such as “Marry” (Mary, mother of Jesus) [1], or “God’s Bodkins” (God’s little bodies, or Eucharist) [2], even if in so doing they violate the third commandment against taking the name of God (or other holy persons or things) in vain [3].
In 2.2 and 5.1, Hamlet uses the minced oath “Swounds,” or in other words, “Christ’s wounds” or “God’s wounds,” a popular focus of medieval and even renaissance piety (see image notes). Why does he use this form in these two scenes, instead of others [4]?
Both of these scenes either use more violent rhetoric, or foreshadow stronger physical violence, so associating the moment with “Swounds” makes sense:
In 2.2, Hamlet speaks only to himself, but scolds himself with violent rhetoric, imagining hypothetical violence against himself, or wishing he had already killed Claudius and fed him to carrion:
…Am I a coward?
Who calls me “villain”? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?[...]
’Swounds, I should take it! [...]
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal. (2.2.598-607)
In 5.1, Hamlet and Laertes are about to fight in Ophelia’s grave, and in the next scene, they will duel, resulting in their deaths. Hamlet is wounded by news of Ophelia’s death, offended at the dramatic show Laertes makes of his grief:
’Swounds, show me what thou ’t do. [...]
Woo’t drink up eisel, eat a crocodile? [...]
I’ll rant as well as thou. (5.1.290-301)
The play contains many earlier [5] and later [6] references to the crucifixion; “Swounds” fits the violent rhetoric in these scenes and foreshadows more violence better than other choices. Hamlet in 5.2 becomes a (repenting) Christ figure, definitely not sinless, but all baptized were called to die to self and be remade more in the image of Christ, as described in the Elizabethan baptism service [7].
#Shakespeare #Hamlet #bible #religion #history #literature #drama #theatre #reformation #satire
INDEX to this series on Hamlet and the Ten Commandments:
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] See previous post: “Hamlet, Polonius, "Marry," "By the Mass," and the Third Commandment - October 08, 2026: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/10/hamlet-polonius-marry-by-mass-and-third.html
[2] See previous post: “GOD'S BODYKINS: Hamlet and the THIRD COMMANDMENT” - October 12, 2026: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/10/gods-bodykins-hamlet-and-third.html
[3] See previous post introducing the Third Commandment: “HAMLET and the THIRD COMMANDMENT: Cursing and Swearing” - September 27, 2026: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/09/hamlet-and-third-commandment-cursing.html
[4] There are many minced oaths used in the play as noted in recent posts; I repeat the list below
(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
[5] Just a few of the references to the crucifixion of Jesus *before* Hamlet 2.2:
1.1.125-137: Horatio describes the dead rising and strange signs in the heavens upon the death of Julius Caesar, but Matthew 27:53 similarly describes the dead raised at the moment of Jesus' death, and Luke 23:44-45 describes an eclipse. Shakespeare’s audiences (especially in the cheap seats) would be more familiar with the gospel tales of the Passion of Christ than with those of Julius Caesar.
1.1.162 and 163-4: The ghost hears the cock crow, and Horatio comments, “it started like a guilty thing / Upon a fearful summons.” Each of the gospels tells of Jesus predicting that Peter will deny him, and later, that the prediction comes true, marked by the crowing of a cock. So in this way, the guilt of the ghost is compared to Peter’s denial of Christ before the crucifixion.
See also the 2022 blog post: “Good Friday/Christ’s Passion Allusions in Hamlet” - April 15, 2022: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/04/good-fridaychrists-passion-allusions-in.html
[6] A few references to the crucifixion *after* 2.2:
[6.a] Hamlet names the player queen “Baptista,” a reference to John the Baptist who was beheaded for condemning the incestuous marriage of Herod Antipas; John’s execution also foreshadows that of Jesus. See “Hamlet Footnotes in Need of Updates: Herod, Gonzago, & Baptista” - November 05, 2018: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2018/11/hamlet-footnotes-in-need-of-updates.html
[6.b] Hamlet kills Polonius in his mother's closet: When Gertrude quickly asks Hamlet what he has done (likely in part a rhetorical question), Hamlet says "I know not." This compares Gertrude to God (after Cain kills his brother Abel) asking, "What have you done?" And Hamlet replies, "I know not," like the crucifiers of whom Jesus speaks from the cross when he says, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." See also “Cain and Jesus in Gertrude's Closet, Hamlet 3.4 (Good Friday post)” - April 18, 2025
[6.c] Hamlet’s westward sea voyage and eastward return echoes that of Jonah, changing mode of transportation mid-sea, swallowed by a pirate ship instead of a fish. Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish was traditionally used as an analogy for Jesus’ days in the tomb. See also “Hamlet's Sea-voyage, Christ in the Tomb, and ‘the Sign of Jonah’" - April 16, 2022: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/04/hamlets-sea-voyage-christ-in-tomb-and.html
[6.d] Gertrude explains that Ophelia falls in the brook because of an “envious sliver” of willow (4.7.190-8). Willows in Psalm 137 were incorporated weekly in Christian vespers and had long been associated with the crucifixion, especially with key influences by St Benedict of Nursia (circa CE 480–550) and later, Martin Luther (1483–1546). Also see “Part 27: Ophelia's Willow, Psalm 137, & Religious Refugees” - December 12, 2023:
[6.e] Gertrude wiping the face of Hamlet in 5.2 has been compared to Veronica wiping the face of Jesus on the way to crucifixion. There is really no need to insert that moment and gesture by Gertrude perhaps except mostly to make that allusion. See “THE GHOST OF VERONICA HAUNTS HAMLET [or, did Gertrude have a Veronica complex?]” - January 07, 2019: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-ghost-of-veronica-haunts-hamlet-in.html
[7] See for example The Book of Common Prayer, 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book, ed. John E. Booty (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, for the Folger Shakespeare Library, 1976), 270–281. Excerpts: O MERCIFUL GOD, grant that the old Adam in these children may be so buried, that the new man may be raised up in them." "Grant that all carnal affections may die in them, and that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow in them." (274). "...grant that [the baptized] being dead unto sin, and living unto righteousness, and being buried with Christ in his death, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin, that as he is made partaker in the death of thy Son, so he may be partaker of his resurrection." (275). For godfathers and godmothers: "...remembering alway that baptism doth represent unto us our profession, which is to follow the example of our Savior Christ, and to be made like unto him, that as he died and rose again for us, so should we which are baptized die from sin, and rise again unto righteousness, continually mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living." (276).
IMAGES: From Johanna Pollick, “The flowering wound: Christ’s heart in Princeton University, MS Taylor 17
“Princeton University, MS Taylor 17 is a small English illuminated devotional book, dating from c.1500. [,,,] Taylor 17 contains a variety of Middle English prayers including a verse prayer on the five wounds of Christ known as ‘Gracious Lord for Thy bitter passion’ (Boffey and Edwards, 2005, no.1011). [...] The cult of the wounds appears to have been particularly popular in England, and remained so even after the Reformation (Duffy, 1992, pp 238–48).” (Others add the wounds from the crown of thorns as a sixth, and from the scourging as a seventh wound.)
IMAGES (cont.): “The wounds are topped with jewelled crowns, and accompanied by banderoles bearing the inscriptions ‘well of mercy’ (right hand), ‘well of grace’ (left hand), ‘well of lyfe’ (‘well of life’, the wounded heart), ‘well of pyte’ (‘well of pity’, right foot), and ‘well of conforte’ (‘well of comfort’, left foot), with accompanying prayer verses expanding on the properties of the wounds and their efficacy as a tool for protection from sin.” ‘[...] the wounds of Christ are transformed from signs of his agony and humiliation on the cross into five wells, plentifully flowing with blood as a source of the spiritual benefits of mercy, grace, life, pity and comfort. This analogy between a well and Christ’s wound, or the person of Christ more generally, was a common trope in Late Medieval English devotional texts….”
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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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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.
