Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

The word “Herod” [1] occurs NINE times in Shakespeare, in four plays:  Once in in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘳;  twice in 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘵 (“out-herod’s Herod,” 3.2.14-15, and given the name of the player queen, “Baptista,” also a nod to Herod Antipas [2], who had John the Baptist beheaded for condemning his incestuous marriage);  and once in 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺 𝘝 as a reference to Herod the Great’s slaughter of innocents:  “Your naked infants spitted upon pikes Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confused Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry At Herod’s bloody-hunting slaughtermen (3.3.38-41). “Herod” occurs five times in 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘢 (Cleopatra lived at the same time as Herod the Great.) In the second scene, a servant says, “Let me be married to 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 in a forenoon, and widow them all: let me have a child at fifty, to whom 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗱 of Jewry may do homage.” (1.2.27-30) We hear not only “Herod” bu...

The FEAST of the EPIPHANY in churches of Shakespeare’s time [1], JANUARY 6, celebrates the magi “from the east” who followed a star, met with Herod, paid homage to Jesus, and were warned in a dream to go home by another way [2]. City-dwellers may neglect the stars, but in Shakespeare they can be foreboding or determine fate; one can be “star-crossed” ( Romeo and Juliet ), or out of another’s star (Ophelia/ Hamlet ), or one might guide a ship by them; Shakespeare mentions them more than 100 times (a sample): “Look, the unfolding star calls up the shepherd.” - Measure for Measure “That I should love a bright particular star” - All's Well That Ends Well “O eastern star!” - Antony and Cleopatra “Our Jovial star reign'd at his birth” - Cymbeline “When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his course t' illume that part of heaven Where now it burns…” - Hamlet      “I am constant as the northern star” - Julius Caesar In the gospel, and in sleepless dreams of...

The 7th day of Christmas (December 31 in Shakespeare’s time as now, also St. Sylvester’s Day [1]), used these Bible readings: Psalm 30 (repeated from previous): House of David, prayer in prosperity, trouble, and restoration (not exactly King Lear, but implied character arc) [2]. MORNING PRAYER Isaiah 65 - the prophet is sought by Gentiles, condemns sins; “seed of Jacob” (a name used five times in two plays); new heaven and new earth (Antony: “Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth” [3]); four animals with rich associative meanings whose names appear in Shakespeare: wolf (38 times), lamb (59), lion (224), serpent (39) [4]. Acts 28 - The shipwrecked prisoner Paul and others are shown kindness by "Barbarians" of Malta: - hospitality for strangers, key theme in Greek and biblical literature, and in Shakespeare as for example in King Lear, A Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, and others (violated hospitality, a strong theme in Macbeth). - 12 “at Syracuse, we tarried… three da...

Actor and teacher Dan Burkarth was in an Instant Shakespeare production of Antony and Cleopatra recorded from a Zoom performance and available on YouTube. Instant Shakespeare does annual readings of all Shakespeare's plays and has a LinkedIn page here , and a website here . After some initial chatter and clearing of throats, the performance begins about two minutes in, at this YouTube link .  In the 400+ years since Shakespeare's death, performances of all of Shakespeare's plays usually took place long before the advent of motion pictures, TV, and internet. But one could imagine some families holding dramatic readings of Shakespeare's plays, with certain family members doubling or tripling their roles they played to cover all the parts. (It is said that Jane Austen participated in "family theatricals" at home, and it would not be too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that at times these may have included some Shakespeare plays or s...