Jephthah-Figures in Hamlet: Ambitious, Desperate, Traumatized Outsiders?
When Hamlet compares Polonius to Jephthah in 2.2 (1451-66), it is commonly thought that this merely refers to an ambitious Jephthah making reckless (or unholy) vows that will later result in the death of his daughter. [ "Jephthah Sees His Daughter" (detail). Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/1611-1662). Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna . Public Domain.] But this week I will explore the idea of Jephthah as a marginalized person, marginalized for being the son of a prostitute and therefore driven out, treated as "other" and outsider, likely traumatized by that marginalization. For that reason, Jephthah may have been desperate for acceptance by those who had excluded him. This may explain why he makes his rash vow that he will sacrifice to God whatever comes first across his threshold if he returns victorious from battle, and his daughter becomes the victim. These aspects of the Biblical Jephthah tale may also offer a lens through wh...
