Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

At the Folger Shakespeare Library's " Shakespeare and Beyond " blog, Austin Tichenor recently (April 19, 2022) posted some excellent reflections about Hamlet-Batman parallels, with Batman as a kind of American Hamlet, and including his thoughts on the recent film starring Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader in The Batman . It is a fun read that doesn't get bogged down in scholarly jargon. The blog also includes this fun comicbook image from 2008, Batman #682 (Grant Morrison, Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott), via the Folger blog post: Highly recommended. It also offers bonus reflects near the end about Hamlet-Black Panther parallels. You can read it here , or by copying and pasting the following URL into your browser: https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2022/04/19/batman-shakespeare-hamlet-gotham/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer : If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promo...

The Folger Shakespeare Library and Two River Theater company offer a production of Macbeth that they have made available to view, especially appropriate for those observing Shakespeare's (approximate) birthday, usually observed on 23, April. You can view it on Facebook here in its full length (about 2 hours), with a brief introduction by some of the actors. You can view it on YouTube in two parts: Youtube, Macbeth: Part One is Here ; Youtube, Macbeth: Part Two is Here . To support The Folger Shakespeare Library with your donations, click here . ~~~~ And if you missed my previous blog post , for those more interested in tragic young love than tragic old love and regicide, Shakespeare's Globe Theater still has their production of Romeo and Juliet available to view through 9 May: To view the play on YouTube, click here . For more information on other Shakespeare's Globe shows yet to come, also free, click here . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Here's a good Folger Shakespeare Library interview with David Scott Kastan (author of "A Will to Believe: Shakespeare and Religion") from 2016. It covers a lot of territory, and there's a transcript below it at the link if you'd rather read than listen. One small point of disagreement: Kastan notes the line in Merchant of Venice, with Lorenzo gazing at the stars, which are to him, “patens of bright gold.” He says that this converts everything to commerce. But in fact, a paten of gold was the gold plate that an altar boy held under chins of communicants to catch the Eucharist in case the host fell from the lips. [Note the following quote from Alexander Leggatt, also on the Folger website: "The stars are 'patens of bright gold' (5.1.67)—that is, plates used in the Eucharist which are also rich material objects. The play’s materialism touches even the spiritual realm..." See Alexander Leggatt, "A Modern Perspective: The Merchant of Venice,...