Bullough, Jenkins, Asimov on Claudius as changed name of Hamlet's uncle Feng (Part 13, Claudius series)
Geoffrey Bullough (1957-1972), Isaac Asimov (1970), and Harold Jenkins (1982) all noted Shakespeare having changed the name of Hamlet's uncle “Feng” to “Claudius”: Asimov: "The reigning King of Denmark, who has succeeded the elder Hamlet[...] is Claudius. Shakespeare has chosen an aristocratic Roman name for the purpose. (It was the name of a patrician family in the time of the Republic and one from which several of the early emperors were descended—including Claudius, the fourth Emperor, under whom Britain was conquered in the years following Cymbeline's death.[1]) In Saxo Grammaticus' original tale, the new King was named Feng, and perhaps Shakespeare did well to change that." (87) [2] Jenkins: "The King's name is knows from his first entry-direction and first speech-heading, after which, however, it is never used again." [3] Jenkins continues: "It was evidently suggested by that of the Roman emperor who married Agrippina, his niece and th...