Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

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...

Today is Good Friday. In Shakespeare’s England, church rituals spoke of baptism as a dying to self in Christ, so as to be made new in him [1]. Contrary to some Shakespeare scholars who explicitly resist the idea of Christ-figures in the plays (including Harold Jenkins, Arden editor), all the baptized are called to be Christ-figures [2], imitators of Christ. The spiritual rhythm in medieval mystery, morality and miracle plays assumes all are sinners, but if they express sorrow for their sins, they can know God’s mercy and be saved. [3] Any drama in which a person who dies is saved, is a comedy; the only tragedies are those in which a sinner resists salvation. In her madness, Ophelia expresses regret through her story of the baker’s daughter [4]. Gertrude explains that Ophelia falls in the brook because of an “envious sliver” of willow [5]. Willows in Psalm 137 were incorporated weekly in Christian vespers and associated by St Benedict of Nursia [6] and Martin Luther [7] with the cruci...

Can anyone recommend good books or articles that explore connections between Laertes in Hamlet and Laertes in The Odyssey ? Yesterday (8/4/2022) I posted about Shakespeare’s choice of the name Laertes for the son of Polonius . [1] (If that link doesn't work, try here: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2022/08/laertes-in-hamlet-odyssey-part-1.html ) I observed: - in The Odyssey , Laertes and his funeral shroud are the alleged excuse Penelope uses for fending off suitors; Laertes helps Odysseus deal with the families of Penelope’s suitors; - in Hamlet, Laertes and Polonius fend off Hamlet as suitor for Ophelia, and fend off Ophelia as love interest for Hamlet, perhaps similar to the way William Cecil and other advisors micromanaged suitors for Elizabeth, preferring foreign princes over domestic suitors; - like Penelope at her weaving, Ophelia is at her sewing when Hamlet visits her in her closet, perhaps disguised in feigned madness; - like Odysseus disguised as beggar...