Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INDEX OF POSTS IN THIS SERIES: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/index-hamlet-in-32-as-boy-jesus-lost.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most considerations of a biblical allusion in Shakespeare do well to consider whether, and how, official homilies of the time treated the biblical text. This applies to this series,[1] and Hamlet’s allusion [2] to Luke and the boy Jesus, amazing temple elders and his parents. People in Shakespeare’s England were required by law to attend church. They would hear Luke 2:46-52 every January on the Sunday after Epiphany.[3] Only one official homily [4], attributed to Bishop John Jewell, mentions these verses from Luke. The homily is called, “OF THE RIGHT USE OF THE CHURCH OR TEMPLE OF GOD, AND OF THE REVERENCE DUE UNTO THE SAME.”[5] EXCERPT 1: “In the second [chapter] of Luke it is written, how that the mother of Christ, and Joseph, when they had long sought Christ, whom they had lost, and could ...

The nunnery scene (3.1) in Shakespeare's Hamlet is among the most famous of the play's scenes, with Hamlet telling Ophelia to get to a nunnery, criticizing women for painting themselves faces other than the one God gave them, and offering as a "plague for thy dowry" that, if she must marry, she should marry a fool. [NUNS AND A FOOL. Left: Hildegard von Bingen and her nuns, 13th Century, public domain here . Right: An Allegory of Folly, early 16th century, by Quentin Matsys (1456/1466–1530), New York, J. Held Collection. Image public domain, here .] All of these things - and Pyrrhus, and worm's suppers - also appear in Homily VI, "AN HOMILIE AGAINST excesse of Apparrell," from Book 2 of the official homilies used during Shakespeare's lifetime. The same homily also makes a connection between the sin of excess committed by the rich man in the Luke 16 Lazarus tale, and the excess of people wearing extravagant clothing, or we...

Three official Cranmer & Jewell homilies mention the beggar Lazarus - and have many other connections to Hamlet. Shakespeare heard these homilies many times during his life. The first, “An Exhortation Against The Fear Of Death” (Cranmer) comes uncomfortably close to conflating beggars and thieves (not necessarily synonymous). I will consider these three homilies in upcoming weeks, but for this week, will focus on a few key ideas from this one. Some consider Shakespeare an atheist, but he probably didn’t (always) work secretly on poems and plays while homilies were read in church; in fact, he utilized their ideas and vocabulary in his writing, making them his own. Yes, if one is an atheist and wishes to view Shakespeare as an atheist because of certain things certain characters say, it's possible to find evidence for that. And it's certainly possible to sit in church while a priest is talking, and to have one's thoughts on other things instead of listening. But...