Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

LINKS TO LEPERS IN HAMLET: References to tales of famous lepers, confusion about them, and those who cared for them: 1. The ghost says the poison made his skin lazar-like (1.5), like that of the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31 [1];  - Claudius poured “the leperous distillment" in the “porches" of the ghost's ear (1.5): In some art, the beggar Lazarus is left untended on the porches of the rich man’s house.  - Ophelia’s “the owl was a baker’s daughter” (4.5) references a folktale retelling of the Luke 16 gospel tale;  - Horatio’s “angels sing thee to thy rest” (5.2) references the Requiem Mass lines based on the Lazarus story. 2. The saint-namesake of the sentinel Francisco (1.1) is Francis of Assisi, who cared for lepers, and famously kissed one [2]. (Katherine of Aragon’s confessor was a Franciscan, John Forest, burned at the stake for opposing Henry’s divorce.)   3. In medieval and Elizabethan times, leprosy and venereal disease were confused, and leprosy thou...

Sometimes what looks like a gamble may be a risk taken in faith. (Does gambling for money parody such faith?) FORTUNE AND GAMBLING IN HAMLET : THE DEAD KING HAMLET GAMBLED, in an agreement with Old Fortinbras, to engage in single combat, described by Horatio in 1.1. The survivor won the loser’s land. We learn in 5.1 that this combat took place on the day that Hamlet was born.[1] CLAUDIUS BETS that Hamlet will win the duel with Laertes in 5.2, though he and Laertes plan to kill Hamlet. Claudius takes his chances that the plot will succeed, but to increase his chances, a poison cup is a back-up plan, and instead of Laertes merely using an "unbaited" rapier (with no blunt safety tip), Laertes also anoints the rapier with poison. This combines cheating with gambling. [EDIT: Grace Tiffany of Western Michigan University adds to the list of gambling references: Gertrude's marriage vows are "false as dicers' oaths" (3.4), referring to how gamblers, wh...