Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Shakespeare’s Hamlet could have unfolded differently from Gertrude’s closet scene onward (3.4): Instead of following the Danish tale, it could have followed Nero’s story [1]. Shakespeare makes the tales overlap, grafting on references to Claudius and Nero; then he rejects that potential plot line and what such historical characters represent. To be a play based on an old Danish tale, or not? To be a play based on Rome’s Claudius I, Julia Agrippina, and her son Nero – or not? (Or in modern productions: To have Hamlet played by Ringo Starr, Nero’s doppelganger – or not? [See collage images….]) In Shakespeare’s time, what were Nero and Agrippina famous for? - Agrippina poisoned her husband, Claudius I, so that her son Nero could be emperor. - Nero later arranged for his mother’s death and attended her autopsy. - In Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI , Lord Talbot claims that Nero played a lute while Rome burned, and Shakespeare refers to the Claudius-Agrippina-Nero tale in two other plays [...

Claudius I (reigning 41-53 AD) married his niece [1], which in Shakespeare’s time would have been considered incestuous. The same niece and wife later allegedly poisoned him [2]. During “The Mousetrap,” while the court views the playlet about a poisoned king, Hamlet says the poisoner is “nephew to the king” [3]. Instead of merely catching his uncle’s conscience, Hamlet makes a veiled threat upon the life of Claudius. [4]. INCEST, ANTI-TRANSCENDENCE, CANNIBALISM: In Shakespeare, incest has more than literal meanings: Monarchs who marry too close a familial relation may fear they must defend their throne from outsiders (so foreigners and strangers may not be welcome, contrary to biblical mandate). Fear and self-concern become more important than more healthy and transcendent concerns. Incest also took on great importance as the reason Henry VIII gave for seeking a divorce from his first wife [5]. In Pericles, Shakespeare will later pair cannibalism (traditionally and metaphorically) ...