Hamlet, Chaucer's Appius Claudius, and the Corrupt Judge of Luke 18 (Part 6, Claudius Series)
HAMLET, CHAUCER'S APPIUS CLAUDIUS, AND THE CORRUPT JUDGE OF LUKE 18 (PART 6) In a previous post [1], I explored how Chaucer’s story, “The Physician’s Tale” may have been a key factor among many literary and historical reasons for Shakespeare renaming Hamlet’s uncle Feng as “Claudius” [2]. Chaucer’s tale has two villains named Claudius (one the servant of the other), and a female object of exploitation who escapes dishonor by means like suicide (or father- required sacrifice, similar to Iphigenia, or the Jephthah theme in Hamlet [3]). Shakespeare's Hamlet also has King Claudius with a servant, Claudio, mentioned in 4.7, having received Hamlet's messages, and handing them off to a messenger. (This introduction of a second occurrence of a form of the name Claudius/Claudio may be a nod to the Chaucer tale). The Chaucer story suggests a gospel connection. In “The Physician’s Tale,” the main villain, Appius Claudius, is no average villain: He is a corrupt judge. Why does thi...