Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Does Shakespeare use Hamlet’s remarks about women’s “painted faces” to expose misogyny in official English Protestant sermons? Hamlet complains to Ophelia that he knows of the “paintings” she, and women in general, make when they take the one face God gave them and make themselves another. This may represent more than merely a cruel and misogynistic Hamlet, mistreating a former love. Hamlet is quoting almost word-for-word similar statements in a homily of the time. Not by a fringe preacher who made misogynistic remarks about women: An official Elizabethan homily [1]. Claudius uses the analogy of “The harlot's cheek, beautied with plast'ring art,” to describe his “deed” of having killed his brother, covered by lies (3.1.59-62). All acted out by actors who put on faces other than those God gave them, with make-up. This theme may be very related to England’s iconoclasm and the white-washing of old images in churches [2]. Shakespeare - who created many strong female characters in...

WAS SHAKESPEARE MISOGYNIST WITH TOO FEW FEMALE CHARACTERS COMPARED TO HIS CONTEMPORARIES? The following article is a break from my habit of Hamlet (or Shakespeare) and the bible: It's about challenging some assumptions about Shakespeare's genius and his place in the literary canon. Was he misogynist? Did he put too few strong female characters in his plays? How does he compare on this point to other playwrights of the time? Was Shakespeare placed on a pedestal in part because his portrayals of grumpy men appealed to 18th Century assumptions? One does not have to agree with all the article says to find insight and thought-provoking questions here. https://beforeshakespeare.com/2018/06/04/galatea-britgrad-and-diverse-alarums/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Originally posted around the week of 6/4/18 on LinkedIn ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Links to a description of my book project: On LinkedIn : https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV On this blo...

DO HAMLET'S MASKS INCLUDE MELANCHOLIC MISOGYNY? In an article from the 1995 edition of Hamlet Studies, Francesca Bugliani (Knox) interprets Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. She does not consider biblical allusions, like Job's dilemma of whether to remain faithful to his God, or to curse God and die (a sort of "to be or not to be" crossroads). But she has a wealth of insightful observations. I've said before that I don't buy the Freudian explanation for Hamlet's apparent misogyny to Gertrude and Ophelia, but the Christian biblical and cultural tradition in which the play was written was certainly patriarchal and misogynist. Bugliani suggests it's melancholic misogyny, and may be one of many forms of feigned madness. But why feign melancholy misogyny with Ophelia? To sound her out, suspecting she's working with the enemy? To push her away from the threat to his life? (Or both?) In contemplating revenge and the sinfu...