Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Gertrude is more associated with “mousetrap” than many scholars have allowed. Previously [1], I argued that Gertrude suspects a poison cup but doesn’t know for certain, so she signals publicly that she will drink in order to mousetrap Claudius. He tells her not to drink; she replies, “I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me.” [2] Hamlet said he would catch the conscience of the king, but first, his playlet sought to catch Gertrude’s conscience. I am grateful to Federico La Sala for mentioning saints by the name of Gertrude whose legends were familiar in the middle ages and Shakespeare’s time. These included  Gertrude the Great from the monastery of Helfta, a mystic who, with other sisters, explored a spirituality in which they believed they were “brides of Christ.” In The Herald of Divine Love, she speaks of paying a debt, [3] which sounds like the widow helped by the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 4:1-7), which Hamlet associated with his mother. [4] Gertrude as a “bride of Christ” also rel...

 “Shakespeare is not treating us to an imaginative presentation of theology. He is testing theology with his imagination and using theology for his artistic purpose.” (105) - Robert G. Hunter “Shakespeare and the Mystery of God’s Judgments” (1976) ~~~~~ This is one of my favorite quotes from this book, and sums up an important perspective. It contrasts with the assumption by some scholars such as Charles Wordsworth (1864) - a position strongly disliked by many others - that Shakespeare used biblical references and religious themes to demonstrate and evangelize for the Christian faith. Other scholars such as Maurice Hunt (Shakespeare's Religious Allusiveness: Its Play and Tolerance) sometimes assume biblical references might be sorted into binary opposition between apparent Protestant and Catholic references, perhaps proving Shakespeare was one or the other, or that he at least conformed to the Protestant inclinations of his time. But "testing theology with his imagination...