Jewell's Homily V & Lazarus-Hamlet-Claudius Correlations (part 12 in Lazarus series)
Two Early Modern texts - each in their own ways well-known in their time - both touch upon all the following themes: adultery, lust, drunkenness, selfish ambition, sedition, envy, murder, incest, madness, and poison. They also allude to the following historical or Biblical-mythical characters: Alexander the Great, Herod John the Baptist The Beggar Lazarus and the selfish rich man The Serpent in the Garden Adam Cain King David St. Bernard of Clairvaux What are those two Early Modern texts? If you guessed (1) Homily V. from Book II of the official English Church homilies, "Against Gluttony and Drunkenness" (usually attributed to John Jewell), and (2) Shakespeare’s Hamlet , you are correct. The general idea in the homily is that any excess pursuit of pleasure in sex, food, or drink, is sinful, while all the things Christians receive as gifts from God in a spirit of thanksgiving and moderation are good. (Jewell might therefore disagree with Mae West, oft...