Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

There is a Pentecost echo in Hamlet... [Images, clockwise from UPPER LEFT: Pentecost, circa 1310 and circa 1318, from "Seven panels with scenes from the Life of Christ" by Giotto and workshop (1266–1337). National Gallery, London. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons . RIGHT: "The Pentecost," Part of Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece, circa 1600, by El Greco (1541–1614). Museo del Prado, National Museum of Spain, Madrid. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons . LOWER LEFT: "The Pentecost" by a follower of Bernard van Orley, circa 1530. North Carolina Museum of Art, USA. Public domain, via Wikimedia.org .] Hamlet contains more biblical allusions than plays by others of the age, and Shakespeare’s other plays.[1] There is a rhythm in the gospels: Jesus is a mentor and leader who is crucified, rises, and appears to the disciples.  - He appears to women at the tomb (Lk 24:1-8, Jn 20:11-18), echoed by Claudius: "Where's the body?" [2];  - on the road...

How can good be distilled from evil? How can sin turn to grace?  GOOD FROM EVIL IN HENRY V (1599):  In Shakespeare's Henry V , Act 4, Scene 1 (Folger), King Henry says something that some readers and audience members may find strange: "There is some soul of goodness in things evil, Would men observingly distil it out. We should note that this is not at all the same as arguing that evil means can and should be used to achieve good ends: As they say, the ends do not justify the means; but this statement by Henry is very different. Given that Henry was a kind of prodigal son, it seems Henry himself is living evidence that good can be distilled from evil: Perhaps the time he spent with Falstaff not only corrupted him for a time, but also helped him understand aspects of himself, and a wider range of his subjects, better, and therefore made him a better king. Henry's time as a prodigal son was not chosen as an evil means to achieve a good end: He chose to be prodigal...