Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

On the 4th day of Christmas, December 28, Shakespeare’s England observed “Innocents’ Day,” Feast of the Holy Innocents, the tale of Herod the Great ordering the killing of all boys 2-years and younger, a gospel tale designed to echo Pharaoh of Egypt ordering the killing of Hebrew infant boys, and to paint Jesus as the new Moses [1]. Why does Herod do this? To remove prospective heirs or competitors for his throne. Such killing is a repeated theme in Shakespeare, in Richard III with the killing of the princes in the tower, in Richard II and other history plays, in Hamlet, Macbeth, and more. The slaughter of innocents is part of the general cultural-religious backdrop for the killing of Lady Macduff and son in Macbeth. Killing competitors for a throne was not restricted to biblical texts in Shakespeare’s time, but the Bible tales were the only ones required by law for hearing in churches, with legally enforced attendance during which this text was read. By the numbers: The word “Herod” o...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a continuation of a four-part series of blog posts, “Who am I to interpret  Hamlet ?” June 16, 2019:  To be or not? (Part 1: English Studies & Teaching) June 23:  How Literally Did Shakespeare Take the Bible? (Part 2: Religious Studies & Assumptions) July 30:  Reading  Hamlet  through personal & national traumas (Part 3: Lies & PTSD) August 6:  Hamlet , PTSD & Entitlement (Part 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hamlet is a play about lies. Claudius kills his brother by poison but lies to all of Denmark, claiming his brother died because he was bitten by a snake while napping in his garden. Gertrude seems to have been deceived by Claudius’ lies. It is also a play about sexual transgressions: The marriage of Claudius to his dead brother's widow is considered incestuous by the play, as it would have been considered in Shakespeare's England, not only in light of how people int...