Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

WHY "SWOUNDS" in Hamlet 2.2 and 5.1?  Third Commandment (series) In recent posts in this series, I offered that perhaps there are good reasons why Shakespeare has characters use specific “minced oaths” such as “Marry” (Mary, mother of Jesus) [1], or “God’s Bodkins” (God’s little bodies, or Eucharist) [2], even if in so doing they violate the third commandment against taking in vain the name of God (or other holy persons or things) [3].  In 2.2 and 5.1, Hamlet uses the minced oath “Swounds,” or in other words, “Christ’s wounds” or “God’s wounds,” a popular focus of medieval and even renaissance piety (see image notes). Why does he use "Swounds" in these two scenes, instead of any number of others used elsewhere in the play [4] by Hamlet or other characters?  Both of these scenes either use more violent rhetoric, or foreshadow stronger physical violence, so associating the moment with “Swounds” makes sense:  In 2.2, Hamlet speaks only to himself, but scolds himself ...

In Hamlet , why is “Mary” spelled “Marry”? The spelling helped to obscure the “minced oath” invoking the name of St. Mary, mother of Jesus [1], breaking the Third Commandment, not to take the name of God (and other holy persons and things) in vain [2]. In performance, audiences would hear “Mary,” but to get the play approved for performance in the first place, the players would submit the ("Marry"-spelling) script to the Master of Revels for approval or changes.  For publication, Elizabethan censors could also approve a text or require changes. “Marry” is interesting for many reasons: The allusion is to Mary, mother of Jesus. Joseph almost didn’t “Marry” her: He learned she had become pregnant before their marriage and considered quietly calling it off, but after a vision in a dream, he married her anyway. The play is about a resentful, vengeful ghost who thinks his wife should have been faithful, even after death (1.5). It’s also about an “incestuous” marriage of a...

Why is "Marry" invoked twelve times in Hamlet? It’s a "minced oath": cursing or swearing by a holy name – in this case Mary, the mother of Jesus. Of 21 minced oaths in the play, “Marry” is the most frequent [1]. In Protestant England, why would characters – in their cursing or swearing  in a play – keep invoking Mary? Mary had been "downgraded" by Protestants during the Reformation: The Catholic Church had claimed that Mary was a perpetual virgin, even after Jesus’ birth. Catholics explained the Bible’s mention of "brothers" of Jesus [2] by saying Joseph was a widower with children by a previous wife. Protestants were not convinced about perpetual virginity, nor about her Assumption: Such things were not in the Bible (“Solo scriptura” - scripture alone!) [3]. Many thought that superstitious Catholic authorities and laypeople had gone too far, making Mary a focus of idolatry, praying to her instead of God. A second century Greek and third century ...

Queen Elizabeth is said to have sworn like a sailor. Her favorite, “‘s’death!” (God’s death) invoked the crucifixion, perhaps projecting power as a woman in what was thought to be a man’s job [1]. In Tudor England, “A Sermon Against Swearing and Perjury" [2] was seventh in the First Book of Homilies (1547). It warned against taking God’s name in vain (Third Commandment), abusing holy names and words, and breaking oaths. Judging by how often characters in Hamlet abuse holy names and words, you’d think that the sermon was not working.  Characters invoke God, Jesus (Gis), saints, Jesus’ mother Mary (Marry), wounds (s’wounds) and blood (s’blood) of Christ, and Catholic Mass (by the mass) which claimed that the body of Jesus was present in Eucharist (little bodies, “God's bodkin”) [3]. Some swear on the cross-handle of a sword (1.5). Polonius (often thought to be a satire of William Cecil [4]) swears the most in a single scene (five times in 2.1). Such words and phrases occur in th...