Religious context in Hamlet

[Lamiq]

Does the fact that Elizabeth I being a protestant has any significance on how the audience may have viewed Hamlet..After all Protestants dont believe in Purgatory or ghosts...and both are presented in Hamlet....what can be said about the effects of the chosen faith of the contemporary audience on the interpretation of Hamlet at that time?
:)

[Jim58]

Look at how the play is written. It is full of anti-catholic sentiment. Stephen Greenblatt in a good book on this subject says in Hamlet in Purgatory, "a young man from Wittenberg, with a distinctly Protestant temperment is haunted by a distinctly Catholic ghost." Greenblatt finds it significant that Hamlet's education is at the University of Wittenberg, the town where Martin Luther began his protestant crusade against the Catholic Church in 1517 with his 95 theses. As the play proceeds Shakespeare attempts at salvation for the growing corruption in Elsinore prove inflexible and inadequate. Religious ceremony in the play are defiled, incomplete and verge on the surreal. First a "perturbed spirit" stalks the battlements which bodes some strange erruption. We later in act 1 scene 5 find out the source of the ghost's visit but first we are treated to the news of a wedding. But this marriage is an incestuous one. A marriage that makes a wife of your sister in law. It has all the markings of a political marriage, hardly a holy union. Its speed following on the heels of the burial of King Hamlet prompts Hamlet's remark that the funeral baked meats coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Such economy suggest a complete lack of the rites of marriage.

Now the ghost it turns out is that of the dead king who completely unprepared for death was sleeping in his orchard. The orchard, Denmark's Garden of Eden where all was well with the world until invaded by the serpent who it turns out was not a snake in the real sense but the usurper Claudius. In an act he himself sees as akin to Cain slaying Abel, Claudius poisons his brother. "Thus was I sleeping by a brother's hand", the ghost says. He was deprived of those rites afforded the dying and because of that he is "doomed for a certain term to walk the night." By day purgatory holds this poor spirit until his sins are burnt and purged away.

After the ghost bids farewell Hamlet insists on joining with the other two of his party in a swearing ceremony. One where the sword in the image of the cross is to be sworn upon. Uneasy, Marcellus and Horatio resist the participation as Hamlet scurries over the ground for a suitable spot all the while being urged by a voice from below. It is commonly accepted that Marcellus and Horatio at some point or many points do swear the oath of silence, there is no such reference in the three "original" texts. You can interpret the swearing as perverse catholic ceremony or as masonic, (anti-catholic).

Following The Mousetrap and Claudius' untimely exit we next see Claudius agonizing over his crime. Claudius gives all indications that he is confessing his sins such that Hamlet who happens upon him foregoes killing him. The irony is that Claudius is unable to repent and the sacrement of penance remains defiled placing Claudius in greater sin.

Polonius' death provides some of the most macabre and irreverent ceremony for a deceased. In the Queen's closet at 3.4 Hamlet prepares to remove Polonius' body. "For this same lord I do repent." Then a bit later, "I'll lug the guts into the neighbor room." "This counsellor is now most still, most secret, and most grave, who was in his life a foolish prating knave." Then off he goes being dragged by Hamlet. One scene later Hamlet has Polonius "safely stowed", and "compounded with dust" somewhere in the "mausoleum" of Elsinore. By scene 3 Hamlet treats us to a bizarre funeral mass not one where the eucharist, the body of Christ, is eaten, but where the body of the deceased is delivered up and eaten by worms. Mel Gibson's <i>Hamlet</i> is notable for this scene when he jumps up on the "last supper" table and clears it by kicking off the devotional candles. Hamlet continues with terms like "worms", "diet" and "emperor". Here he is alluding to the Diet of Worms held by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V in 1521. Martin Luther finalized his break with the catholic church when he refused to recant his teachings against the Church. The Reformation was in full swing and like Martin Luther, Hamlet was a fugitive ordered out of town. After this "mass" Polonius is interred "hugger-mugger."

To compound the offense of the catholic church, Shakespeare gives us Ophelia's funeral. It is left deliberately ambiguous whether Ophelia committed suicide. One way to look at this is that there is no confirmation that she did commit suicide. But for the churlish priest "her death was doubtful" which permits the barest of rites. The coroner's findings are of no effect on the church. The priest's dogma is particularly harsh for the innocence and purity of Ophelia. "She should in ground unsactified been lodged...shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her."

In the final scene prior to the fencing match, Claudius ritualistically blesses the wine with poison as part of a sacrament of sacrifice and skulduggery or some such other twisted ceremony.

[Virgil]

I have never heard anyone say it is anti-catholic, and next time I read I'll take that into consideration and look for it. It definitely has a Protestant outlook. Hamlet and Horatio are students of the University of Wittenberg, the first and great Protestant University of Shakespeare's day. And there are several Protestant themes that run through.

[Lioness_Heart]

I'm not sure that the play could be counted as 'anti-Catholic'. Although it condemns a Catholic society, the religion is not the only thing that is being condemned - to me, it seems more of an indictment of corruption of power on the part of Claudius (among other themes, obviously). Although I do see your point, I'm not sure that the play is entirely anti-Catholic.

Also, Protestants of the time would have believed in ghosts, but would have thought that they were evil - hence Horatio's warnings of 'what if it tempt you toward the flood... or to the dreadful summit of the cliff'.

The religious context is also important in contextualising the play, and understanding the views of the time on the main themes .

[cuppajoe_9]

Don't forget: Hamlet's concern over whether his father's ghost is the genuine article or a deamon springs at least partly from the fact that he claims to be visiting from purgatory, which Catholics believed in but Protestants didn't.

I think that ol' Willie was wise enough not to take a particularly clear stance on religion in any of his plays, however.

Edit: hmm, the purgatory thing was in the original post. Oops.

[Lamiq]

Thanks for the response...:D

I agree with Lioness_Heart. I dont think the play is anti catholic either...I read somewhere that Shakespeare's father was Catholic...so he must have been brought up as a Catholic as well... Mostly I think it is focusing on how the society has degenerated and how they have failed to be faithful to their religion...It may have been an observation of England itself but I dont think its a comment against the religion itself...
Would the audience take the same religious stance as Queen Elizabeth? Would they see it as anti catholic, applaud and blame the whole tragedy on the weakness of the religion....? Or would they see it as a anti protestant play with the whole purgatory and confessing etc.After all the characters believed in the validity of the catholic rites...

Virgil....Could you please elaborate on the Protestant themes that are evident in the play...Im not really familiar with either religions and I wouldnt know even if I read the play again...thank you

Thanks all for the response...Was very enlightening...:)

[Layka]

Shakespeare's father was catholic and I am currently studying Hamlet in my English AP class. The graveyard scene is a bit confusing, why not just bury Ophelia in unhallowed ground?
Before we started to study this tradgey, we studied the Puritans. Do any of you see any thing of the Puritan belief?

[kilted exile]

It should also be remembered that it was in Elizabeth's older brother Edward VI's reign that the majority of the anti-catholic legislation was brought in. Although Elizabeth was a strong supporter of protestantism, she did stand up to a lot of pressure to draft new laws restricing abilities of catholics and decrying the pope.

[Lamiq]

oooookaaaay.....

So lemme sum up what we have got so far in terms of Hamlet's religious background.

The first striking thing is that Hamlet is some what vague about exactly what religion it advocates for....slyness on the part of Shakespeare..

It can be ardently argued that Hamlet is "full of anti-catholic sentiment". the following gives strength to this interpretation:
Hamlet is a student studying in the "University of Wittenberg, the town where Martin Luther began his protestant crusade against the Catholic Church in 1517 with his 95 theses."
All "religious ceremonies in the play are defiled & incomplete":
The wedding of the newly crowned king is incestuously to his sister-in-law. Also the speed with which it was completed in suggests that all religious rituals may not have been observed.
The funeral of Polonius also lacks the complete religious rituals and is too less for a man of his status and for the nature of his death.
The funeral of his daughter Ophelia is also offensive as the harsh judgments of the Priest is not deserved by one as innocent as Ophelia was. However the commoners feel that since the death was questionable, Ophelia shouldn't have been given holy ground to be buried in and criticizes the church for bending their rules for a nobility. Either way, the church is not absolved.
Claudius makes a mockery of the sacrament of penance which he seeks but soon abandons. Also he "ritualistically blesses the wine with poison as part of a sacrament of sacrifice"-a dire offense...
Hamlet himself presents doubts about catholic beliefs such as mistrust towards the ghost who claims to be in purgatory- a belief denied in protestantism. Also in the ghost scene he holds a swearing ceremony which is distinctively anti-catholic.

All this evidence may still be a presentation of a degenerated catholic nation rather than a criticism of the catholic religion itself. The fact that Shakespeare's father was catholic and therefore his upbringing having been catholic gives strength to this interpretation. Also inspite of the fact that Queen Elizabeth was protestant, she was tolerant to catholicism. Especially when compared with her predecessor King Edward VI, therefore Shakespeare may not have been under pressure to please the Queen by writing a masonic play.

In conclusion Shakespeare has obviously done a fair bit of fence sitting. the Protestant segment of his audience could please themselves with the faint thread of pro protestantism that is seen throughout while the Catholics could easily point out that it is Denmark which is corrupt and not the religion itself.

Sooo....Thats it...If there are any mistakes in my assumptions please correct me...Thanks all

[Lamiq]

Shakespeare's father was catholic and I am currently studying Hamlet in my English AP class. The graveyard scene is a bit confusing, why not just bury Ophelia in unhallowed ground?
Before we started to study this tradgey, we studied the Puritans. Do any of you see any thing of the Puritan belief?

I think the puritans refers to protestants of the 16th century who were not happy about Queen Elizabeth's stance with the Catholics. They were a bit more adamant about being holy and pure...Its probably safe to talk about protestants and puritans interchangeably.... and as mentioned in various posts here...Hamlet is pro protestant..:thumbs_up

and Ophelia was not buried cos they think she might have committed suicide...refer to what the priest says of her burial rites when Leartes ask while she is given the bare minimum of a burial ceremony.

[kilted exile]

Also inspite of the fact that Queen Elizabeth was protestant, she was tolerant to catholicism. Especially when compared with her predecessor King Edward VI, therefore Shakespeare may not have been under pressure to please the Queen by writing a masonic play.


I wont get in to the actual interpretation of the play (I studied next to no shakespeare at school) however I can give you some more info with regards to Historical/Religious/ Elizabethan background.

Firstly, I do not consider Henry VIII as a really staunch supporter of Luther he is really more protestant by default than a fan of Luther (after all he was given the title "Defender of the Faith" by the pope because of a response he wrote to Luther's 95 theses). He is the father of Anglicanism, which at his time was really watered down catholocism that allowed him to divorce and also got the pope off his back.

Under Edward VI, the majority of the anti-catholic legislation was brought in. A lot of this was influenced by Cranmer, as Edward was still a child when he took the throne. This is when a lot of the destrucion of the monasteries took place.

After Edward died his sister Mary (not to be confused with Mary Queen of Scots) became queen. Mary, unlike Edward & Elizabeth, was catholic. Her reign was as violently anti-protestant as Edwards had been anti-catholic.

Elizabeth came in after Mary, and tried to calm things by adopting a kind of third way. Protestantism was the official faith, but catholics were not persecuted to the degree of her brother.

A fascinating book on the subject is The Reformation: Europes Great Houses Divided by Diarmid McCullough

DISCLAIMER: I am typing this from memory.

EDIT: Also the masonic reference may not be correct. Masonic Lodges are more related to the Orange Order, than protestantism as a whole. As a result I dont think the term would have meaning in Elizabethan England