The Missionary Hamlet

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that there is an element of the Evangelical missionary in Hamlet's character. Other allusions in the text are illustrated, first, in order to help explain the allusion to Hamlet as a missionary. Using the context established by these allusions, the paper then compares Hamlet's character to that of an Evangelical prophet. The reference to a fisherman, or a fisher of men, is cited as an example of Hamlet's role as one who seeks to bring repentance to the people around him. The paper also compares Hamlet's failure as a prophet to the Biblical character, Jonah, who is devoured by the whale, or in Hamlet's case, devoured by the King.

From the Paper:

"It is difficult to approach Hamlet without stumbling over a mass of biblical allusions. In many ways, the entirety of the work can be taken as one massive allusion to religious struggles and issues. Tracing the pattern of allusions to the afterlife, repentance, and the fate and nature of mankind, it is easy to see Hamlet as an evangelist of sorts -- a figure with something of the New Testament spiritual missionary about him, and something of the Old-Testament social prophet. Many of the allusions can be glossed over in passing, as they are sufficiently obvious within the text to make further explication relatively unnecessary. However, there is one relatively obscure set of references which, if approached in more than passing detail, promises to firmly ground Hamlet's character in a missionary tradition. The set of comments regarding fish and Polonius, when cross-reference to the significance of fish and fishing in the New Testament, suggest that Hamlet is serving as a "fisher of men" in the fullest sense, both working for their salvation and (in accordance with an older tradition) their destruction."

More papers on The Missionary Hamlet:

• Research Paper # 55732 : "The Strategic Hamlet Program"
• Analytical Essay # 130274 : "Sigmund Freud and 'Hamlet'"
• Book Review # 100096 : "Freud and "Hamlet"

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