The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.1043  Tuesday, 11 May 2004

From:           Bill Arnold <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Monday, 10 May 2004 06:29:10 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 15.1035 The Murder of Gonzago
Comment:        Re: SHK 15.1035 The Murder of Gonzago

Matthew Baynham writes, "I confess I had not realised that Bill Arnold
was one of the many who claims to have isolated the pure thought of
Jesus from the distorting accretions of organised religion."

OK: my book is my book is my book, and my book does that precisely!  On
the back cover of my book, I wrote: "What did Jesus mean by His most
prophetic words, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done"?  In a brief,
chronological easy-to-read book, you can experience Jesus first hand
through His words.  For a full understanding of Jesus as you have never
had before, venture into this armchair voyaer's dream." In other words,
the *WORDS* of Jesus belie organized religions evoking his name.

Then Matthew Baynham writes, "But mainly I want to question Bill's
musings on Shakespeare's faith, which sound to me rather too modern."

OK: I was responding to a question, myself, and was not promoting the
notion that I knew, understood or even remotely wished to imply I had
any inkling of Will S.'s beliefs.  I do not know, do not understand his
beliefs, nor do I think it is relevant to this topic.  My point was and
is: in the play *Hamlet* the opening scene ACT I posits a spirit of the
*Father* from the other realm, and his statements and those of the *Son*
suggest to me that the play turns on New Testament knowledge.  Thus, it
behooves scholars so interested in the play to investigate the NT
allusions, and other Biblical allusions in the play, in order to better
understand the intellectual context of a good vs. a bad spirit, a good
vs. a bad king, a good vs. a bad state of affairs in a kingdom, state,
or nation.

Bill Arnold
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/edis/scholars/arnold.htm

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