Harvard English Professor and Renaissance scholar Stephen Greenblatt delivered a lecture entitled "Hamlet in Purgatory" to an intrigued audience of BC undergraduates and professors last Tuesday.
Dennis Taylor, professor of the English department, began the event by encouraging audience members to attend the 6:30 p.m. forum in response to Greenblatt's lecture.
Following Taylor, Dayton Haskin, professor of the English department, gave a brief history of the lecture series. Finally James Wallace, another professor of the English department, introduced Greenblatt.
With a particular focus on the ghost of Hamlet's father, Greenblatt discussed the relations between religion and literature. He began his lecture by offering a brief history of the function of the Catholic doctrine of purgatory in sixteenth century England.
He first mentioned Simon Fish, an attorney in 16th century England, who authored the explosive pamphlet, "A Supplication for Beggars."
With his strong anti-clerical sentiment, Fish questions why the "idle bloodsuckers [the clergy] mass such power?" Particularly, why do people allow themselves to be so obviously exploited? According to Greenblatt, Fish's answer is one word: "Purgatory."
This concept of purgatory, Greenblatt explained, is an imaginary realm between heaven and hell in which the faithful believed, with no scriptural basis.
The Church exploited this belief by selling indulgences to people, convincing them that clerical prayers could free their lost loved ones from the realm of purgatory. People thus paid Church officials in order to save the souls of the deceased.
Greenblatt described this as the function of purgatory in sixteenth century England.
Reformers, such as Fish, argued against the existence of purgatory, resisting this Church corruption and attempting to launch England toward Protestantism, explained Greenblatt. On the other hand, devout Catholics, such as Sir Thomas More, refuted such reformers as heretics, defending the concept of purgatory.
Following this background on the role of purgatory, Greenblatt continued his lecture by delving into the realm of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The ghost of young Hamlet's father is presumably coming from purgatory when he pleads with his son to avenge his death, stated Greenblatt.
By the time Shakespeare was writing the Church of England had rejected the existence of purgatory, and thus, according to Greenblatt, Shakespeare could not directly refer to it in his tragedy.
Greenblatt argued that Shakespeare was actually quite radical, with "an uncanny gift for knowing how to avoid getting into trouble."
In addition to this, Greenblatt argued that Shakespeare makes somewhat of a political statement in having young Hamlet, presumably Protestant, discover the ghost of his father, presumably Catholic.
At this time in England, Greenblatt explained, many young Protestants were encountering the ghosts of their Catholic parents.
"Shakespeare is making use of this inheritance of remembrance," said Greenblatt.
According to Greenblatt, Shakespeare was enormously sensitive to these changes taking place in the Church and how it affected his art. This change, which was excruciating for Catholics, was something Shakespeare was able to capitalize on as artist. Greenblatt argued that Shakespeare was "a fantastic recycler of fatally damaged institutions."
Greenblatt pointed out that in all great art, there is that moment of transaction in which the artist acquires the material he is going to give back to his audience.
The genius of Shakespeare, according to Greenblatt, was in his incredible alertness in finding such material in the world around him and creating art from it.
Following Greenblatt's lecture, the forum was open to questions from the audience. Religion and the Arts, a BC quarterly journal, sponsored the lecture to promote interest in the relationship between religion and the arts at BC.
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