In Othello, the Moor speaks of Desdemona, we know how unjustly, as having been 'false as water,' Act v. Sc. I. Was this simile derived from the character given by Jacob to his first-born son Reuben ? Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel. Gen. xlix. 4. In Timon of Athens, the painter says to the poet, speaking of Timon : You shall see him a palm in Athens again, and flourish with the highest. Act v. Sc. I. The notion of flourishing like a palm tree' is one with which we are familiar from Psalm xcii. 12. 13. In like manner the comparisons derived from animals, with which the Bible has familiarized us, are to be found no less in the pages of Shakspeare. For instance, in the last-named play, the description of the hostile approach of Alcibiades, Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up Act v. Sc. 2. is derived from the Psalmist's description of the enemies of Jerusalem represented as a vine : The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up; and the wild beasts of the field devour it. Ps. lxxx. 13, Prayer Book version. So, too, 'the wolf in sheep's clothing,' of S. Matthew vii. 15, is reproduced in Second Part of King Henry VI., Act iii. Sc. 1, where Queen Margaret enquires concerning Gloster : Is he a lamb? his skin is surely lent him, The 'dog returning to his vomit,' of S. Peter, 2 Ep. ii. 22, and of Proverbs xxvi. 11, is reproduced in King Henry IV. 2nd Part, Act i. Sc. 3 (where Mr. Bowdler, in omitting the allusion, has curtailed the passage in a manner singularly awkward and scarcely grammatical), and again (though still* not in Mr. Bowdler's edition) in King Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 7, where the text of S. Peter is given in French, almost exactly from the Genevan Bible of 1588:a fact which renders one part, at least, of Dr. Farmer's conclusion in his celebrated essay very improbable, viz. that 'Shakspeare did not understand very common words in the French and Latin languages.' The 'deaf adder' has been already spoken of.† The cherished 'Serpent, that, at the last, biteth, and stingeth,' of Proverbs xxiii. 32, is reproduced in King Henry VI. 2nd Part, Act iii. Sc. 1: I fear me, you but warm the starved snake, Who, cherished in your breasts, will sting your hearts. And as we are 'set to school to the ant' in Proverbs vi. 6, so are we also in King Lear, Act ii. Sc. 4. 14. Again, the metaphorical images of the tree known by its fruits;' of 'the axe laid to the root of the tree;' of causing our 'light to shine before men,' in this naughty world; of the cheek to be given to the smiter;' and of the mote' in the mind's ' eye; '-each of them well known to us from the Bible-have been all pressed into service by our great poet: as may be seen by any one who will read First Part King Henry IV. Act ii. Sc. 4; Third Part Henry VI. Act ii. Sc. 2; Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. 1; King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 1; Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 1. * This is mentioned not to complain of the omission in the present instance, but for the information of readers of that edition. † See above, p. 48. But the field of Scriptural metaphor is one over which we must track our poet still further. In the Bible, life is a pilgrimage,' Gen. xlvii. 9, and elsewhere; so it is in Shakspeare :--- His time is spent, our pilgrimage must be. K. Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 1. In the Bible, the human body is a 'temple,' John ii. 21, and elsewhere; so it is in Shakspeare : Nature, crescent, does not grow alone Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 3. In the Bible, that which infects and corrupts others is 'leaven,' 1 Cor. v. 6-8, and elsewhere; so it is in Shakspeare : Thou, Posthumus, Wilt lay the leaven on all * proper men; Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4. * See above, p. 39. But here it seems to mean handsome morally and inwardly, like the Greek καλός. i. e. shall not escape the imputation and character of being such. In the Bible, that which is appropriated and secured, is 'sealed,' Rom. xv. 28, and elsewhere; so it is in Shakspeare : Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice, Act iii. Sc. 2. says Hamlet to his friend Horatio, and, again, in the same play, the phrase which S. John uses, iii. 33, is adopted by our poet : A combination and a form indeed, Act iii. Sc. 4. 15. But further; besides the broader and more important principles and sentiments treated of at large in the preceding chapter, we may notice here several minor instances in which Shakspeare has adapted the moral axioms of Scripture to his purposes as a dramatic poet. A remarkable example of this, and one which might be illustrated by a whole cento of Bible texts, as including references not only to Scriptural maxims, but to facts, is to be found in All's well that ends well: He that of greatest works is finisher, Where most it promises; and oft it hits Act ii. Sc. 1. Here Mr. Malone has properly pointed out both the resemblance to the words of S. Paul, 'God hath chosen,' i. e. is wont to choose, 'the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,' 1 Cor. i. 27; and the direct allusion to the words of our Lord : I thank Thee, O Father, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Matt. xi. 25. But in the latter case it would have been more apposite to have quoted Matt. xxi. 15, 16, con-taining the reference to Psalm viii. 2; because in that passage 'the judgment of the children in the temple, as contrasted with the unbelief of the chief priests and scribes, is actually 'shown.' Mr. Holt White suggests that the allusion is to Daniel's judging, when 'a young youth, the two elders in the story of Susannah. I have remarked that Shakspeare had this story in view on another* ocсаsion; but I doubt whether he would have spoken of an apocryphal book as 'holy writ;' though some of the fathers, and our own Homilies (using the word 'Scripture' in a laxer sense than prevailed in Shakspeare's time, or prevails now) did so speak. Returning to the speech of Helena in All's well, * See above, ch. i. p. 75. |