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Hamlet and the Soul-Sleepers

Brljak, Vladimir

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Abstract

The article argues that the soliloquy, ‘To be, or not to be,’ in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is informed by soul-sleeping: the belief that on its separation from the body at death, the soul enters an unconscious state typically described as sleep or a sleep-like stupor, in which it remains until wakened and joined with the resurrected body, and then assessed at the Last Judgment. The doctrine was advocated in some of Luther’s works of the 1520s and 1530s and found acceptance among some early English Protestants, but was destined to be repudiated by later Protestant orthodoxy, and was universally condemned by mainstream Protestant thinking of Shakespeare’s day. The article surveys the history of this heterodoxy in England, demonstrates its continuing significance in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, elucidates the references to the doctrine in Hamlet’s soliloquy, and discusses their relevance to the broader understanding of the religious subtext of the play.

Citation

Brljak, V. (2018). Hamlet and the Soul-Sleepers. Reformation & Renaissance Review, 20(3), 187-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/14622459.2018.1498056

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Jul 18, 2018
Publication Date 2018
Deposit Date Oct 12, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Reformation and Renaissance Review
Print ISSN 1462-2459
Electronic ISSN 1743-1727
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 20
Issue 3
Pages 187-208
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14622459.2018.1498056

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