The Tale of the Danish Prince Hamlet, Who Was A Brain Child of the Englishman William Shakespeare

 

This is one of my formerly published Ezine-Articles: "Is Hamlet in Reality a True Crime Story About the Murder of Tycho Brahe?"


“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is considered one of the greatest plays of all times. We all know the story of the Danish prince whose mother has married the undisclosed murderer of his father, i.e. his uncle who now has become the new king of Denmark. However, when most of us see this as the well-established plot of the play, professor Peter Andersen (Universite de Strassbourg) sees it as a sort of allegory over the murder of the famous Danish astronomist, Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). This controversial theory was published in his new book, “Kunstvaerket” (: “The Artwork”).

 

King Christian IV of Denmark

His key to this interpretation is a story from 1603: “Den Hvenske Krønike”. It is about the enmity of the brother of King James I’s wife, Anna, i.e. the Danish king Christian IV (1588-1648) and the astronomer, the murder by proxy by his relative, Erik Brahe, who admitted his crime in a letter, etc., etc..

The reason for the murder is, according to Peter Andersen, first and foremost the numerous slights by Tycho Brahe against the king’s close friend and advisor, Jon Jakobsen (Also goes by the name of Venusin).

However, another one of the reasons for the king’s hatred of Tycho Brahe may have been the rumours that the astronomer had had an affair with his mother, Queen Sophie af Mecklenburg, and that he had murdered his presumed father, the former king, Frederik II. That made the astronomer out to be the king’s natural father which robbed him of his legitimacy. According to Peter Andersen, the “Elsinore” of “Hamlet” is not the town of Helsingoer, but the small island of Hven which for many years was the home of Tycho Brahe.

Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet

To me this looks like a rather circumstantial evidence in a crime investigation, but Peter Andersen has assembled a large mass of evidence and is very well read. I think this is a book which shall fall totally or stand tall with time. Many will reject it on sight, so to speak, but only time will tell how it shall fare.


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https://www.thoughtco.com/hamlet-study-guide-4587756

 

Wikipedia