Purity

In one of the most recognizable passages of the Old Testament, Isaiah pleads with the sin-full people of Judah, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool” (ISAIAH 1:18). Claudius considers his own guilt with an unmistakable allusion to the words of the prophet: “What if this cursed hand / Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood, / Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens / To wash it white as snow?” (III, iii).