Words: 963
Shakespearean Hamlet as a Renaissance Man The Renaissance was a European intellectual and social movement beginning in the trading hub of Florence, Italy and gradually expanded to encompass the whole of Europe. People of the Renaissance age were interested in the Classical works of the ancient Greeks and Romans, they wanted to improve their lives with technology and better understand the natural world. The perfect Renaissance man was said to appreciate multiple fields of study, and examine the world with a technical and scientific mind.
Leonardo (did seer Pier) dad Vinci is considered by many to have been he finest example of the Renaissance man due to his extraordinary understanding of numerous subjects. Leonardo was known for his unequivocal genius in the fields of mathematics, architecture, engineering, anatomy, and art to name a few. William Shakespearean Hamlet was written near the end of the Renaissance, and it reflects the ideals of the period in the titular character. The play shows Hamlet as a swordsman, an artist, and a scholar. These varied traits mirror the ‘essential renaissance man’ Leonardo dad Vinci. Reef) Dad Vine’s mastery of painting, sculpture, architecture, canonical design, and even understanding of human biology are even now, considered by many, unmatched in history. By no means is Shakespearean Prince Hamlet a pastiche of possibly the smartest man in history, (Ref 3) but the impression Leonardo left on history can be seen in the greatest writer’s greatest work. Written during the first part of the seventeenth century (probably in 1600 or 1601), Hamlet was probably first performed in July 1602. Ref one) As was common practice during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Shakespeare borrowed for his plays ideas and stories from earlier literary works. He could have taken the story of Hamlet from several possible sources, including a twelfth-century Latin history of Denmark compiled by Sax Grammatical and a prose work by the French writer Francis De Belletrist, entitled Histories Tragedies. (Refute) Shakespeare built upon these works and provided a renaissance point of view for the main character. The first of Hamlet’s renaissance attributes would be his education abroad.
In the first act, it is made clear that Hamlet is a student at Wattenberg and is hoping to return there. In hose times, it would be unusual for a 30-year-old to still be a student. (Reef) This idea of lifelong learning could parallel did Vine’s own tireless study and history of self improvement. Even in his sixties, Leonardo continued his scientific investigations, concerning himself with problems of geology, botany, hydraulics, and mechanics. At nearly seventy, his interest in anatomy quickened considerably. At the same time he was active as painter and sculptor, had pupils, and influenced the Melamine painters. Ref 2) He was regarded as one of the greatest scientific and creative minds of the mime, though many of Leonardo achievements were far beyond the scope of the general population. He was revered by many who lived in the era including the explorer Christopher Columbus, and other Renaissance Men including Michelangelo, Poetical, and Rafael. The second renaissances attribute that Hamlet and did Vinci occupy unique positions as the most famous, the most illustrated and most imitated portrait and religious painting of all time.
His drawing of the Vitiation Man is also iconic. In Act two, scene 2, of Shakespearean play, hoping to cheer Hamlet up, Guilelessness informs the Prince that a troupe of traveling actors has arrived at Elisions castle to entertain him. Hamlet welcomes the players and immediately asks one actor to perform an impassioned monologue on the murder of the King Prima. Greatly affected, a plan for vengeance hatches in Hamlet’s mind. The Prince arranges for the troupe to perform a play on the infamous murder of Gonzalez the following night.
The play will closely mirror the murder of King Hamlet and will include a speech written by Hamlet himself. The Prince expects that Claudia’ reaction to the researchers and too-familiar sketch will proclaim his guilt. As Hamlet plots, “The plays the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King. ” This use of plot device assumes that someone such as Hamlet would have the wit and insight to write, or at least modify, a play for the stage. In the late renaissance, this would be seen as a skill one could aspire. The final parallel between Hamlet and dad Vinci lies in the purpose of the play.
Prince Hamlet’s play, The Mousetrap, is presented to the court supposedly as entertainment, but Hamlet’s intent is to gather obvious evidence of Classis’s guilt for the murder of his father. In her essay on “the play within the play’ in Hamlet, Karen S. Henry describes this scene as “watchers watching watchers. ” (REF) The only way Hamlet can verify what he was told by the ghost of his father, is to learn by watching. This is similar to a story about young Leonardo. Legend has it that young Leonardo was asked by his father to paint a shield. Leonardo decided to paint a terrifying face.
The young dad Vinci brought in all sorts of vermin, lizards, bats, maggots, and so on. He painted a disgusting monster exhaling make and poison gas. He was so engrossed in his painting that he failed to notice that his animal specimens had begun to rot. When he finally allowed his father to see it, his father was so startled by its realism, he knew his son must be an artist. Leonardo learned by watching and took lessons from what he saw. Hamlet is a symbol of the universal man. (ref) He does not reflect the common man’s actions and deeds, but what the common man could possible do if given the chance.