Shakespeare's Hamlet as a Renaissance Man
Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a Renaissance Man
Shakespeare’s 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 (di ser Piero) da Vinci is considered by many to have been the 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 Shakespeare’s 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 da Vinci. (Ref 3) Da Vinci’s mastery of painting, sculpture, architecture, mechanical design, and even understanding of human biology are even now, considered by many, unmatched in history. By no means is Shakespeare’s 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
Shakespeare’s 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 (di ser Piero) da Vinci is considered by many to have been the 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 Shakespeare’s 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 da Vinci. (Ref 3) Da Vinci’s mastery of painting, sculpture, architecture, mechanical design, and even understanding of human biology are even now, considered by many, unmatched in history. By no means is Shakespeare’s 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