Renaissance Literature: Hamlet by Shakespeare - Essay Example

? Renaissance literature - Hamlet by Shakespeare The form and the content of literature in each particular era are depended on a series of facts. Usually, the social and political trends of each region are used as the basis for the development of various works of literature. However, in case of a strong political or social movement it is possible for the local trends and social beliefs to be ignored, in favor of the particular movement. Renaissance has been such a movement. The term ‘Renaissance’ has been used for describing not just a period of time, i.e. the period from the 14th up to the 17th centuries, but also a series of works of literature and art with specific characteristics. The Renaissance literature in the west is discussed in this paper. Particular emphasis is given on Shakespeare tragedy and Elizabethan drama. It is proved that Renaissance literature is differentiated from the works of literature of other periods, probably under the influence of the social and cultural trends of the specific period. In any case, it is made clear that the expansion of Renaissance, as a social and political movement, has been strongly supported by the literature of the particular period, as proved through the analysis of the ideas and the trends promoted through the Shakespeare tragedy, the Elizabethan drama and other works of literature that were aligned with the principles of Renaissance. In order to understand the nature and the role of Renaissance literature, it would be valuable to refer to specific works of literature of the specific period. Shakespeare tragedy and Elizabethan drama represent the principles of Renaissance as they have been aligned with the political and social ethics of Britain in the particular period of time. At first level, the following issue should be made clear: western literature has been strongly affected by Renaissance literature as these two types of literature have been developed within the same geographical area. For this reason, Renaissance has managed to influence western literature more than other types of literature developed internationally, for instance the Japanese literature. This phenomenon is highlighted in the study of Moore and Moody (187) and seems to be quite logical, also in terms of the common political and social traditions of western countries. In accordance with Keenan, the Renaissance literature had to faced an important problem: most of the works of literature developed during the particular period proved as ‘not timeless’ (Keenan 38), as initially thought. It is noted that since the 17th century, the reputation of Renaissance authors, like Shakespeare, started to fell (Keenan 38), a phenomenon that has lasted up to the late 19th century (Keenan 38). Then, the interest for the Renaissance literature and works of literature, like Hamlet, increased significantly. Regarding specifically Hamlet, the specific work of literature was considered as ideal for identifying information related to Elizabethan England of the Renaissance period (Keenan 38). Hamlet, a play that performed for first time approximately at 1600-1601, has been based on the Danish history, a tale initially developed by Grammaticus (Keenan 92). It is explained that Shakespeare has alternated the tale and added a series of events, such as the appearance of the ghost of Hamlet for increasing the elements of tragedy related to the particular story (Keenan 92). These events and dialogues have been considered as necessary in order for tragedy to be increased; at the same time, the response of Hamlet to the events showed the role of revenge, as a tool for enforcing justice, even if this tool is not legally and socially justified. However, given the fact of the development of court corruption in that particular period, as presented through Hamlet, the use of revenge for enforcing justice seems to be appropriate, as this support is reflected in the response of the audience, which tends to support Hamlet. Hamlet, like the other works of Shakespeare, emphasized on tragedy, a fact that has made Shakespeare one of the most important Renaissance authors who worked on this type of literature. Moreover, because of its references to the political and social problems of that era, Hamlet has been considered as an important means for identifying the characteristics of the political and social framework of 17th century. Of particular value are the references to the ‘accession of a new monarch and the corruption of court’ (Keenan 92). From this point of view, Hamlet has been valuable in order to understand the political and social concerns of Elizabethan England of the particular period, as the specific piece of information could be important for understanding the contemporary political and social problems of all western countries, which have been strongly affected by England as of their political and social principles. Furthermore, Muller (1976) notes that Shakespeare is the most important ‘representative’ of Renaissance literature (Muller 109). In accordance with the above researcher, Shakespeare managed to present accurately the end of absolute monarch in England and the transformation of the specific nation to a democratic one (Muller 109). This perspective is included in the principles of Renaissance, a movement that has been opposed to absolute monarch and which supported democracy and freedom of ideas and expression. However, probably under the fear of opening a direct opposition with the existing governors, Shakespeare referred to the problems of monarchy and the need for constitutional change through comical events. In this context, people of low social classes are presented as powerful enough in order to promote their own rights, which are characterized as justified and lawful; however, the characters of these people have been comical. In Hamlet, a different approach has been used. There, the difference of social ethics, as being influenced by the political and economic differences, leads to a tragedy. In other words, Shakespeare has managed using the laugh or the tragedy in order to promote his political thoughts, as they were aligned with the ideas of Renaissance. From another point of view, Hadfield notes that the work of Shakespeare is difficult to be precisely evaluated as of its relationship with the political thoughts of the 17th century. It is explained that three different views have been developed regarding the relationship between the work of Shakespeare and politics: in accordance with the first view, Shakespeare avoided focusing on politics because he was interested rather on human behavior (Hadfield 7). The second view was based on the following fact: Shakespeare had sympathy for Elizabeth and, obviously, could not criticize her decisions and methods of governance (Hadfield 7). There was also another view, in accordance with which Shakespeare has tried to emphasize on a series of social problems of the 17th century, such as the role of genders, the feminism and the social power of people of low social classes (Hadfield 7). As for Hamlet, the following issue is highlighted: Hamlet ‘does not include clear answers to the political problems of the Elizabethan England’ (Hadfield 97). The above view is explained as follows: in the period that Hamlet was first played, Elizabeth was near to her end not having the power to fight against her enemies, who were many. It was at this point, that Hamlet, and other works of Shakespeare, promote the Elizabethan drama: at the time of Hamlet Elizabeth was unable to control the political system of England (Hadfield 97). At this point, the following issue should be examined: was Hamlet an appropriate play for promoting social and ethical issues, meaning the potential use of this play in the 17th century? As Blank (2006) notes, the response of Hamlet to all the events of his life can lead to the following question: was Hamlet clever enough to confront the social challenges of his era, as reflected in the problems of his daily life? Blank (192) notes that the response to this question should be rather negative. If such view is accepted, then the revenge, as developed by Hamlet, is not justified as a method for responding to the life’s challenges. Probably, it is accepted that due to ignorance of the threats and the danger involved, Hamlet had any right to seek for revenge, a view that can be accepted. As of the value of Renaissance literature today, especially regarding its potential to support or transform the western literature, it could be doubted whether the works of Shakespeare, Spenser and the rest authors of that period can be effectively transformed so that they are aligned with contemporary ethics and values. This fact is highlighted in the study of Bruce and Steinberg (81) where emphasis is also given on the following problem: such transformation of Renaissance literature could destroy their cultural value. In this case, which would be the potential use of Renaissance literature today? Shakespeare and the other authors of Renaissance literature have managed to reflect effectively most of the social and political problems and trends of their era. In this context, Renaissance literature is a valuable tool for understanding western literature, which is strongly affected by Renaissance literature as already explained above. Also, issues like the role of each gender, the power of the capital to define the politics and the social ethics and the protection of the rights of people in low social classes, can be addressed more effectively using the Renaissance literature, which has extensively analyzed these problems. The review of the key characteristics of Shakespeare tragedy and Elizabethan drama, as analyzed above, leads to the assumption that Renaissance literature promoted specific ideas: traditional political thoughts and social beliefs were strongly doubted and criticized, even not directly, while the rights of people of low social classes were explained aiming to highlight the idea of equality in terms of society but also in terms of wealth and political power. On the other hand, innovative criteria regarding the quality of culture and literature were introduced. In fact, it seems that Renaissance literature has been strongly differentiated from the literature of the earlier years, meaning the pre-Renaissance period. The key characteristic of Renaissance literature has been the integration of ideas and thoughts; from this point of view Renaissance literature has managed to limit the power of local ethics and thoughts aiming to promote its own ideas and trends, a fact that has been often negatively criticized both during Renaissance and in modern times. At this point it could be argued that the principles of Renaissance could be used for the development of various works of art and literature but not at such level that traditional literature and art would be threatened. In this case, the key principle of art, the freedom of thought, would be violated. The success of the certain works of Renaissance literature, such as the Shakespeare tragedy and the Elizabethan drama, proved that people of the specific era needed the particular works of literature. In the years that followed the influence of Renaissance has been reduced, even if it is still honored as a critical cultural and art movement. As of Shakespeare tragedy and Elizabethan drama, which are key representatives of Renaissance literature, are still considered as the basis for understanding the social and political trends of the particular period as they were strongly influenced by the ideas of Renaissance. Works Cited Blank, Paul. Shakespeare and the mismeasure of Renaissance man. New York: Cornell University Press, 2006. Bruce, Susan, and Rebecca, Steinberger. The Renaissance literature handbook. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2010. Hadfield, Andrew. Shakespeare and Renaissance politics. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2004. Keenan, Siobban. Renaissance literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008. Moore, Cornelia, and Raymond, Moody. Comparative literature-East and West: traditions and trends: selected conference papers. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. Muller, Gustav. Philosophy of literature. Washington: Ayer Publishing, 1976. Read More