Hamlet

1
Hamlet

• Introduction to the next unit From Renaissance
  to Enlightenment

2
The Renaissance

• A period of change and growth from roughly
  1300-1650.
• Europeans begin to discover anew the riches of
  Greek and Roman classics.
• The word renaissance means rebirth.

3
The Renaissance

• This period marks the beginning of the modern
  world in Europe.
• People began to be stirred by the imagination, to
  thirst for knowledge, and to explore the scope of
  human potential.

4
The Renaissance

• The Renaissance begins in Italy
• The Crusades had introduced new products into the
  economy of Europe.
• The rapidly increasing demand for exotic Eastern
  spices, cloth, and wood created new wealth for
  traders and merchants.

5
The Renaissance

• The Renaissance begins in Italy
• Commercial centers prospered, especially in the
  Italian city-states which were trade links to the
  Near East and Africa.
• Wealthy Italian merchant families used the riches
  they earned to support the exploration of human
  thought and imagination.

6
The Renaissance

• The Renaissance begins in Italy
• They became patrons of the arts, financing the
  work of writers, musicians, philosophers, and
  other artists and thinkers.

7
The Renaissance

• An emphasis on the individual
• The humanists had a deep interest in human
  individuality.
• Their interests in human values distinguishes
  them from medieval philosophers whose thought was
  fundamentally centered around God and questions
  of religion.

8
The Renaissance

• An emphasis on the individual
• Humanists believed that people as individuals
  were the most important subject of study.
• Their intense curiosity led to the revival of the
  study of classical Greek and Roman art,
  literature, history and philosophy.

9
The Renaissance

• An emphasis on the individual
• In doing so, the humanists broke away from the
  narrow emphasis on Christian theology that
  characterized medieval learning.
• This also gave way to a new spirit of inquirythe
  foundation for science as we know it today.

10
The Renaissance

• An emphasis on the individual
• The new science challenged traditional authority,
  especially that of the church, by insisting on
  the power of observation rather than relying on
  outside authorities.

11
The Renaissance

• The Rise of Printing
• The imaginative fervor that had begun in Italy
  and spread throughout Europe was fueled by the
  technology of printing.
• Around 1455, Johann Gutenberg produced Europes
  first printed book-- the Bible.

12
The Renaissance

• The Rise of Printing
• The technology met strong resistance from the
  church. Church leaders imposed restrictions on
  the printing and sales of books, and more than
  one printer was burned at the stake as a heretic.

13
The Renaissance

• The Rise of Printing
• In northern Europe, humanism had taken the form
  of a widespread effort to reform the corrupt
  Church and loosen its hold on people.

14
The Renaissance

• The ReformationThe Church Looses Power
• The Reformation officially began in 1517 when
  Martin Luther made public a list of complaints
  against Church practices, entitled the
  Ninety-five Theses.

15
The Renaissance

• The ReformationThe Church Looses Power
• This began the reform movement, called
  Protestantism.
• The Reformation was fired by the idea that people
  did not need the Church to mediate between them
  and God.

16
The Renaissance

• England From Reformation to Renaissance
• In England, Renaissance would have to wait until
  the turmoil created by English Reformation
  subsided.
• Englands Reformation was very different from
  Europes.

17
The Renaissance

• England From Reformation to Renaissance
• It sprang from the political and personal
  motivations of King Henry VIII.
• In 1533, Henry broke from the Roman Catholic
  Church because it refused to recognize his
  divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn.

18
The Renaissance

• England From Reformation to Renaissance
• Henry had Parliament appoint him head of the
  newly created Anglican Church.
• After Henry died, his son Edward supported
  Protestantism in England.

19
The Renaissance

• England From Reformation to Renaissance
• Edwards successor, his sister Mary, was a
  Catholic whose persecution of non-Catholics
  earned her the name Bloody Mary.

20
The Renaissance

• England From Reformation to Renaissance
• When Marys Anglican sister Elizabeth became
  queen five years later 1558, England welcomed the
  peace she brought.
• With Elizabeths reign came a swelling of English
  pride and the Renaissance in England began.

21
Hamlet

• The play was first produced in 1602.
• It is set in Denmark.
• It reflects two contradictory concepts of the
  Renaissance prince or ruler

22
Hamlet

• 1. The ideal prince described by the Italian
  writer Castiglione in The Courtier, who possessed
  a noble spirit, high standards of excellence, a
  devition to the arts, and a passion for good
  government and peace.

23
Hamlet

• 2. The tyrannical prince recommended by
  Machiavelli, the Italian author of The Prince,
  who governs by the rules of force, fear, and
  cruelty.

24
Hamlet

• Claudius if the Machiavellian prince, while
  Hamlet is the virtuous, courtier type of prince.
• Two months before the play begins, the king is
  murdered. One month later, Gertrude marries
  Claudius.

25
Hamlet

• Main themes
• Revenge Three sons in the play must avenge their
  fathers deaths. As Hamlet delays his revenge,
  the moral question of blood vengeance comes into
  focus.
• Sin Sin effects every level of life personal,
  political and public.

26
Hamlet

• Main themes
• Betrayal Evil (esp. Claudius) undermined family
  ties, love, friendship
• Disease Theme runs through entire play,
  beginning with comparison of the political state
  of Denmark to a disease.

27
Hamlet

• Main themes
• Corruption of Youth innocence and idealism of
  young people corrupted by elders.
• Political fighting Struggle for political power
  the basis of the play.

28
Hamlet

• Main themes
• Perversion of love Contrasting pure love with
  corrupt love

29
Hamlet

• Main symbols
• poison
• spying
• masks and play-acting