Renaissance, 1400-1700

Introduction

Because European artists and writers of this period tried to recapture the brilliant cultural achievements of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, scholars refer to the period stretching from roughly 1400 to about 1700 as the "Renaissance," which literally means "rebirth" in French. The prevailing attitude among intellectuals of the time was humanistic; that is, unlike their medieval predecessors, whose eyes were generally pointed upward toward God, the men and women of the Renaissance were guilty of many sidelong glances at their fellow human beings, as well as the world in which they lived. This attitude was closely intertwined with many important developments, including the Reformation, which marked a turn away from church authority, and the scientific revolution, in which Galileo and Francis Bacon demonstrated the capacity of humans to understand and control nature. 

This period produced some of the world's greatest sculptures--notably Michelangelo's David (1504)--and paintings, including Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1512) and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (c. 1503-1506). Among the literary masterpieces written during the Renaissance are William Shakespeare's plays, Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605, 1615), and John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). Beginning around 1450, printers such as Johannes Gutenberg and William Caxton reproduced books with movable type, thus making the works of the Renaissance much more accessible and thus influential than medieval literature, which had to circulate in manuscript form.

Hamlet

  1. William Shakespeare borrowed the plots for all or nearly all of his plays. Why, then, do we pay so much attention to Shakespeare and not to the original writers? 
  2. Analyze Hamlet as a character.  Discuss his identity, personality, and motivation, supporting your ideas with details from the play.
  3. Compare the experience of reading Hamlet with the experience of watching it performed.  Analyze how a director, an actor, a set designer, or another person involved in the production you watched interpreted Shakespeare's play and conveyed meaning through a dramatic device, such as lighting, gestures, or props.
    1. "Screens and Worlds in Hamlet" by Mark Canada
    2. Niakeya Jones
  4. One reason Shakespeare's plays are so challenging is that he couches nearly everything in figurative language. Identify one of his metaphors, similes, or other figures of speech and analyze its contribution to the play.
  5. Choose an important theme--such as will, death, family, revenge--and discuss what this play has to say about this theme.
  6. In an exchange with his mother in Act 1, Hamlet says: "Seems, madam?  Nay, it is. I know not 'seems'" (1.2.76).  What does he mean?  Analyze other details relating to seeming and being in the play.  What does this play have to say about appearances and reality? 
    1. "SEEMS, MADAM? NAY IT IS. I KNOW NOT SEEMS" by Dawn Cox
  7. What is the role of the play within a play in Act 3?  How does Hamlet use it, and how does Claudius react to it? Does this play have any thematic significance?
    1. "Disguises Reveal Just As Much As They Conceal" by Jessica Guy
  8. Analyze the character or role of Polonius.  Consider his famous speech to Laertes (1.3.55-81) and his predilection for hiding and eavesdropping.
    1. "ANALYZATION OF THE CHARACTER POLONIUS" by Maranda Hammonds
  9. What does this play have to say about thought and action?  Consider both Hamlet's and Claudius's dilemmas regarding thinking and acting. 
  10. People often joke about exploring "the meaning of life," but in some ways Hamlet is very seriously concerned with exactly this theme.  Referring to several passages, such as one or more of Hamlet's famous soliloquies, discuss what this play has to say about the meaning of life.
    1. "Hamlet Explores the Meaning of the Life" by Erika Howland

Selected Sonnets

One of the most popular literary forms of the Renaissance--and, indeed, of all English literature--is the sonnet, a 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter.  The sonnet came from Italy, where writers such as Petrarch used a two-part structure.  The first part, called the "octave," contains eight lines rhymed abba abba; the second part, called the sestet, contains six lines rhymed cd cd cd, cde cde, or some similar way.  In the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet, a change in meaning occurs between these two parts.  In the 1500s, English writers such as Sir Thomas Wyatt and Sir Philip Sidney began writing sonnets, as well.  Although the Italian form did not die out in England, some English poets--most notably William Shakespeare--adopted a slightly different structure.  Instead of an octave and a sestet, they wrote three quatrains and a couplet.  Thus, the rhyme scheme of the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg, and the change in meaning occurs between the final quatrain and the couplet.  English writers tend to use this form to introduce a surprise ending in the concluding couplet.

You can find each of the sonnets below by clicking on the title.  Before reading them, review Understanding and Explicating Poetry.  Then read each sonnet at least two or three times, paying attention not only to the content, but also the form.  In particular, see if you can tell when and how the poem changes meaning and how other features of the form complement the meaning. Use the questions below the list of poems to guide your reading and interpretation.

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Updated November 23, 2000 | University of North Carolina at Pembroke
© Mark Canada, 2000 | mark.canada@uncp.edu