1. The Renaissance 14th- 17th century
Literal meaning: rebirth, but extends beyond revival and imitation of antiquity
Period of artistic creativity, zest for life and knowledge, individual achievement, and sensory delight in opulence and magnificence

2. Humanism
the movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate the language, literature, learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome
Asserted "the genius of man ... the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind“
focus on humanity and human potential in the arts rather than religion

3. Values of the Renaissance
Medieval Man: mode of action basically oriented toward the thought of the afterlife
Renaissance Man: possessing and cherishing earthly interests, any realization of ephemeral quality of life = spur to its immediate enjoyment

4. “the dignity of man”
Positive, strongly affirmed awareness of the intellectual and physical “virtues” of the human being and his place in Creation
Problem: where there is a singularly high capacity for feeling the delight of earthly achievement, there is a possibility that its ultimate worth will also be questioned profoundly.

5. Renaissance Melancholy
For some minds, the sense of void become so strong as to paralyze all aspiration to power or thirst for knowledge or delight in beauty.
Much of Renaissance literature takes its character and strength from the tensions generated by this simultaneous exaltation and pessimism about the human condition.

6. Renaissance Art Use of oil paints and new techniques
Artists tried to create realism and perspective, the feeling of three dimensions
Examples include the following:

7. Major Artistic Figures
Leonardo da Vinci – the Renaissance Man – painter, sculptor, scientist, inventor
Michelangelo – Sculptor and painter
Raphael – Sculptor and painter

8. Raphael –
The Marriage of the Virgin
1504

9. Michelangelo –
The ceiling of The Sistine Chapel

10. Renaissance Literature
Began to use Vernacular more and more – Latin was replaced nearly completely by English.
Humanism – Literary movement concerned with everyday human problems.

11. Elizabethan World View
Chain of Being
Order and Disorder, Sin

12. William Shakespeare

13. Shakespeare’s Language
Source of pleasure or
Obstacle to appreciation?

14. Qualities of Shakespeare’s verse
Density and richness
Characters express thoughts through powerful images and metaphors
Figurative language: pleases mind and senses – expresses one idea in terms of another
Connotative imagery: highly suggestive pictures and ideas resonate with other images, ideas, themes in play

15. Vocabulary Another stumbling block for modern readers
Shakespeare’s vocabulary: 29,000 words (twice that of the average college student)
Many of his words have since dropped/changed from common usage: bisson (blind), proper (handsome), cousin (kinsman), silly (innocent)

16. Let’s look at Hamlet The Ghost speaks: Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebona in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leprous distillment. ( )

17. Dangling modifier - or suspension?
Grammatically, the subject should be “I” but is in fact “thy uncle”
Error reflects initial problem: Claudius replaces Old Hamlet
Suspensions heighten suspense – recall that Hamlet is listening intently
Every scene has manipulations of syntax

18. Forms of dramatic language
Two primary forms: prose and poetry
Dominant form of verse: blank verse
Example of Shakespearean prose
Hamlet’s “What a piece of work is man”
rhythmic power from patterns of verbal repetition

19. The End