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Astha Shukla

M.A. English

13th April, 2024

Hamlet as a Renaissance Man

‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’, the most renowned play written by Shakespeare,

written in 1601 marks the high point of Renaissance period in the English literary history.

Hamlet has been read through multiple lenses, one of it being a typical ‘Renaissance tragedy’

and Hamlet suiting the figure of a Renaissance man. Paul Cantor in his 1989 book ‘Hamlet and

the Renaissance’ examines “Hamlet’s status as tragic hero and central enigma of delayed

revenge in light of the play's Renaissance context” (Cantor, 136), showcasing how Hamlet can

be read in the light of sociohistorical context of the Renaissance or the period of transition

between Medievalism to Early Modernism. This period of transition was occupied with tension

arising due to clash of Medieval ideas extending in the Elizabethan England. Hamlet therefore

shows a balance between the Medieval discourse of revenge and modern ideas of individuality,

sexuality and others. Several modern critics have highlighted the renaissance features prevalent

in the personality of Hamlet, such as ambiguity, absurdity and stoicism, leading to the

progression of the play as a full-fledged Renaissance tragedy.

Initially, Hamlet has been shown as an educated prince; a character expected to think

‘rationally’ which in itself reflects the Renaissance temperament of the author while shaping the

character of Hamlet. However, contrasting the expectation, Hamlet’s characteristics are much

‘human like’ instead of being fictional. The ‘dilemma’ which prevails in him regarding his

judgement and actions make him close to every person reading him, as Bloom says “there’s no

‘real’ Hamlet” (Bloom, 401). for he is a replication of the audience. Hence Hamlet as a tragedy
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completely suits the idea of ‘Renaissance Humanism’ which focused on the moral and

psychological aspects of the character more than any other human feature.

The over contemplative nature of Hamlet can be assessed in a way as his ‘loss of faith’,

which Michel de Montaigne, one of the pioneers of European Renaissance, in his ‘Apology for

Raymond Sebond’ talks about ‘scepticism’ as a key feature of the Renaissance man which

compels him to logically assess the actions taking place around him and questions them This

‘sceptic’ attitude is properly evident in the last scene of Act 1 where Hamlet encounters the ghost

of his father. When the ghost tries to convince him that he is the King’s ghost, who had been

murdered, Hamlet utters; “Haste me to know’t, that I, with wings as swift/ As meditation or the

thoughts of love/ May sweep to my revenge.” (1.5. 53). These lines clearly depict how Hamlet is

not able to believe at the ghost in one go, rather oxymoronically chooses to wait for the

revelation of truth using his wit. Again, the very famous ‘Mouse Trap’ scene in Hamlet is a

reaffirmation of the fact that though Hamlet may seem to be convinced by the Ghost’s statements

but he was still skeptic about the fact that his father could have been murdered by his Uncle

Claudius, and hence he dramatized the scenario in order to get a conformation of the same. As

A.C. Bradley in his Shakespearean tragedy writes, “Hamlet’s irresolution or, aversion to real

action is, according to the theory, ‘an enormous intellectual ability’…” (Bradley 85), therefore

his inaction can be associated with his intellectual aspect, that again in turn explicates his

Renaissance temperament.

The “to be or not to be” soliloquy of Hamlet magnificently explicates the dilemma of

Hamlet’s mind that is torn between the sense of right and wrong. He seems to be very self-

deprecating while delivering that monologue where he is critical of his ‘cowardice’ which makes

him unable to take any action against Claudius despite being aware of the truth, as he admits
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“Thus conscience does make coward of us all;” (3.1, 108). This trait of procrastination is a

modern trait which make Hamlet a suitable Renaissance product who keeps wavering between

Medieval and Modern ideals, i.e., ‘to think’ or ‘to act’, over which Harold Bloom states that

“Shakespeare created him to be as ambivalent and divided a consciousness as a coherent drama

could sustain” (p. 387).

Hamlet as a character, keeps on dwelling between individualism and religious beliefs. He does

not seem to be a person with strong religious inclination as he seems to believe in the concept of

‘afterlife’ but at the same time, the fact that he is afraid to face his own death cannot be negated.

As per Jan Kott, Hamlet can be considered as an ‘existentialist’ figure as he, in his 1964 work

‘Shakespeare our Contemporary’ says, “he considers life to be a lost cause from the outset [and]

would rather be excused from this big game…” (Kott, 76). These are two aspects showcasing the

impact of transition of value system during Renaissance on Hamlet, wherein on one hand

believing in the medieval tradition of afterlife is old, paralleling it with explicitly expressing the

fear of death make Hamlet the embodiment of Renaissance.

Throughout the five acts, Hamlet goes through a lot of contemplation over varied themes

regarding life and death, morality, love anger, revenge and what not. Hamlet in himself

accumulated a wide spectrum of human emotions that can be relatable for every person studying

him, irrespective of the era. If Hamlet has to be considered as an embodiment of something, he is

the embodiment of ‘evolution’ of every sort; that is to say evolution of character, evolution of

emotions and of the historical temperament as whole making Hamlet as the personification of

‘Renaissance’. Every human reading him too faces similar challenges as Hamlet and goes

through the same process of evolution of character in accordance with situation.

As Bradley suggests, “The ‘conscience’ theory at any rate leaves Hamlet a great a great nature

which you can admire and even revere. But for the ‘sentimental’ Hamlet you can feel only pity

not unmingled with contempt. Whatever else he is, he is no hero.” (Bradley, 80), therefore

proving Bloom’s point of Hamlet being a reflection of his readers’ Hamlet being ‘one amongst

us’, therefore making Hamlet a true Renaissance man.

Works Cited

Bradley, Andrew C. “Shakespearean Tragedy”. Second ed. 1905. The Macmillan Press ltd.,

(Repub.) 1976

Cantor, Paul A. “Hamlet and the Renaissance.” Shakespeare: Hamlet. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2004. 1–19. Print. Landmarks of World Literature (New).

Bloom, Harold. “Shakespeare: The invention of The Human”. Riverhead books. 1998.

Montaigne, Michel de. “Apology for Raymond Sebond”. Trans. M.A. Screech. 1987. Penguin

Books, (Repub.) 1993.

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet”. 1603. Fingerprint Classics. (Reprint) 2021.

Kott, Jan. “Shakespeare, Our Contemporary”, Doubleday, 1964.