Hamlet: The Original Renaissance Man

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Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, rides the wave of change in that epitomizes the Renaissance era. The transition from strong strictures of Catholic religion to the more humanistic version of the Protestant religion gradually changed the outlook of the Renaissance man, and how they saw the world. Hamlet is the progression of the Renaissance change.
The play begins with Hamlet’s strong belief in the Catholic religion and laws in Act I Scene 2 with him speaking aloud regarding the law of God and how he wishes it was different, as he is believes that it is against God’s law to commit suicide, and therefore is not an option for him as a Christian.
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God, God,
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
(I.2.131-134)
He again reinforces his reliance on faith when the ghost of his father first appears to him, asking that Angels and ministers protect them instead of relying on reason to say that the apparition couldn’t hurt him.
Angels and ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned,
Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
(I.4.39-42)
Phoebe Spinrad states that this is “an invocation of heavenly powers against what might be an evil visitation.” Later in play Hamlet is still having moments that he flashes back to the prescripts of the medieval religion when he states, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends.” Ultimately Hamlet displays his beliefs in the medieval Catholic religion by following the dictates of his religious beliefs and not killing his uncle whom he knows murdered his father. He fears damnation if he vi...

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...mlet's Mind"" JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013

Shakespeare, William "Hamlet" The Norton Introduction to Literature.
Shorter 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2013. 1363-1458. Print.

Knowles, Ronald. "Hamlet and Counter-Humanism." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

Shakespeare, William "Hamlet" The Norton Introduction to Literature.
Shorter 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2013. 1363-1458. Print.

Curran Jr., John E. "Bad Dreams: The Loss of Contingency." Literary Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

Terry, Reta A.. "’Vows to the Blackest Devil’: Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England." Literary Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013

Shakespeare, William "Hamlet" The Norton Introduction to Literature.
Shorter 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2013. 1363-1458. Print.

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