Hi,
Understanding what is going on during the time period will give
greater insight to what is going on with the characters in the play.
This is true of any time period such as our current time with shows
like Blackhawk Down or even the Disney Animation Aladdin. You as a
viewer can still enjoy the movie or play but knowing more about the
time period allows you to enjoy it more.
Events and the names of cities in Shakespeare are not random by any
means. Take for instance Hamlet, of which there are several
interpretations of what is going on with him and why he is not acting
after his father's ghost has asked him too. Hamlet's friends,
Rosencrance and Guildenstern are greeted by Hamlet as "my good friends
from Wittenberg" the college which Hamlet has been attending.
During this time period Wittenberg is talked about quiet a bit, as it
is also the college which Martin Luther is lecturing in and starting
the Protestant movement. Luther doesn't think he's starting a
Protestant movement, and in fact is trying very hard to make sure one
doesn't start, but that's what he's doing anyway.
These two friends come basically out of no where, do very little and
end abruptly. (There's a really good play called Rosencrance and
Guildenstern are dead that is based on this usage of these two
characters). So why bring them up at all?
The Catholic belief as far as "ghosts" are concerned is that the soul
after it leaves the body goes to one of three places. There is Heaven,
Hell and Purgatory. A soul from Heaven would not be a Ghost and if it
was it wouldn't be crying out for Vengeance, a Soul from Hell would
not be let out, so again, would be questionable, and would probably be
some sort of demon or devil. A soul from Purgatory, as the father
seems to suggest he is, would be okay. except... Hamlet is just from
Wittenberg a now Protestant school.
The Protestant doesn't have a Purgatory and in fact this is one of the
items in the Catholic beliefs which Martin Luther was questioning.
There is no Purgatory to the Protestant, there is only Heaven and
Hell. So, where is our Ghost Father from then?
As any good writer would, Hamlet and his friend Horatio make
references to this quandary several times in the play, so you really
don't need to know all this to get what is going on, but if you
understand what is going on in the time period it becomes even more
obvious that this is one of the factors that is keeping Hamlet from
action.
Midsummer's Night Dream again points to things going on in the
Renaissance period. The wife to be is an Amazon princess and her lord
is an Athenian
Hero. We have gods from India, Celtic Myth and several other places
thrown into this mesh of lore and play, which walk around and effect
the lives of the "real people" (those just trying to get by) in the
town. But our Royals are straight out of myth themselves. This is a
show of the times which points at the greater usage of Roman and Greek
myth in all forms of poetry and art in that time period. A return to
the "real" for some. Freedom of voice and story for others, such as
Shakespeare.
Remember that Shakespeare was a "popular" writer, not in the sense of
being famous or well loved, which of course both of these are true,
but in the sense that he wrote about his time period and what was
going on then. He didn't write about the Renaissance from an
historical point of view, anymore than you would write in your diary
about your day in the Cyber world of 2002. He wrote about what was
going on in the populace, because that was his trade, to show the
world a mirror in which they could see themselves. So there is really
very little which goes on in a Shakespeare play which doesn't reflect
something of what is going on with the times.
The times of the Renaissance are times of questions and the seeking of
values for things which have "always had value because that's just the
way it is" The people of this time began to question this, in very
strong ways. The histories which Shakespeare does, show this as well.
The kings themselves are looked at and given value anew. Though the
plays themselves are not "about" the Renaissance, they are. They show
the interest and the need to know, or be shown again, "why" these
folks are important, or in some cases, not important. Up to this point
a King was important because, well.. he was King, but the people of
the Renaissance mind frame didn't accept such an answer so easily any
longer.
The question of human value, all humans, and the choice and acceptance
of love, were being questioned again. Individual worth and voice. The
idea that you could succeed if you did the actions, that your art,
your voice your ideas were as valuable as the next mans, be he king or
priest. That you could read for yourself what was in the Bible and
even talk to God. All of this is found in the plays of Shakespeare.
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
http://www.wittenberg.de/e/seiten/virtuell/vir_sf07.html
Intertextual Hamlet
http://www.ilstu.edu/~bfsmith/Intertextual%20Hamlet/topic_2.htm
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