Renaissance humanism in Shakespeare’s tragedies

【Abstract】：humanism is the theme of Renaissance. The renaissance humanism is reflected in Shakespeare’s works， especially his tragedies. The essay analyzed renaissance humanism in three of Shakespeare’s tragedies， Hamlet， King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet’s story reflects the humanists’ hardship to realize their dreams. In King Lear， Coldelia presents her humanism in her honest answer and her choice of marriage. And in Romeo and Juliet， the two youth show their humanism in their pursuit for sincere love

【Key words】renaissance humanism， Shakespeare， tragedy， humanist， Hamlet， King Lear， Codelia， Romeo， Juliet

Humanism is the theme of the Renaissance. In the Renaissance Period， humanists emphasized the capacity of the human mind and the achievements of human culture in contrast to the medieval emphasis on God. The renaissance humanism affirmed human beings’ position and encouraged the pursuit of happiness in their current life. The renaissance humanism has great influence on English dramatic literature in Elizabeth Epoch. Shakespeare was one of the great humanists of his time. And the spirit of humanism can be found in most of his works， especially in his tragedies. The renaissance humanism is expressed quite obviously in three of Shakespeare’s tragedies， Hamlet， King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. In these three tragedies， Hamlet’s story reflects the humanists’ hardship to realize their dreams， Codelia presents her humanism in her honest answer and her choice of marriage， and Romeo and Juliet show their humanism in their pursuit for sincere love.

In Hamlet， the character Hamlet is described as a representative of humanist at that time， and his story reflects the humanists’ hardship to realize their dreams. In this play， the conflict between Hamlet and his uncle Claudius is the conflict between the newly emerged capital humanists and the feudal evil force. Hamlet’s knowledge， wisdom， noble spirit and his hesitation， limitation， doubt are all the characteristics of humanists in Renaissance period. Hamlet’s revenge is not just a person’s matter but also the duty to change the whole society. Hamlet confirms human’s value and dignity， and also the wisdom and power. This is best summarized in Hamlet’s lines： “What a piece of work is man; how noble in reason; how infinite in faculty， in form and moving how express and admirable; in action how like an angel; in apprehension how like a god！” However， in front of the evil reality， all his dreams are destroyed completely. He just gets the spiritual victory with the cost of his life.

In the tragedy King Lear， Cordelia， the daughter of King Lear， presents her humanism by her honest answer to her father’s questions and her choice of marriage. Shakespeare criticizes the hypocritical human relations in capitalist society， and praises humanism through the description of the internal disorder of the royal family. When King Lear asked his daughters how much they love him， Cordelia， shamed of telling lies， said that she loves her father according to her duty， neither more nor less. When she knew Lear’s poor condition later， she begged her husband to save Lear without hesitation. She is the embodiment of sympathy， honest and faith， Shakespeare puts the humanism dream on her. On marriage， Cordelia also shows her humanism mind. When the duke of Burgunry refused to marry her because she has nothing， she immediately chose the king of France， a person who understood her and appreciated her goodness. In the opinion of humanism， marriage should be from people’s own free will， without consideration of material interest. So Cordelia’s marriage with the king of France who loves her virtue rather than her wealthy is the expression of humanism.

In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet， the leading characters Romeo and Juliet show their humanism in their pursuit for sincere love. Their love story praises the liberation of human nature and renaissance humanism spirit. The pure and true love between two young people is the most beautiful dream in that society. Romeo is a humanist with lofty ideal. To pursue personal happiness life， he faced death unflinchingly. His death for love shows humanist’s pursuit for happy life. Juliet is a beautiful， faithful， gentle girl. To achieve a satisfying marriage， she is determined to broke the feudal bondage and escapes the wedding with Paris by feign death. When she knew that Romeo was dead， she drunk the poison and died with her sweetheart. In her eyes， love is superior to all.

The renaissance humanism reflected in Shakespeare’s tragedies pays more attention to man’s power and value instead of regarding them as the servants of God. Apart from these three tragedies， Shakespeare’s spirit of humanism is also expressed in his other works， such as the poem Venus and Adonis， the historical drama King Henry Ⅵ and the comedy The merchant of Venice. It could be said that without humanism， Shakespeare would not achieve such a success and his works would not be the peak of world literature.

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