Shakespeare helped bring the Renaissance freedom, humanity and rebirth of appreciation of classical antiquity to the English theater. As a professional writer since 1985, Bridgette Redman's career has included journalism, educational writing, book authoring and training. His inclusion of Catholicism in his works has led historians to hypothesize that the Bard was secretly Catholic. He was an important member of the King’s Men company of … What Types of Plays Did Shakespeare Write? How Did Shakespeare Influence the Renaissance? Richard Cummins/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images.
And the new focus on humanity created new-found freedom for artists, writers, and philosophers to be inquisitive about the world around them. The Renaissance arrived in England rather late. Shakespeare's treatment of characters marked a shift from medieval to Renaissance thinking. However, Shakespeare was very much a product of the radical cultural shifts that were occurring in Elizabethan England during his lifetime. She has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Michigan State University. The most obvious evidence of his classical contributions comes in such plays as "Coriolanus," "Antony and Cleopatra," "Julius Caesar," "Pericles," "Timon of Athens" and "Titus Andronicus" but can also be seen in "A Midsummer Night's Dream.". The Renaissance arrived in England rather late. Shakespeare arguably invented a uniquely English version of the Renaissance, for he wove together the plots of ancient tragedies with the histories of medieval England so masterfully that it was difficult to disentangle them. From the 14th century onward, people started to break away from this idea. In medieval times, plays took on a staunchly religious cast and were Christian in their outlook. His use of genres such as history, tragedy and comedy helped to hone the focus of theatrical production. The Influence of the Renaissance in Shakespeare's Work. He previously served as a theater studies lecturer at Stratford-upon Avon College in the United Kingdom. Shakespeare's greatest effect on the Renaissance was in expanding vocabulary and language. Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors? She's worked for daily newspapers, an educational publisher, websites, nonprofit associations and individuals. His biography evidences that Shakespeare (1564-1616) was among the most prominent poets and authors who ever lived (E-Notes.com 2011). Ironically, the Renaissance freedom brought to the English theater by Shakespeare and other writers also brought about its temporary demise. Festival of Sacrifice: The Past and Present of the Islamic Holiday of Eid al-Adha. // Leaf Group Lifestyle, University of Houston: Life in Renaissance England, Royal Shakespeare Company: Shakespeare's Language, Saylor.org: Renaissance Humanism and Shakespeare, Electrum Magazine: Shakespeare and the Classics -- Plutarch, Ovid and Inspiration, British Humanist Association: Shakespeare, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human; Harold Bloom; 1999. Profit came from joint investment in a business enterprise, a typical Renaissance ideal and one that moved away from the medieval system of profit from land and serfdom. Is the Coronavirus Crisis Increasing America's Drug Overdoses? Shakespeare demonstrated a deep understanding of self-expression, humanity and intellectual freedom through the characters he created, characters who were intelligent and witty in their expression. This questioning produced enormous upheaval in the accepted social hierarchy. Lee Jamieson, M.A., is a theater scholar and educator. Shakespeare embraced the Renaissance in the following ways: Elizabethan England endured a different form of religious oppression than that which had dominated the Middle Ages. His plays weren't put on solely for the royal or noble class but were available as entertainment to everyone. Consider King Lear and Macbeth.

Shakespeare helped bring the Renaissance freedom, humanity and rebirth of appreciation of classical antiquity to the English theater. Shakespeare's greatest effect on the Renaissance was in expanding vocabulary and... To Thine Own Self Be True: Characters With Humanistic Ideals. The upheaval in social hierarchy allowed Shakespeare to explore the complexity and humanity of every character, regardless of their social position. ), The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles, Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon. His written vocabulary was 17,000 words -- four times that of the average educated person of the English Renaissance -- and, according to educational resources provided by the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon, he contributed more than 3,000 words to the English language, either by being the first to record them or by creating them. The ideology that dominated the Middle Ages was heavily focused on the absolute power of God and was enforced by the formidable Roman Catholic Church. It reached its zenith during the Elizabethan era in the 16th century. Grammar and usage was in flux, and Shakespeare took much artistic freedom, a choice that would add style to the grammar of early modern English. ... Tony Soprano and Shakespeare… The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. The printing press's arrival in England in 1475 helped stabilize the language and gave Shakespeare access to books about Greeks and Romans as well as allowing him to print his plays, reports David Judkins, an English professor at the University of Houston, in the university's website, uh.edu. The renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century, spread across Europe and arrived in England by the late 15th century. When Shakespeare was working in the theater, the Renaissance movement in the arts was peaking in England. Broadly speaking, the Renaissance period is used to describe the era when... Shakespeare, the Renaissance Man . He mocked Puritans with his portrayal of Malvolio in "Twelfth Night," he showed Christians to be cruel in their dealings with a Jew in "The Merchant of Venice," and Angelo in "Measure for Measure" is cast as a villain for sentencing a character to death for fornication. Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved. How Did William Shakespeare Affect the Renaissance? When she took the throne, Queen Elizabeth I forced conversions and drove practicing Catholics underground with her imposition of the Recusancy Acts. An example of this can also be seen in Hamlet. His characters show humanistic tendencies that were a hallmark of the Renaissance, Hamlet being the most notable of these. He had access to source material that would inform his plays and help change the world around him. In fact, Shakespeare himself may have been Catholic. It’s very easy to think of Shakespeare as a unique genius with a singular perspective on the world around him. When the Puritans took over the government after the First English Civil War, all forms of theater were banned as immoral until the restoration of the monarchy in the late 17th century. Will 5G Impact Our Cell Phone Plans (or Our Health?! Shakespeare influenced the Renaissance by standardizing the English language and expanding its vocabulary, deepening the humanity of the characters in his plays through emotional complexity and using elaborate references to Greek and Roman mythology in his writing. Shakespeare updated the simplistic, two-dimensional writing style of pre-Renaissance drama. If discovered, Catholics faced stiff penalties or even death. It reached its zenith during the Elizabethan era in the 16th century. Lantern Theater Company Shakespeare's plays in the Renaissance left an unforgettable mark on this era and the world, because of his use of complex characterization, and his use of rich language in his plays. Broadly speaking, the Renaissance period is used to describe the era when Europeans moved away from the restrictive ideas of the Middle Ages. Shakespeare's plays left just as big a mark on the Renaissance as the Renaissance left on his work. The Influence of the Renaissance in Shakespeare's Work The Renaissance in Shakespeare's Time . Everything You Need to Know About Shakespeare's Plays, M.A., Theater Studies, Warwick University, B.A., Drama and English, DeMontfort University. She is the author of two blogs, reviews live theater and has a weekly column in the "Lansing State Journal." He is the most famous writer of all times with his works being used even today in many societies in the world. Despite these laws, Shakespeare did not appear to be afraid to write about Catholicism nor to present Catholic characters in a favorable light.

Shakespeare created new words and expressions that enabled English to become a much more precise artistic instrument. Until Shakespeare's plays, soliloquies had been used mainly as a means of conveying information, but Shakespeare internalized the monologues and caused them to bring out the emotional depth of his characters. At the very least, Shakespeare’s writing indicates a thorough knowledge of Catholic rituals. William Shakespeare was not the only figure of the English Renaissance, but he and his works are so important that no one talks about the period without mentioning him. William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor of the Renaissanceera. Theater Experience in Shakespeare's Lifetime, The Roles of Women in Shakespeare's Plays, Renaissance Architecture and Its Influence, Discover the Mysterious Shakespeare Lost Years, The Renaissance Writers Who Shaped the Modern World, Biography of William Shakespeare, History's Most Famous Playwright. Shakespeare was one of eight shareholders in the Lord Chamberlain's Men -- later called The King's Men. He focused on creating human characters with psychological complexity. In addition to being a playwright, Shakespeare was a businessman. Shakespeare's treatment of characters marked a shift … Shakespeare was born toward the end of the broader Europe-wide Renaissance period, just as it was peaking in England.

Shakespeare was a frequent borrower of classical tales that he adapted and rewrote. They often drew on the more human-centered classical writing and art of ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. Shakespeare’s influence on Renaissance culture was not simply a matter of incorporating works written in foreign languages and times past into his present. He also contributed many phrases that continue to be used, such as a sorry sight, all of a sudden, all one to me, dash to pieces, fair play, heart's content, in a pickle, love is blind, pound of flesh, the be all and end all, the game is afoot, there's method in my madness, up in arms and wild goose chase. His attention to the intricacies of language, characterization and plot became an example to follow for future playwrights and other writers. Catholic characters included Friar Francis ( "Much Ado About Nothing"), Friar Laurence ("Romeo and Juliet"), and even Hamlet himself. William Shakespeare was among the people who brought about a lot of changes during the renaissance period in England and transformed literature, thus affecting later culture. Monarchs were shown to make mistakes, common citizens were shown to have wisdom, and women were shown to be thoughtful. He started his career in London in 1592 when the theatre in England has jus… Until Shakespeare's time, although the English language was widely used, it did not have the complexity to express profundity adequately. This is not to say he did not have Christian theology in his plays, but he showed a secularism that would affect Renaissance thought in England, says an article by the British Humanist Association and comments by Harold Bloom in "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human." The artists and thinkers of the Renaissance did not necessarily reject the idea of God. Words he coined include advertising, lonely, arouse, blushing, excitement, mimic, torture and zany. Shakespeare at the Crossroads of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Though Shakespeare was writing during the Renaissance, his work owes much to medieval traditions. Regardless of what he may have been doing secretly, he maintained a public persona as an Anglican. A Feast of Language: Words and Grammar.

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