Pico and Shakespeare Revolutionists of the Renaissance Essay

The Renaissance, a time of smashing find and strong passion for thought and system of logic contained two distinct writers. Pico de Mirandola and William Shakespeare wrote two major works of literature. The Oration on the lordliness of adult male, written by Pico explains the Renaissance views of military man beings achievement and freewill to accomplish tasks without the overhaul of the church. A very famous contactwright, William Shakespeare overly talked approximately these same Renaissance ideals in many of his plays. One famous play that uses dramatic language to explain religious, philosophical, and flush feminist ideas is critical point.Hamlet, a tragedy, is just about a Prince who prefers to key outk r crimsonge on his uncle King Claudius. King Claudius is suspected of cleanup Hamlets father the homunculuser(prenominal) King and since his death has stolen his thr unitary and unify his wife. After being told this, Prince Hamlet goes unrestrained and his nonplus and Claudius worry about him. Hamlet then tells a woman to reefer a convent because of her sexual appetite (Shakespeare set I ikon I). Prince Hamlet in addition exhibits some sexist qualities when he says, Frailty, thy call in is woman(Shakespeare Act I Scene II ). He says this because he believes that his mother is unfaithful and assnot be intimate with a single man during her emotional statetime. This is why she betrayed her deep husband the King. Hamlet concludes that not alone is his mother frail but in fact all women in his intellection are frail and fall to relish and temptations.In Picos work, he writes about how mint should be able to presuppose for themselves. Pico does agree with some of the churchs ideals of how human beings have a great capacity for intellectual achievement. He in like manner believes that humans have the right to make the path of animals or the path of angels. However, he believed that since humans had such a heights intellectua l capacity, then they could crystalise their aver decisions and fire to the status of paradisely being. Therefore, he believed that the church was not the center of attention, or else humanity was. He writes, Mans place in the universe is someplace between the beasts and the angels, but, because of the divine image pose in him, there are no limits to what man can accomplish(Pico Della Mirandola 37). This shows that Pico was strongly bringd by the Renaissance ideals of individuality, creativity, and reason. During this time, many people believed that they had the situation to choose their journeys.They believed that we have the power to use thought and reason to hit decisions. From these ideas, one can see the influence Pico had on Renaissance philosophers. Hamlet to a fault had these same ideals of self-reflection, individuality, and reason. It says in Act II, What a piece of work is a man, how awful in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express a nd admirable, in action how like an angel, in savvy how like a god The steady of the knowledge domain, the paragon of animalsand yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not menor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so(Shakespeare Act II Scene II).throughout the entire play Hamlet struggles with self-doubt and hatred, he talks about how respl determinationent the creation of man is. However, he himself cannot see anything that inspires him. Also in his famous To Be or Not to Be soliloquy in Act III, he questions whether his bearing is worth living or not. By this time in the story, Hamlet has gone through a rather crowing amount of suffering his girlfri residuum has move suicide, he has murdered two men, and his uncle is trying to kill him because he fears him will reveal that he is in fact the murderer. In his run-in he declares the world as a harsh and terrible place alter with sorrow.He questions whether he sine qua nons to exist in this world he states that to sleep is to end the miseries that humans have to endure. This relates to the ideas of individuality and self-expression from the Renaissance. However, if one was to have such beliefs, then comes thoughts of solitariness and faith in God begins to diminish. It is express that in many cases Renaissance philosophers and artists confront and battled states of depressions and many chose suicide at the end of their tough lives. It wasnt for the fact that they were lonely but their ideas were not widely reliable (Kuntz 2011). Shakespeares take on the world is that humans are free to make their protest decisions and choose their own paths in sustenance. However, with that comes a lot of trouble and tear down though these renaissance ideas seemed so corroboratory and gave hope, they also brought a lot of complications.However, Pico offers a opposite, more positive take on humankind. He also states that We have make you a creature neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, in put together that you may, as the free and proud shaping machine of your own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer. It will be in your power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life you will be able, through your own decision, to raising again to the superior orders whose life is divine(Pico Della Mirandola 72).This shows that, Pico understands that mankind is not considered animal-like or angelic. He exclaims that as a human you have the right to be whoever you want to be, and accomplish whatever you strive to achieve. However, he states that these freewill decisions will still be judged by the sphere. The path you take could be descending to the lower, the path of deception and hell. However, on the same token, you have the power to rise again and become holy and safe again after falling to the depths. This is an idea that was very common during the Renaissance. The idea that we could choose amongst the many paths of life with our powers of reason, but the heavens will ultimately judge us regardless.To conclude, these two writers Pico and Shakespeare both wrote about different ideas. Shakespeare portrayed Renaissance ideas of thought, reason, and decision-making through drama. However, Pico had a more optimistic view that even though we had the power to decide, we still cant take that power for granted. These two writers did have one thing in common in all of their writings they focused on the fact that humankind itself is the most powerful thing in existence. They believed that humankind had the power of reason and thought, and by using this power they can elevate to higher statuses.Works CitedGiovanni Pico Della Mirandola, Conte. Columbia electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, (2011) Kuntz, Marion Leathers. Pico Della Mirandola New Essays. Renaissance every quarter 61.3 (2008) 916-918. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. N.p. Regnery publication Inc., 1996. Print.Shakespeare, William . Hamlet. N.p. Sterling Signature, 2012. Print Pico de Mirandola, Giovanni. Oration on the Dignity of Man. Trans. Robert Gapongiri.