ker and molder of thyself, thoumayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer. Thou shalt havethe power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish.” Another symbol of the Renaissance idealism is the nature ofClaudius, who, although showing guilt over his actions, can be seen as aMachiavellian. This of course comes Niccolo Machiavelli who wrote ThePrince, the book that supposedly theorized how an ideal prince should rule. Machiavelli describes how the nature of man is evil and one shouldwhatever is neccessary to maintain power: “Taking everything intoaccount, he will find some of the things that appear to be virtues will, if hepractices them, ruin him, and some of the things that appear to be wickedwill bring him security and prosperity.” These Machiavellian concepts areclearly defined by Claudius as he first kills his brother to claim the throne,later sends his nephew Hamlet to be executed in England, and finally,inadvertantly causes his wife’s demise from another plot to kill Hamlet.The themes and ideas used in Hamlet are clearly seen as that of theRenaissance thinking. Shakespeare’s use of notions first brought on byearly Renaissance writers shows his ability to incorporate modern thoughtin drama. This modern thinking combined with old ideals characterizedwhat the Renaissance was all about. ...
