ines the way man was viewed in Renaissance thinking. 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- the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! Even though Hamlet goes on to say that man delights not me, the speech still shows the Renaissance view on life. This ideal was evident in the work of earlier Renaissance writers such as Pico della Mirandola. In Picos Oration on the Dignity of Man, the great miracle of humanity was discussed. There is nothing to be seen more wonderful than man. . .man is the intermediary between creatures, the intimate of the gods, the king of the lower beings, by the acuteness of his senses, by the discernment of his reason, and by the light of his intelligence. . . Also in Act II Scene II, the loveletter of Hamlet to Ophelia is being discussed by Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonious. Although thought of as a ploy by Hamlet to make everyone think he is mad, the first few lines may have some distinctive significance: Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move. . . . Doubts to the stars and the sun in the universe came about in the Renaissance and represented a challenge to the traditional view of the universe. Here Shakespeare incorporates the current learning of the time period in the theater. This can also be interpreted that Hamlet lost faith in traditional values after experiencing evil and heartbreak. Also in Act II Scene II, Hamlet is spurned by his two friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and comes to the conclusion that man has a terrifying capacity to reject reason and descend to the bestial level: Brother may kill brother, friends may betray the sacred principles of ...
