Chapter Two
Renaissance Thought:
One of the problems that Hamlet faces is that he is a leader. As heir to the throne he must act in a proper manner. To establish what was considered proper conduct let us look at Castiglone’s The Book of the Courtier. In this widely read book of the proper conduct of the court and courtier we can catch a glimpse at the situation Hamlet has found himself in. As Prince and heir he must act as an example for his subjects.
He must not let his passions get the better of him. Otherwise he would not be playing the proper role for a Prince. Not only must he be a strong political leader, but he must also set an example for his subjects. Hamlet can be seen as a sort of moral beacon for Denmark. This is a Denmark rife with corruption and moral degradation. If he is to truly avenge his father he must do it by the book, but he must also act, as he would want others to act.
This is one of the main dilemmas that Hamlet faces. There is no real set way for him to revenge the murder of his father. In Renaissance Hamlet, Frye points out that there was no one approach to revenge during the time this play was staged (11-14). From one standpoint Hamlet should obey the ruling king and avoid any sort of rebellion towards him no matter how corrupt he is or might be. And then there is the inclination that there has been a foul murder committed and the perpetrator must be punished, and the victim avenged.
After the appearance of the Ghost Hamlet is faced with conflicting ideas. Should he avenge his father, should he obey Claudius, or should he take some further recourse and expose Claudius? This problem is compounded because he is a prince and must act in a reasonable manner. As we can see in the interaction of Polonius and Ophelia, Hamlet’s position is more important than any other aspect of him. He must act as a leader and show that he has the potential to become king one day. If he were to quickly avenge his father then it would appear that he is ruled more by passion then by intellect, which would leave him open to political scrutiny when the act was done.
In Macbeth there is a different sort of problem that he faces. He is ambitious, and a regicide. Where Hamlet shows such concern for how he is acting Macbeth pursues his goal with swiftness and almost open contempt for the King and rightful heirs. Where Hamlet is like Castiglone’s courtier, Macbeth is more similar to Machiavelli’s Prince. He ignores any sense of moral right when it comes to achieving his end. And he fails to set a proper example for his subjects. His rebellious act is a precedent for the rebellion against him by Macduff.
Religious Despair:
During the Renaissance there was certainly a sense of despair that is similar to that described by Kierkeegard and the existentialists. Although the despair that we find in the literature of the Renaissance is concerned more with a persons concern for his salvation it is slowly progressing towards a more common theme not necessarily associated with religion (Wymer, 3-4). It could also mean a sense of moral despair that can confront a person.
During the renaissance despair could come upon a person in many different ways. One might start to lose faith in God, and therefore start to question his own salvation. Or a person might question the ethical foundations of society and wonder what will happen to him if he breaks this social code. Both forms of despair leave the person with a sense of dread that there is no hope for them or that there is no way out of a situation. During the Renaissance despair was sometimes typified by the symptoms of melancholy, which I will describe later.
The despair associated with religion has been termed as "theological despair." (McGee, 97). It is not just a feeling that you can no longer live, but that you can longer hope for salvation. It is similar to existential despair in that it is a feeling of being lost. We get a glimpse at the mind-set of a man going through the process of despair in the "to be or not to be" soliquoy of Hamlet. Here we see a man who has lost his will to live and is considering the possibility of eternal damnation through suicide.
The non-religious despair that we can find in the literature of the renaissance may not have the religious connotations, but there is usually a moral overtone. There is the despair that comes to someone when he is unable to do his duty. It is a feeling that what one is doing is not the natural way of acting. It might be an act that appears to challenge the social order of the time, which might lead to horrible consequences for the person. The murder of the King in Macbeth is such an act. We see the effects it has on Lady Macbeth, and the resulting anguish that Macbeth goes through after ordering the death of his friend.
The OED gives many definitions of Despair. Most concerning the lose of hope. Such phrases as ‘hopelessness’, ‘to lose or give up hope’, ‘to cease to hope’, and ‘to deprive of hope’ give us a clear picture of what this term means. It also lists as the first recorded appearance of the word as being in a homily around 1325. (250) The most powerful representations of the term, however, do not appear until Chaucer in 1386.
It is the citation of the usage of the term by Chaucer in the Merchant’s Tale that reflects the sort of despair that I am interested in discovering and linking to the existential despair of Kierkegaard. This reference in the OED quotes the passage that says "dispaire yow nought". And the reference to despair occurs again in the Parson’s Tale. "He that despeireth hym, is lyke the coward campion recreant." (251) Here we can see that despair was already a term common is usage when concerned with the lose of hope.
Another reference of note is that from John Calvin. It comes from his four sermons and states "Our spirit is wrapped in many dispaires". (250) Here we can see the devlopment of the theological despair that will link renaissance thought to that of Kierkegaard and existentialism. Here is a nice reference to the despair of the spirit that is so important to the despair of Hamlet and Macbeth. We can see echoes of Kierkegaard coming out of what Calvin is saying that despair is the sickness unto death.
Some critical attention has shown the connection between the character of Despaire in The Faerie Queen. In the first book we come across the character of the Red Cross Knight and his battle with despair. In a segment where Arthur is holding a conversation we see clearly the sort of despair that would have been in the mind set of the Elizabethans. "But griefe (quoth she) does greater grow displaid, If then it find not helpe, and breedes despaire. Despaire breedes not (quoth he) where faith is staid." (canto VII)
Here we see that faith and despair are connected in the Elizabethan poet’s mind. Although it might not be a consistent image it is a strong one that would have been made familiar by Spenser’s work. This is essential in making the connection between renaissance thought and existential philosophy. Here we see that Arthur, a prototypical hero, is able to act on faith and that when there is faith there is no despair.
Melancholy:
Many of the critics that discuss Hamlet’s "antic disposition" refer to the physiological explanation of it. In particular there is a great deal concerned with the melancholy humour that was described during the renaissance. This theme is quite prevalent in the criticism of the romantics and Bradley. They point out that Hamlet is almost a casebook study for the disease. He shows all of the signs of a person who has lost all mirth and "forgone all custom of exercise" (II.ii 288) because of his melancholy.
Breton’s Melancholike Humours, first published in 1600, gives the modern reader the insight into the psychology and passions of a person suffering from melancholy. This work is a collection of verse that gives pen to the emotions of a person suffering from Melancholy. Such lines as "How canst thou think, so deeply grieved, to hope to live to be relieved"(11) give us a glimpse at the psychology of the melancholic man. But this line also connects melancholy with despair. We see in this one line the sense of damnation that is inherent to melancholy. This is the same sense of despair that faces a person when he thinks he has no hope to be saved. Although it is not necessarily a theological despair it is the despair of a person who thinks there is no hope for inner peace.
In The Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton, there is a detailed description of the many types, and symptoms of melancholy. He gives us a further glimpse into the physiological explanation of melancholy as well as the psychological explanations of it. It is not just a person’s predisposition to feeling depressed, but has an explanation that can be found in the psychology of the melancholic man. In this long volume on melancholy he has a chapter dedicated to religious melancholy. It is this description that shows us the amount of realisation of the effect that melancholy, and the causes, as seen through renaissance eyes, had on people during this time
His long chapter on the subject gives us the insight that helps to make a connection between the religious despair, melancholy, and existentialism. In the poetry of Breton we see the poetic expression of melancholy in many forms. In Burton we get a detailed description of the different types that existed, and in Spenser we get a glimpse at the religious despair that can be associated with religious melancholy.