Humanist Aspiration of the Renaissance
A common interpretation of Humanism suggests that it gave renewed emphasis to
life in this world instead of to the otherworldly, spiritual life associated with the
Middle Ages. Renaissance Humanists placed great emphasis upon the dignity of
man and upon the expanded possibilities of human life in this world.
During the Renaissance, great value was attached to individual achievement,
breadth of knowledge, and personal aspiration, as personified by Dr. Faustus. The
“Renaissance Man” refers to an individual who possesses knowledge of and skill in
many subject areas, in addition to active participation in Public affairs. Real life
figures that fit this bill included, but were not limited to, Leonardo da Vinci, John
Milton and Francis Bacon. The latter had declared that he has “taken all
knowledge to be my province.”
The Reformation was a movement that had profound implications for Europe, not
just in the political sense, but a literary one as well. Just as Renaissance Humanists
rejected Medieval learning, the Reformers rejected Medieval Christianity. The
figure that stands out the most among the ranks of the reformers was a German
mon, Martin Luther.
Luther’s disagreements with Church policies led him to question some of the most
fundamental concepts doctrines of the Church. This conflict culminated in the form
of The Reformation, which was Luther and his followers breaking away from the
Catholic Church, and becoming known in history as the Protestants.
Among the most important precepts of Protestantism was the rejection of the Pope
as the spiritual leader. For the past centuries, the Church had forbidden people
from reading the Bible on their own. They needed guidance from priests in
interpreting the Bible. In other words, if people wanted to reach Heaven, they
needed a conduit. And those conduits were priests.
The Protestants refused to accept the absolute authority of the Church, declaring
the Church as an institution could not grant salvation. Salvation could only be
achieved through a direct personal relationship with God, which was achieved by
reading the Bible. This led to the Bible being translated in vernaculars, something
vehemently opposed by the Catholic church, which insisted the Bible should be
read in its original language, i.e. Latin. In turn, Protestants also highlighted the
significance of Hebrew and Greek, so that people can better understand the Bible.
In this respect, Protestants were similar to the Humanists, in their emphasis on
Classical learning.
Among the most important of the continuities with the Classic period was the
Concept of the Great Chain of Being. Its major premise was that every existing
thing in the universe had its place in a divinely laid-out hierarchical order. The place
an object had in the chain depended on the amount of “spirit” and “matter” in it.
The less spirit and more matter, the lower that object stood.
In this chain, Humans ranked below angels and above beasts. If they stop acting
like humans, acting on the basis of emotions instead of reason, they descend to the
level of beasts. On the other hand, attempting to go above one’s proper place
courted disaster.
Some of the Renaissance literary minds were fascinated with the thought of going
beyond human limits. And the perfect example of this mindset is Marlowe’s Doctor
Faustus. Simultaneously displaying the grand spirit of human aspiration and the
more questionable hunger for superhuman powers, Faustus serves as the most
pertinent instance of this behavior. In fact, he has often been seen as the
embodiment of Renaissance ambiguity in this regard, suggesting both its fear of
and its fascination with pushing beyond human limitations.
Technical Elements of Elizabethan Drama
Scenery
In terms of scenery, Elizabethan dramas were lacking, and not by a small degree.
Props weren’t used much, with one thing representing many of its kind. For
example, a tree equaled a forest, a throne represented a King’s Palace.
But the powerful language and rich dialogue did more than enough to make up for
the lack of visual aesthetics. Usually the Chorus described the setting, helping the
audience understand what was happening and where it was happening.
Setting
Most of the plays, especially the ones that centered around royalty, Kings and
Queens, Dukes and Duchesses, in short, Courtiers, were set in foreign countries,
namely Italy, Spain, and Ancient Greece etc. This was done to the purpose so that
the audience may not believe that the English court was the target of the parodies
and comments.
A most appropriate example is Shakespeare’s Macbeth, set in Scotland, a kingdom
bitterly at odds with England. Thus, Shakespeare showed Scotland under the thumb
of a brutal tyrant, while the English lent a hand to the true Scottish royals win back
what was rightfully theirs, playing an amiable neighbor.
Costumes
Elizabethan costumes were often rich and colorful, with a character’s status in
society being denoted by their costume alone.
Kings in war were clad in battle attire, paupers were dressed in rags, among others.
All-male Actors
During the Elizabethan Era, Acting was frowned upon as a profession unsuitable for
women, as it was rowdy and raunchy. So, the playwrights were forced to hire young
boys to play female characters by dressing up as them.
It is to be noted that boys dressing up as girls reflects a very important transition.
The boys committed Transvestism, which is a Biblical sin. Transvestic behavior in
public reflects how cataclysmic the loss of power by the Church was. Even just a
century back, this would’ve bore serious consequences. And as the future showed,
one of the reasons of the closing down of theaters by the Puritans was their violent
opposition to a moral transgression which threatened to ‘effeminize’ the male
audience.
Compression of Time
“Compression of time” exists when an impossible number of things occur in a brief
amount of “time”.
An example is the twenty-four years of Faustus’ life passing in four acts.
Dr. Faustus as an Allegorical Character
At the end of the play, Faustus states, he “didst love the world”. In other words, he
loved material things more than spiritual. In this sense, Faustus is Europe itself,
organically changing from being a religious society and culture in the “Dark Ages”
to a secular civilization through the passage of five hundred years. It, like Faustus,
has turned away from God and personal salvation, to ambitiously take its chances
in the material world, dependent upon science and technology to achieve salvation
for all—in time. So, the play appears to be the story of western civilization, and its
destiny, prophetically written as the change began. The result of success is utopia;
of failure, is destruction.
This is also reflected in Faustus’ preference of Helen of Troy over the Old man.
Helen of Troy represents beauty, and when contrasted with the old man, youth.
This is the true representation of the Spirit of Renaissance, as their priorities
changed from religion, which had turned decrepit and useless, to Classical learning,
which was an unexplored domain for them, something that held great promise and
admiration for the European society, something that was novel, young and fresh
for the people who had spent centuries with their minds and bodies “shackled” by
religion.
