question

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet : One Thread

please help me with act iv scene 4, line 33-39; Hamlet

-- jones (antonette@msn.com), September 17, 2001

Answers

This is H's summary of the basic Renaissance humanist premise that God created man superior to the "beasts" (animals) by giving man the ability to "reason" (ie. intelligence to think, rationalize, debate and come to conclusions). Humanists saw this as an attribute of God ("god-like") which He allowed to man so man could (A) rule the beasts and (B) strive to improve himself and to imitate God. In these lines H himself is reasoning: God gave man the ability to reason, therefore He must have intended man to use it. This is a theme that recurs in this play and

-- catherine england (catherineamer@hotmail.com), October 03, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ