『햄릿』에 나타난 르네상스 개인주의

Abstract

New Historicists and Cultural Materialists argue that men/women in English Renaissance drama do not have any meaningful sense of interiority or personal autonomy, which are important points in exploring individualism. They consider that Renaissance self is fictitious and fragmented, which is postmodern interpretations of self, not Renaissance notion of self. Cultural Materialists counter the existence of interiority in Hamlet. They see Hamlet not as an autonomous agent, but rather as the protagonist in morality paly. New Historicists deny personal autonomy, arguing that self- fashioning involves submission to an absolute power or authority such as God, church, court and military administration. Contrary to their arguments, Hamlet expresses the existence of inner life and autonomy. It is noteworthy that two great historical events－the Reformation and Renaissance Humanism－made great contributions to forming the Renaissance self. During the Reformation, Renaissance individuals had to conceal their religious identity because of repeated persecutions, which eventually brought about people’s desire to know others’ inward truth. Also, the fact that the internal self and one’s words or actions could be different developed the ideal of sincerity, which, in turn, contributed to the idea of expressing one’s emotions sincerely. Furthermore they approved each individuals had different desires and emotions. These aspects of individualism are witnessed in Hamlet’s insistence on his interiority and his particular emotion. Hamlet expresses his inwardness and his own emotion by saying “I have that within which passes show.” He also manifests his interiority through moral struggle in his soliloquy. Renaissance humanists such as Ficino and Giodarno Bruno appreciated human reason and free will. Hamlet also affirms the sovereignty of reason and free will. Hamlet, trying to be freed from the ghost’s order for revenge and a variety of pressures imposed on him by the Danish court, makes decisions based on his reason and strives to live his own life. Hamlet never surrenders to Claudius’ authority. It is true that inevitable circumstances happen in Hamlet. However, Hamlet attempts to cope with them, making important choices by himself. And in case he can not control the circumstances, he enhances self-realization by accepting them. Even if Hamlet’s self is affected by Renaissance Humanism and Reformation, we can not merely say that Hamlet is not an autonomous being because he presents strong desires to lead his own life based on his interiority until the moment of his death.