Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus

After reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, students use visual and literary tools to identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism. Students analyze Botticelli's painting by sketching it and then taking notes in relation to specific elements in the painting. Next, students explore how literary elements in Hamlet reflect Renaissance Humanism. Finally, students explain in writing how the elements in The Birth of Venus and Hamlet establish them as examples of Renaissance Humanism. While this lesson focuses on Hamlet in its examples, any Shakespearean play could be substituted for the analysis.

Featured Resources

Renaissance Humanism Interactive: This online tool provides students with background information about Renaissance Humanism.

From Theory to Practice

In the introduction of his Reading in the Dark, John Golden states, "Kids tend to be visually oriented, able to point out every significant image in a three-minute MTV music video, but when it comes to doing the same with a written text, they stare at it as if they are reading German." Golden goes on to state "the skills they use to decode the visual image are the same skills they use for a written text" (xiii). Golden's book outlines how to use film to help students practice their skills so they can then be transferred to written texts. The following lesson is based on the same principle but uses a work of art instead of a film to help students reinforce the same skills that are used to analyze a work of literature.

Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

Materials and Technology

• Text for The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare (available online, though a printed copy is recommended)

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

• Before this exploration, students should have read Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet.

Student Objectives

identify and explain how the characteristics and concepts of a literary genre are reflected in a work of art and piece of literature.

Session One: Defining Renaissance Humanism

1. Introduce the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism using the Renaissance Humanism student interactive. Students can explore the interactive individually if computer resources allow, or the interactive can be projected using an LCD projector.

Marked by a revival of interest in Classical literature and thought (ancient Greek and Roman)

Session Two: Identifying Renaissance Humanism in The Tragedy of Hamlet

1. Review the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism, showing students where to find the resources used in the previous session such as the Renaissance Humanism student interactive or the Lecture on Renaissance Humanism Web page. If you created a list of characteristics and/or examples in the previous session, point students to this resource as well.

Session Three: Artwork Explication of The Birth of Venus

1. Answer any questions about the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism that have arisen as students worked. Remind students where to locate the resources they can use as they work on this project.

Zephyr, the West Wind, is on the left front

Session Four: Conduct a class discussion of The Birth of Venus

1. Invite students to reflect on their analysis of Botticelli’s painting, focusing the discussion on the question “How do individual elements in The Birth of Venus reflect the characteristics of Renaissance Humanism?” Encourage students to refer to specific elements in the painting to support their answers.

Venus’ sacred roses falling from the top left corner

Extensions

• Students can explore another of Botticelli’s paintings and identify characteristics of Renaissance art and humanism. Botticelli’s companion to The Birth of Venus, the painting La Primavera provides an interesting contrast to the analysis students complete in Sessions Three and Four. Share the Berger Foundations’ explanation of the relationship between the two paintings to encourage a more thorough analysis.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Based on their investigation of Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus, ask students to write an essay that identifies, analyzes, and explains how two elements from The Birth of Venus and two examples from The Tragedy of Hamlet reflect a characteristic of Renaissance Humanism. Share the Explication Essay Checklist and/or the Explication Essay Rubric before students begin so that they can monitor their own progress as they work. Students can write formal papers or complete this activity in their journals. You can use the Explication Essay Checklist as a grading sheet, if desired. For more formal assessment, use the Explication Essay Rubric.

As an alternate assessment, you can ask students to write a letter from Shakespeare to Botticelli (or vice versa) complimenting him on how their two works are similar.

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