Shakespearean Science

Covering the 15th and 16th Centuries, the Renaissance signified Europe's cultural revival. It was also a portal through which Western Civilization began impacting the world. From then on, the world would never be the same again.


William Shakespeare was a Renaissance man who respected no walls or barriers on his way to explore the cosmos. In his mind, therefore, the dichotomy between art and science never existed, in sharp contrast to what our colleges tell us today. Merging art and science, Shakespeare addressed important philosophical issues confronting humanity. 


Making people laugh or cry is moving people. Moving people toward what? Toward modernity while turning away from mundanity. Enlightening and entertaining, Shakespeare's plays are a good mix of poetry and science. The following is an illuminating nugget:


Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2

(Hamlet's Love Letter to Ophelia)

To the celestial, and my soul’s idol, the
most beautified Ophelia….

Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.

Here, in Hamlet's moment of agony, Shakespeare met Copernicus, and love met astronomy. Copernicus proved that the earth revolves around the sun. He thus rubbed his geocentric church the wrong way. He was inviting trouble to himself. Fortunately or unfortunately though, he died too soon to face persecution.

On the stage, Hamlet's vow of love was Copernican heliocentrism, inviting doubt and fear too. If Ophelia doubted him, he implied, he would be willing to pay the ultimate price. That being the case, romantic love and astronomical truth made sense of each other, poetically and scientifically.

"All the world's a stage." This stage was and still is revolving around the Shakespearean sun.


Author: renqiulan


Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

“Shakespeare's plays are a good mix of poetry and science. ”

This perspective is very special and novel. Impressive!

问好秋兰。热烈欢迎回归美坛。：））

The Bard was a Renaissance man, wasn't he?

Thank you! I am just trying to be fair and balanced.

趁此机会，热烈祝贺盈盈荣任美坛版主，并且同时祝福beautifulwind!

谢谢秋兰。美风度假去了。大家都不希望看见美坛因此萧条。我一时大发热心。呼朋唤友，想让美坛重新活跃起来。很开心看到你回来！

盈盈迎难而上，精神可嘉，魄力可羡。

谢谢盈盈！莎士比亚究竟是何许人也，还是具有争议性的。然而，其人剧作是融合文芝科学的上品，则获广大认同。

诗而优则剧，剧而优则诗，难怪有人以莎士比亚与关汉卿相提并论。

Best wishes!

Great post! We are surely worse off from Renaissance

with finicky specialization in rage. Man is broken up, for profit. That's all there is to it.

Thank you for your input. Perhaps, we're better off. Why?

Because we're standing on the Renaissance giants' shoulders.

愧不敢当。就是希望能在文学城一直有一个可以一边玩，一边学，一边提高英语的地方。：）

在英语学习上，还请秋兰多多帮助。：））

Hamlet's vow of love was Copernican heliocentrism.

romantic love and astronomical truth made sense of

each other, poetically and scientifically.

谢谢独特的阐述，富有启发性。很值得好好思想一下。：）

The Bard is an epithet of William Shakespeare.

秋兰对汉学的研究，实在是令人佩服。最近诗坛在流行写元曲。

我的小目标：诗而优则词，词而优则曲。希望以后诗，词，曲，我都能学习写。

Benefits of hindsight can delude, but they

elevate few onto any shoulder :-)

不敢当。盈盈太谦了。

这正是我对莎剧的评价，功在作者。

请不要夸我，因为我的耳背容易发热。

愿见盈盈诗词曲新作。

Same here.

You have a point. Thanks.

Indeed, it is.