ABSTRACT
William Shakespeare’s centrality to contemporary thinking about “the human,” humanism, and indeed his place within humanities’ curricula, likely would have surprised him. It certainly would have astonished Ben Jonson, who fancied himself the premier English humanist. As Ben Jonson famously wrote, Shakespeare had “small Latin and less Greek,” hardly the qualifications for a pre-eminent early modern “humanist.” Like the corporate boast of the replicant producing Tyrell Corporation in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Shakespeare has become the Voight-Kampff test in debates to distinguish “the human,” and its etymological relatives, humanism, and the humanities. The database Lexicons of Early Modern English records no entries dated from Shakespeare’s lifetime for “humanism,” and a “humanist” refers more narrowly to one who studies Greek or Latin. Shakespeare’s humanness as a trope with distinctive resonance for contemporary critics might be better understood by correspondence, a criterion of sympathy. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
