The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare takes place in the 800’s, and was written in the 17th century. Thus, meaning that Shakespeare had two different time periods influencing his writing of Hamlet. (http://caxton.stockton.edu/Juxtaposition) 17th Century

Shakespeare wrote Hamlet during the 1600’s (17th century); this was a period of modern language, as Hamlet is written in “Modern English” which is far from modern by today’s standards. With modern language in full affect at this time, Shakespeare was able to even make up words. Such words include: “madness”, “dangerous”, and “whine.” (http://caxton.stockton.edu/Juxtaposition)

This period of time, where modern language was flourishing and art was abundant, is known as the Renaissance; the European Renaissance to be more precise. The Renaissance took influence from classic Greek and Roman culture. You can see allusions to this culture from Hamlet and Laertes. They allude to the Greek mythological mountains Pelion, Olympus and Ossa. (http://caxton.stockton.edu/Juxtaposition)

As www.historychannel.com explains renaissance is a “term used to describe the development of Western civilization that marked the transition from medieval to modern times. This article is concerned mainly with general developments and their impact in the fields of science, rhetoric, literature, and music. For a discussion of developments in the arts see.” The word renaissance comes from the French word meaning “rebirth.” This means that during this time Shakespeare was surrounded by many artful and unique resources to come up with his language to describe time that was even far in the past for him. The 800’s

During the 800’s, Europe was under the Empire of Charlemagne. The end of the Charlemagne Empire came in 843. As James J. Sheehan of www.cybergerman.addr.com explains, “In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagne's empire into three kingdoms, one for each of his grandsons. Louis II (called the German) received lands east of the Rhine River, most of which later became what is now Germany. The western part, later called France, went to Charles II (the Bald). Lothair I received the middle kingdom, a narrow strip that extended from the North Sea to central Italy. He also kept the title of emperor.” This was the major even in Europe at this time. It lead to civil wars within Europe and eventually the splitting of an Empire.