Newswise — Looking at concepts such as heroism and ambition through the lens of Renaissance literature gives students a different perspective, according to English professor Bruce Brandt. “It lets you see the world through the eyes of people living with different assumptions about life.”
Though the works were written more than 400 years ago, Brandt said, “Modern students can find lots of things that can lead them to be better people.”
Brandt specializes in the English Renaissance, teaching courses on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama, prose and poetry. The Nebraska native came to South Dakota State University in fall 1979 after completing his doctorate at Harvard.
“I’ve always felt like I was pursuing a life that focused on issues of value and what’s important to people in the sense of what we do in the humanities,” said Brandt. “Doing scholarly research flows right into teaching.”
Brandt has authored two books, co-edited two books of proceedings, written 36 scholarly articles and delivered 35 conference papers during his 36-year career while teaching a full class load of three or four classes per semester.
Exploring ambition, heroismMost of his scholarly work has been about the writings of Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, Brandt explained. He was editor of the Marlowe Society of America newsletter for 16 years and also served terms as vice president and president of the Marlowe Society. Though the stories involve kings, queens and wars, the issues they face are relevant today. For example, Marlowe was one of the earlier writers to address the question: “What would you sell your soul for?” Brandt explained. “All the writers who tackled the question had to come up with something that would seem sensible to a person of their time.” In the late 16th century, Marlowe’s “Doctor Faustus” wanted knowledge, but in the 21st century, he said, “we would just Google it.” That then opens discussions about “What is the big temptation for our age? What is it that we really dream of and value?”
In the 1587 play, “Tamburlaine the Great,” Marlowe’s hero began life as a shepherd in an era when social class determined a person’s fate, but he claimed the noble title lord based on his conquests. “He would like to live in a world with certain values and he doesn’t see it in the world, so he’s going to create it,” said Brandt. Tamburlaine’s cruelty and inflexibility fuel a debate concerning “whether he just doesn’t care or is trapped by his own self-description,” Brandt explained. The work addresses issues about creating warriors and what it means to be a conqueror.
In addition, Brandt noted, “Marlow was probably the first English playwright to create a very clear-cut homosexual character.” However, he pointed out, “at the time the word homosexual did not exist yet and the understanding of gender differed greatly from our own.”
Analyzing longstanding issuesStudents also connect with the characters in Shakespearean literature, according to Brandt. In looking at “Hamlet,” he pointed out, “Who doesn’t have some issues concerning a father who has given them an impossible task and a mother whom they have disappointed? These are very real questions.
“When young people get into the older literature, it helps them safely explore some of these questions,” Brandt said. “Putting it in this other place allows them to look at it more analytically.”
Pointing to the issues of jealousy and racism raised in “Othello,” he said, “Though that exact scenario would never exist again, those issues have not gone away.”
About South Dakota State UniversityFounded in 1881, South Dakota State University is the state’s Morrill Act land-grant institution as well as its largest, most comprehensive school of higher education. SDSU confers degrees from eight different colleges representing more than 175 majors, minors and specializations. The institution also offers 32 master’s degree programs, 15 Ph.D. and two professional programs. The work of the university is carried out on a residential campus in Brookings, at sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City, and through Cooperative Extension offices and Agricultural Experiment Station research sites across the state.
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