莎士比亚和作品《罗密欧与朱丽叶》研究(英文版)7

William Shakespeare

1. Works: 154 sonnets, 38 plays, 2 long poems

Comedy :Merchant of Venice.

2. 4 great tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth

Each portrays some noble hero, who face the injustice of human fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation, each hero has his weakness of nature. Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind: Othello’s i nner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer, from treachery and infidelity; Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crime.

3 Merchant of Venice

In this play, Shakespeare has created tension: ambiguity, a self conscious and self-delighting artifice that is at once intellectually existing and emotionally engaging . The sophistication derives in part from the play between high, outstanding romance and dark faces of negating and hate the traditional theme of the play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty , wit and loyalty, and to explore insuitable greed and brutality of the Jew.

4 Hamlet.

The play has the qualities of a “blood-and-thunder” thriller and a philosophical exploration of life of life and death, the timeless appeal of his mighty drama lies in its combination of injustice, emotional conflict and searching philosophic melancholy. Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world , to live suspended between fact and fiction, language and action. His life is one of the constant role-playing examining the nature of acting only to deny its possibility. For such a figure, soliloquy is a natural medium, a necessary release of his anguish; and some of his questioning monologue posses surpassing power and insight. By revealing the power-seeking, the jostling for place , the hidden motives, the courteous superficialities that veil lust and guilty, Shakespeare condemns the hypocrisy and treachery and general religious corrupting at the royal count.

A. 创作生涯及作品

a. Apprenticeship period.

b. Highly individualized period.

c. Greatest tragedies and dark comedies perio

d. d. Romantic tragicomedies period.

B. 作品主题

a. Shakespeare’s history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity.

b. In his romantic comedies, Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play .