Lecture 4 Shakespeare’s Drama and Hamlet.ppt

1、Lecture 4 Shakespeares Dramas and Hamlet,I. Shakespeares Plays,Shakespeares plays can be roughly divided into three groups: comedy, tragedy and historical play. Altogether, he left behind him 37 plays. 1. His great Comedies A Midsummer Nights Dream ，The Merchant of Venice ，As You Like It， Twelfth Ni

2、ght are Shakespeares great comedies.In these plays he portrayed the young people who had just freed themselves from the feudal fetters. He sang of their youth, their love and ideal of happiness. The heroes and heroines were sons and daughters of the Renaissance. They trust not in God or King but in

3、themselves.,Shakespeare put women characters at a prominent place in his comedies. He showed great respect for the dignity, honesty, wit, courage, determination and resourcefulness of women. The young heroines in Shakespeares comedies are independent in character and very frank. They are no longer c

4、ontrolled by their parents or husbands. They are of a new type. They are witty, bold, loving, laughing and faithful. They are happy and make others happy. They carry their destinies in their own hands. Shakespeares comedies are imbued with bourgeois ideas and show progressive significance.,2.His Gre

5、at Tragedies,Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth are Shakespeares great tragedies. They are associated with a period of gloom and sorrow in his life. During this period, England witnessed a general unrest, and social contradictions became very sharp. All of these plays express a profound dissati

6、sfaction with life. They show the struggle and conflicts between good and evil of the tune, between justice and injustice. In these plays, the writer Shakespeare condemns the dark and evil society.,A Monologue from Macbeth,Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrowCreeps in this petty pace from day to day

7、To the last syllable of recorded time,And all our yesterdays have lighted foolsThe way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signify

8、ing nothing.(V.v.1827),II. Hamlet,Hamlet is considered the summit of Shakespeares art. The story came from an old Danish legend. Before Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd had written a play on the same subject. It was a tragedy of “blood and thunder”. But under Shakespeares pen, the medieval story assured a ne

9、w meaning. Hamlet is the profoundest expression of Shakespeares humanism and his criticism of his contemporary life.,Story:,Hamlets father died an untimely death-his mother, Gertrude, married his uncle-the ghost of the old king told his son he was murdered by his brother , Claudius.-the ghost added

10、Claudius was guilty not only of murder but also of incest and adultery-Hamlet decided that his uncle must be killed, but he was not quite sure the ghost was his father-he was troubled by melancholy-Polonius, the chamberlain, believed that Hamlets behavior resulted from lovesickness for his daughter,

11、 Ophelia-Claudius commissioned ,Hamlets friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-checked his uncle by play which quite resembled the situation of his fathers being murdered- Claudius left before the end of the play-the ghosts words were convinced-Hamlet did not take action decisively-he didnt kill Clau

12、dius when was praying-,The Queen summoned Hamlet to her chamber to reprimand him for his insolence to Claudius-Hamlet spoke to her so violently that she screamed for help-a noise behind a curtain followed her cries, and Hamlet, suspecting that Claudius was eavesdropping, plunged his sword through th

13、e curtain, killing the old Polonius-Claudius ordered Hamlet be sent to England in company with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who carried a warrant for Hamlets death. But Hamlet discovered the orders and altered them so that the bearers should be killed on their arrival in England-Hamlet returned to

14、Denmark-his lover, Ophelia went mad and died during his absence-Laertes, son of Polonius, decided to avenge the death of his father-Claudius arranged duel between the two young men-Claudius poisoned the weapon of Latertes and put a cup of poison within Hamlets reach-Gertrud took the cup of poison-th

15、e two young men both received fatal wound -before death, Laertes uncovered the vicious plot of Claudius-Hamlet fatally stabbed his uncle-Hamlet died.,The Character of Hamlet,Hamlet is in serious conflict or contradiction( To be or not to be; that is the question.) Hamlet is in a great melancholy and

16、 he is sensitive and alert. Hamlet believes more in the life than the afterlife. He is very cautious and thoughtful. He has a very perceptive mind at the cruelty and hardships of the life or the society. Altogether, he is humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices.,Features of Shakespeares

17、 Dramas,His dramatic creation often used the method of adaptation. He is one of the founders of realism in world literature. His long experience with the stage and make him a master-hand for play-writing. He was skilled in many poetic forms: the song, the sonnet, the couplet and dramatic blank verse. He was a great master of English