威廉·莎士比亚 William Shakespeare简介

这是一篇关于Shakespeare的思维导图，主要内容包括：I. Life of Shakespeare，II. Dramatic Composition Periods，III. The Great Comedies，IV. Mature Histories，V. The Great Tragedies，VI. Later Comedies (Romance. 根据刘炳善主编的《英国文学简史》制作，仅供参考。

Shakespeare

• I. Life of Shakespeare
  • 1. Early Life & Family
    • ​Birth: April 23, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon
      • Son of John Shakespeare (wool merchant/alderman) and Mary Arden (landed gentry).
      • ​Key Image: Portrait from the First Folio (1623).
    • ​Education:
      • Attended Stratford Grammar School (1571–78) → studied Latin classics (Ovid, Plautus) and rhetoric.
      • Left school at 14 due to father's financial decline.
    • ​Marriage:
      • 1582: Married Anne Hathaway (farmer's daughter, 8 years older).
      • Children: Susanna, twins Judith and Hamnet (died aged 11).
    • Discussion: How did Shakespeare's middle-class upbringing shape his portrayal of social hierarchies in plays like The Merchant of Venice?
  • 2. London Career & Theatrical Rise
    • ​Flight to London:
      • Legend: Poached deer on Sir Thomas Lucy's land → fled persecution (1586–87).
    • ​Early Roles:
      • Actor in minor roles → playwright for Lord Chamberlain's Men.
      • ​Key Quote: "He never blotted out a line" (Ben Jonson's critique of his rapid writing).
    • ​Success:
      • 1590s: Historical plays (Henry VI, Richard III) established reputation.
      • 1593–94: Published Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece (patronized by Earl of Southampton).
    • Activity: Debate the significance of the "poaching exile" myth – did it shape his critique of aristocracy?
  • 3. Retirement & Death
    • ​Return to Stratford: ~1611 (age 47), purchased New Place mansion.
    • Maintained ties to London theater until 1614.
    • ​Death: April 23, 1616 (buried at Holy Trinity Church, epitaph curses tomb disturbers).
      • In death, he leaves a final piece of verse as his epitaph: Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.
    • ​Legacy:
      • 1623: First Folio published by Heminge and Condell (36 plays).
      • ​Key Quote: "He was not of an age, but for all time! " (Jonson's tribute).
    • Question: Why might Shakespeare have avoided publishing his plays during his lifetime?
• II. Dramatic Composition Periods
  • 1. First Period (1590–1594): Apprenticeship
    • His work in this period bears the mark of youth, but of youth with astonishing versatility and wonderful talent.
    • ​Genres: History (Henry VI), comedy (The Comedy of Errors), revenge tragedy (Titus Andronicus).
    • Characteristics
      • His drama relies not so much on character as on fine or witty speech and situation.
      • Shakeapeare’s plays are poetical dramas.
      • Shakespeare began to use blank verse as the primary form of poetry in his play-writing.
    • ​Key Play: Romeo and Juliet – blends tragedy with lyricism.
    • Activity: Compare the use of mistaken identity in Comedy of Errors vs. Twelfth Night.
  • 2. Second Period (1595–1600): Maturity
    • Shakespeare made an advance in every way on the basis of the achievements of the first period, in knowledge, in wisdom, in political insight, in dramatic skill, in creative power,in characterization, and in versification.
    • characterization: Most notable is a gallery of heroines of the comedies , who are depicted with ungrudging and unreserved affection and warmth. Shakespeare shows,with deep respect, their dignity, honesty, wit, courage, determination, and resourcefulness in emergency.
      • The heroines of Shakespeare’s great comedies, Portia, Rosalynd, Viola, and Beatrice, are the daughters of the Renaissance, whose images and stories will remain a legacy to readers and audiences of all time.
      • Many vivid characters also pass before us in the historical plays: Prince Hal, Hotspur, Sir John Falstaf
    • Key Quote: "All the world's a stage" (As You Like It). Discussion: Is Shylock a villain or a victim of antisemitism? Analyze Act IV trial scene.
  • 3. Third Period (1601–1607): “ great tragedies” and “ dark comedies. ”
    • ​Genres: Tragedy (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth), "dark comedies" (Measure for Measure).
    • ​Themes:
      • Corruption, betrayal, existential doubt, ambition, jealousy.
      • ​Key Image: Hamlet holding Yorick's skull.
    • ​Style: Complex soliloquies, psychological depth.
    • Activity: Map Hamlet's procrastination to Renaissance humanist crisis (e.g., "To be or not to be").
  • 4. Fourth Period (1608–1612): romantic drama
    • Changes: the gentle breezes have swept away the clouds of dark night, and the sun rises, shining on the younger generation just beginning a happy new life of their own. The tone of calm and reconciliation in the plays of the fourth period has been associated by scholars with the change of life and mood in the later years of Shakespeare, who had then gradually abandoned the busy dramatic work in London for the quiet life of a country gentleman at Stratford.
    • ​Themes:
      • With this period we turn from the storm, the gloom, and the whirlwind of the third period to “ a great peacefulness of light, ” and a harmony of earth and heaven. True, there is still treachery, ingratitude, breach of family-relations, misjudgment,and vice.
    • Question: Does The Tempest reflect Shakespeare's farewell to theater?
• III. The Great Comedies
  • ​Key Features:
    • In them he portrayed young people just freed from feudal fetters. He sang of their youth,love and ideal of happiness. The victory of their humanist ideal is inevitable, though it is to be attained only after severe struggle against all obstacles. The heroes and heroines fight against destiny itself and mould their own fate according to their own free wil
    • ​Themes: Love overcoming obstacles, gender fluidity, mockery of social pretensions
    • ​Imaginary Settings: Forest of Arden (As You Like It), Illyria (Twelfth Night)
  • ​Major Works:
    • 1. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595–96)
      • a beautiful fairy-tale combined with the story of the struggle for happiness of two pairs of lovers; Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius.
      • ​Significance: Lyrical fantasy blending Greek myth (Theseus/Hippolyta) with English folklore
      • ​Key Scene: "The play within a play" (Pyramus & Thisbe parody)
    • 2. The Merchant of Venice (1596–97)
      • ​Controversy: Shylock's dual portrayal (villainous usurer vs. persecuted Jew)
      • ​Feminist Icon: Portia's courtroom triumph (disguised as lawyer)
      • Quote: "The quality of mercy is not strained" (IV.1)
    • 3. As You Like It (1599)
      • ​Plot: Exiled Duke Senior in Arden Forest; Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) educates Orlando
      • ​Key Themes:
        • Nature vs. Court Corruption ("sermons in stones")
        • Gender Roleplay (Rosalind's empowerment)
      • ​Characters: Jaques ("All the world's a stage"), Touchstone (wise fool)
    • 4. Twelfth Night (1601)
      • ​Plot: Viola/Cesario's gender disguise → love triangle (Orsino/Olivia)
      • ​Subplot: Sir Toby Belch/Malvolio rivalry ("some are born great...")
      • ​Legacy: Cross-dressing farce + bittersweet ending (Sebastian's marriage)
      • Discussion: How do Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) challenge Elizabethan gender norms through disguise?
      • Activity: Compare Portia's legal rhetoric (Merchant) vs. Rosalind's romantic wit (As You Like It).
• IV. Mature Histories
  • ​Core Themes:
    • the necessity for national unity under one king
    • ​Political Realism: Critique of weak kings (Richard II) vs. ideal monarchy (Henry V)
  • ​Key Plays:
    • 1. Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 (1597–98)
      • It deals with events of the 15 th century and gives the picture of a troubled reign.
      • Shakespeare shows, in bold relief, the struggle between feudalism and monarchy.
      • Prince Hal, who leads a riotous life with the old ruffian Sir John Falstaff and his fellow-rogues in the Boar’s Head tavern in London.
    • 2. Henry V (1599)
      • Why Henry V is an ideal king?
        • Henry V is the symbol of Shakespeare’s ideal kingship. He represents the upsurging patriotism of the time. In depicting Henry V as a prince and as a man, Shakespeare looks deep into the personality of his hero and shows a profound understanding of politics and social life of the time.
        • Henry IV describes Prince Hal as a budding statesman. At the outset,he is shown to be a prodigal son, keeping company with Sir John Falstaff and other disreputable persons and enjoying a low, riotous living with them.
        • Though leading a riotous life,Henry is cool-headed and has a strong will. While merry-making in the Boar’s Head, he keeps half an eye on the chance of political success. When he is called by his father to lead the army, he enlists Falstaff as a companion in arms. And on the battlefield of Shrewsbury, he meets face to face with Hotspur,his rival in power.
        • After the battle, Prince Henry resumes his old way of life again. He leaves the Boar’s Head once for all only when the King’s messenger brings him the news that the King is hopelessly ill.
  • 3. The Image of Sir John Falstaff
    • 3.1 Character Complexity
      • ​Origin: Decaying feudal knight → parasitic adventurer
      • ​Key Traits:
        • Witty pragmatist ("The better part of valour is discretion")
        • Cynical anti-hero (mocks "honour" as "a mere scutcheon")
        • Falstaff is the product of a transition period when feudal ties are being dissolved and the capitalist society is not yet in birth. He is no longer a feudal lord,yet he cannot become a capitalist. He is only a social parasite, moving about with a big belly, eating, drinking and doing nothing.
          • 考点：Engels explains the "Falstaffian background" in a historical play as “ a variety of quaintly characteristic character sketches” found “ at this period of dissolution of feudal ties in the penniless ruling kings, poverty-stricken free-lancers and adventurers of all sorts. ” (Letter to Lassalle, May 18,1859. ) 恩格斯将历史剧中的 “福斯塔夫式背景 ”解释为 “在封建关系解体的这个时期，在身无分文的统治者、贫困的自由职业者和各种冒险家身上 ”发现的 “各种奇特的人物小传”（1859 年 5 月给拉萨尔的信）”。
          • 通过他的活动，莎士比亚展示了上至宫廷下至酒店、妓院等广阔的社会背景，再现了“五光十色的平民社会”，为塑造人物和展开戏剧冲突提供了广阔、生动、丰富的社会背景。这是莎士比亚现实主义艺术的重要成就。 恩格斯还指出封建社会解体时期贵族与贵族斗争的后面，存在着农民和市民的活动，以及由这个活动构成的平民社会五光十色的背景一一他称之为“福斯塔夫式的背景”，并把描写这个背景看作是作品“莎士比亚化”的重要的内容之一。恩格斯称赞这种背景，是希望作家在广阔复杂的社会背景中塑造典型、再现生活。
    • 3.2 Dramatic Function
      • ​Comic Relief: Gadshill robbery, Merry Wives humiliation
      • ​Political Critique: Exposes hypocrisy of chivalric ideals
      • ​Tragic Dimension: Crushed by Hal's rejection → represents obsolete feudalism
      • Activity: Compare Falstaff's "honour" speech (Henry IV, Pt.1 V.1) with Hotspur's idealism to analyze Shakespeare's view of medieval values.
    • 3.3. Falstaff in Modern Context
      • ​Prompt: How would Falstaff survive in today's society? (e.g., social media influencer, political satirist?)
      • ​Creative Task: Rewrite Falstaff's "honour" speech as a TikTok script mocking modern celebrity culture.
• V. The Great Tragedies
  • ​Defining Features:
    • ​Psychological Depth: Introspective protagonists (Hamlet, Lear)
    • ​Cosmic Pessimism: "The time is out of joint" (Hamlet), "As flies to wanton boys" (Lear)
  • ​Major Works:
    • 1. Hamlet (1601)
      • Settings: time, place
      • Characters
      • plot
      • ​Themes: Existential doubt ("To be or not to be"), political corruption
      • ​Motifs: Madness (Ophelia), spying (Polonius), revenge tragedy conventions
    • 2. Othello (1604)
      • ​Tragic Flaw: Jealousy ("green-eyed monster") + racial othering ("the Moor")
      • Their tragedy shows that noble-minded people may be led astray by evil forces in a evil society and commit heinous mistakes if they cannot distinguish falsehood from truth, and evil from good. Othello is a tragedy of humanism.
      • a tragedy of the coloured people in a society of racial prejudice
    • 3. King Lear (1606)
      • King Lear, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, revolves around the aging King Lear's decision to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on their declarations of love. Goneril and Regan, his elder daughters, flatter him insincerely, while Cordelia, the youngest, refuses to exaggerate her love and is disowned. Lear banishes his loyal advisor, Kent, for defending her. Relinquishing power, Lear is betrayed by Goneril and Regan, who strip him of his retinue and cast him into a stormy wilderness, driving him to madness.
      • Parallel to this runs the subplot of Gloucester, manipulated by his illegitimate son Edmund into disinheriting his legitimate son Edgar. Edmund’s treachery leads to Gloucester’s blinding by Regan’s husband, Cornwall. Edgar, disguised as a mad beggar, guides his blinded father toward redemption before revealing his identity.
      • Cordelia returns with an army to rescue Lear but is defeated. Captured, she is executed on Edmund’s orders. Lear dies grieving over her body. Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy over Edmund and then kills herself. Edmund is slain by Edgar in a duel. The play concludes with Kent and Albany (Goneril’s husband) left to govern a shattered realm, underscoring themes of power, betrayal, loyalty, and the folly of vanity. The tragic arcs of Lear and Gloucester highlight the consequences of hubris and the fragility of human justice.
      • The miseries of Lear disclose the essence of a corrupt society, in which each is ready to destroy the other.
      • King Lear also presents Shakespeare’s affirmation of national unity and royal responsibility.
    • 4. Macbeth (1606)
      • ​Ambition: "Vaulting ambition" vs. guilt ("Out, damned spot!")
      • ​Supernatural: Witches' prophecies, Banquo's ghost
      • Discussion: Does Macbeth's tragedy stem from fate (witches) or free will (ambition)?
      • Activity: Compare Hamlet's inaction vs. Macbeth's rashness as responses to moral crises.
• VI. Later Comedies (Romances)
  • ​Defining Features:
    • ​Miraculous Resolutions: Lost heirs restored, magical interventions
    • ​Tonal Shift: Bittersweet endings (e.g., Hermione's "resurrection" in Winter's Tale)
  • ​Key Plays:
    • 1. The Winter's Tale (1610–11)
      • ​Plot: Leontes' irrational jealousy → 16-year gap → statue "comes to life"
      • ​Symbolism: Time as healer ("I am Time, that takes all away")
    • 2. The Tempest (1611)
      • ​Meta-Theatricality: Prospero as artist figure ("Our revels now are ended")
      • ​Colonial Subtext: Caliban vs. Prospero ("This island's mine by Sycorax!")
      • Critical Question: Does Prospero's forgiveness (Tempest) reflect Shakespeare's personal farewell to drama?
      • Activity: Debate whether The Tempest critiques European colonialism through Caliban's plight.
• VII. Hamlet: Detailed Analysis
  • 1. Character & Context
    • ​Humanist Ideals:
      • What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! And yet to me what is this quintessence of dust? 人是何等巧妙的一件天工！理性何等高贵！智能何等广大！形容与举止何等明确和美妙！行动是多么像天使！悟性是多么像神明！真是世界之美，万物之灵！但是，由我看来，这尘垢的精华又能算得什么？ (II.2) → Renaissance optimism
      • Contrasts medieval superstition (e.g., distrust of Ghost initially)
    • ​Melancholy Source:
      • Disgust at "Denmark's prison" (corruption, incestuous marriage)
      • Paralysis between action ("to be") and moral duty ("not to be")
    • "To be, or not to be...the pale cast of thought" (III.1) → existential crisis
  • 2. Structural & Thematic Layers
    • ​Revenge Tragedy:
      • Supernatural elements (Ghost) vs. psychological realism
    • ​Political Allegory:
      • Claudius as Machiavellian usurper → mirrors Tudor anxieties
    • ​Metatheatricality:
      • "Play within a play" exposes artifice vs. truth ("The Mousetrap")
    • Activity: Map Hamlet's 7 soliloquies to track his evolving self-awareness and moral paralysis.
  • 3. Critical Interpretations
    • ​Freudian: Oedipal complex (obsession with Gertrude's sexuality)
    • ​Marxist: Hamlet's inaction reflects humanist indecision amid feudal decay
    • ​Feminist: Ophelia's madness as protest against patriarchal control
    • Debate: Is Hamlet's tragedy personal (family betrayal) or systemic (rotten state)?
  • 4. Hamlet's Relevance
    • ​Case Study: Compare Hamlet's indecision to modern "analysis paralysis" in digital age.
    • ​Role Play: Stage a trial where students defend/accuse Hamlet for Ophelia's death.
• VII. Poems
  • 1. Narrative Poems
    • Venus and Adonis (1593): Sensual Ovidian myth → explores desire vs. chastity.
    • The Rape of Lucrece (1594): Political critique via sexual violence.
    • Question: Why did Shakespeare prioritize poetry early in his career?
  • 2. Sonnets (1609)
    • ​Themes:
      • Time's destructiveness (Sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?").
      • Ambiguous dedication to "Mr. W.H." and the "Dark Lady."
    • Activity: Decode Sonnet 130's subversion of Petrarchan ideals ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun").
• VIII. Dramatic Features
  • Shakespeare is one of the founders of realism in world literature.
    • The purpose of drama,he maintains,is “ to hold,as it were,the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. ”
    • Realism, ” according to Engels, “ implies, besides truth in detail, the truthful reproduction of typical characters under typical circumstances. ”
  • Shakespeare’s dramatic creation often used the method of adoptation.
  • Shakespeare’s long experience with the stage and his intimate knowledge of dramatic art thus acquired make him a master-hand for play-writing.
  • Shakespeare was skilled in many poetic forms;the song,the sonnet,the couplet, and the dramatic blank verse.
  • Shakespeare was a great master of the English language.
• IX. Critical Debates
  • ​Authorship Controversy:
    • Anti-Stratfordian theories (e.g., Bacon, Oxford) vs. evidence for Shakespeare's authorship.
  • ​Gender & Power:
    • Subversive heroines (Beatrice, Viola) vs. patriarchal endings (The Taming of the Shrew).
  • Essay Prompt: Defend or challenge the view that Shakespeare's female characters reinforce Elizabethan gender norms.
• Shakespeare: Review
  • I. Life
    • Early Life & Family
    • London Career
    • Retirement & Death
  • II. Dramatic Periods
    • First Period (Apprenticeship)
    • Second Period (Maturity)
    • Third Period (Tragic)
    • Fourth Period (Romantic)
  • III. Great Comedies
    • A Midsummer Night's Dream
    • The Merchant of Venice
  • IV. Mature Histories
    • Henry IV
  • V. Great Tragedies
    • Hamlet
  • VI. Later Comedies
    • The Tempest
  • VII. Poems
    • Narrative Poems
    • Sonnets
  • VIII. Dramatic Features
    • Realism
    • Language
  • IX. Critical Debates