Background Information

William Shakespeare

• V. William Shakespeare

• 　　 1. Life

• 　　（ 1 ） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;

• 　　（ 2 ） Grammar School;

• 　　（ 3 ） Queen visit to Castle;

• 　　（ 4 ） marriage to Anne Hathaway;

• 　　（ 5 ） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor;

• 　　（ 6 ） the 1st Folio, Quarto;

• 　　（ 7 ） Retired, son—Hamnet; H. 1616.

• 　　　

• 2. Dramatic career• 3. Major plays-men-centered.• 　　（ 1 ） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate• 　　（ 2 ） The Merchant of Venice.• 　　 Good over evil.• 　　 Anti-Semitism.• 　　（ 3 ） Henry IV.• 　　 National unity.• 　　 Falstaff.• 　　（ 4 ） Julius Caesar• 　　 Republicanism vs. dictatorship.• 　　　　（ 10 ） The Tempest• 　　 Reconciliation; reality and illusion.

• （ 5 ） Hamlet• 　　 Revenge• 　　 Good/evil.• （ 6 ） Othello• 　　 Diabolic character• 　　 jealousy• 　　 gap between appearance and reality.• （ 7 ） King Lear• 　　 Filial ingratitude• （ 8 ） Macbeth• 　　 Ambition vs. fate.• （ 9 ） Antony and Cleopatra.• 　　 Passion vs. reason

• 　 3. Non-dramatic poetry

• 　　（ 1 ） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.

• 　　（ 2 ） Sonnets:

• 　　 a. theme: fair, true, kind.

• 　　 b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion.

• 　　 c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.

• 　　 d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

• 　　

Hamlet

An Excerpt from Hamlet

ACT THREE

SCENE I. Elsinore. The Castle [Enter HAMLET. ]

To be, or not to be(l) -- that is the question;

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows(2) of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles(3),

To live on in this world or to die (or, “to take arms against a sea of trouble” or “ to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous for tune”, I.e. To take action or to do nothing) 生存或毁灭 , 这是个必答之问题 :

Slings and arrows:Injuries ( “slings”=field guns)/ outrageous—cruel, furious 坎苛命运之无情打击Take arms against– fight against 还是应与深如大海之无涯苦难奋然为敌 ,

2

And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep –

No more.; and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, (4) 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;

To sleep, perchance(5) to dream. Ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

End them– put an end to the troubles by fighting against them 并将其克服。 此二抉择 , 就竟是哪个较崇高 ?

The many kind of sufferings that naturally come to a human being (flesh=human body)倘若一眠能了结心灵之苦楚与肉体之百患 ,

Conclusion, final settlement of all accounts 那么 , 此结局是可盼的 !

Perchance (archaic/obsolete)—possible, maybe/ ay—yes/ there’s the rub– there lies the obstacle( that is the point at which doubt or difficulty arises, there’s the difficulty, or hitch. 但在睡眠中可能有梦 , 啊 , 这就是个阻碍 :

3

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil(7),

Must give us pause(8). There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time(9),

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely(10)

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, (11) and the spurns

Ended this life (“mortal coil” refers to human life “coil”=turmoil) 当我们摆脱了此垂死之皮囊Give us pause—make us hesitate/ respect

—consideration, thought

Makes a long life seem to be a great misfortune; makes us live so long which may be a misfortune, for the longer you live, the more you will be suffer 它令我们踌躇 , 使我们心甘情愿的承受长年之灾 ,

The unpleasant things and miseries we suffer in our epoch (“time”= the age we live in) 否则谁肯容忍人间之百般折磨 ,

wrong: 凌辱 /Contumely—insolence, contempt冷眼压迫者的凌辱，傲慢者的冷眼Dispriz’d love—despised love, rejected love, love

held in contempt. 被轻蔑的爱情的惨痛， /the law’s delay– the long-drawn-out lawsuits. 法律的拖延 /the insolence of office—the haughty and contemptuous behaviour shown by holders of high governmental posts. 官吏的横暴 / spurns—insult 鄙视 / 庸民之辱

4

That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, (12)

When he himself might his quietus(13) make

With a bare bodkin(14)? who would these fardels(15) bear,

To grunt(16) and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death --

The undiscovered country, (17) from whose bourn(18)

No traveler returns -- puzzles the will,

That... takes: the people of worth and fortitude endure at the hands of the unworthy 庸民之辱

Might end his life(“quietus”: the final settlement of an account./ bare bodkin—probably, a mere dagger. (15) 假如他能简单的一刃了之 ? / fardels: burdens/ grunt: groan. 还有谁会肯去做牛做马 , 终生疲於操劳默默的忍受其苦其难 ,

The undiseover‘d country: the place unkown to us (where we go after death) 而不远走高飞 , 飘於渺茫之境 , bourn: boundary 此境乃无人知晓之邦 , 自古无返者。 /puzzles—confuse,perplexes,counfounds.

5

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience(19) does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought(20),

And enterprises of great pith(21) and moment,

With this regard, their currents turn awry(22)

And lose the name of action.

(19) conscience: consciousness ‘20) the.., thought: --A natural decision become weakened by melancholy thought(“native hue”= natural color; “sicklied o’er”=covered with a sickly color. 决心的赤热的光彩，被审慎的思维盖上了一层灰色

(21) pith: significance, importance. (22) their currents turn awry: turn away from their original purpose. 伟大的事业在这种考虑之下也会逆流而退，失去了行动的意义

哈 : { 自言自语 } 生存或毁灭 , 这是个必答之问题 : 是否应默默的忍受坎苛命运之无情打击 , 还是应与深如大海之无涯苦难奋然为敌 , 并将其克服。 此二抉择 , 就竟是哪个较崇高 ?

死即睡眠 , 它不过如此 ! 倘若一眠能了结心灵之苦楚与肉体之百患 , 那么 , 此结局是可盼的 !

死去 , 睡去 ... 但在睡眠中可能有梦 , 啊 , 这就是个阻碍 : 当我们摆脱了此垂死之皮囊 ,

在死之长眠中会有何梦来临 ? 它令我们踌躇 , 使我们心甘情愿的承受长年之灾 , 否则谁肯容忍人间之百般折磨 , 如暴君之政、骄者之傲、失恋之痛、法章之慢、贪官之侮、或庸民之辱 , 假如他能简单的一刃了之 ? 还有谁会肯去做牛做马 , 终生疲於操劳 , 默默的忍受其苦其难 , 而不远走高飞 , 飘於渺茫之境 , 倘若他不是因恐惧身後之事而使他犹豫不前 ? 此境乃无人知晓之邦 , 自古无返者。

所以 , 「理智」能使我们成为懦夫 , 而「顾虑」能使我们本来辉煌之心志变得黯然无光 , 像个病夫。 再之 , 这些更能坏大事 , 乱大谋 , 使它们失去 行动的意义

1. Structure

Lines 1-5: Hamlet poses the question: should he kill himself, or take action?

Lines 5-9: the answer he wants is to have peace by killing himself

Line 9-27: the problem: he does not know what would happen after that. Suicide is a crime and a sin in Christianity, so he would be punished after death.

Lines 28-33: the conclusion: he remains inactive.

Soliloquy and dramatic monologue

A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and aside. Soliloquies are similar to yet distinct from a monologue which is an exclusive view of a character's dramatized action within a play-world, typically addressing another character or group of characters.

• Dramatic monologue: A dramatic monologue is a type of poem, developed during the Victorian period, in which a character in fiction or in history delivers a speech explaining his or her feelings, actions, or motives. The monologue is usually directed toward a silent audience, with the speaker's words influenced by a critical situation. An example of a dramatic monologue exists in My Last Duchess by Robert Browning, when a duke speaks to an emissary of his cruelty.

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• Hamlet: the first of the great tragedies, is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s most popular play on the stage, for it has the qualities of a “blood-and =thunder” thriller and a philosophical exploration of life and death. It based on a widespread legend in northern Europe, Shakespeare takes the bare outlines of Revenge Tragedy, but what he adds in infinitely more interesting than what he adopts. And the timeless appeal of this mighty drama lies in its combination of intrigue, emotional conflict and searching philosophic melancholy “to be, or not to be____that is the question”.

• Shakespeare’s place and influence:

• Of his influence in literature, Goethe has made a common judgment. “ I don’ t remember that any book or person or event in my life ever made so great an impression upon me as the plays of Shakespeare.” His influence upon English language and thought is beyond calculation. All English writers of any importance cannot escape from Shakespearean influence either directly or indirectly, either in thought, content or in dramatic from or language. Shakespeare has also exerted great influence upon many writers in other countries through the various translations of his works . he is “not an age, but for all time!”