Shakespeare is a famous playwright and poet in the English Renaissance, and he is also recognized as the best playwright in the world. Shakespeare's works are wonderful in content and rich in plot, and his characters are also particularly classic. His classic characters include Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, etc.
Shakespeare's position
Shakespeare is second to none in all literary characters. Shakespeare's genius in creating words is unparalleled. His words are often quoted, even those who have never seen or read his plays. Moreover, his fame is not ephemeral.
His works have brought many joys to readers and critics for nearly 400 years. Shakespeare is the most outstanding dramatist in the history of English literature, the most important and greatest writer in the European Renaissance, and one of the most outstanding writers in the world.
In terms of artistic expression, he inherited and developed the three traditions of ancient Greek and Roman drama, medieval English drama and Renaissance European drama, and carried out creative innovation from content to form.
Shakespeare's plays are not bound by the Three Unities, break through the boundaries of tragedy and comedy, try to reflect the true nature of life, and deeply explore the inner mysteries of the characters, so that they can create a large number of complex and diverse characters with true and vivid images, describe a broad and colorful picture of social life, and are famous for its broad, profound, poetic and philosophical.
Why is it difficult for modern people to understand Shakespeare's book
1. Shakespeare's language and cultural background are very different from modern society
English in Shakespeare's time is very different from modern English, and his works also involve many political, social and cultural issues at that time. For those who are not familiar with these backgrounds, reading Shakespeare may be difficult and maladaptive.
2. Shakespeare's works usually need in-depth understanding and analysis
His works contain rich images, metaphors and symbols, which require readers to have certain literary literacy and critical thinking ability to understand its deep meaning. For those who have not received relevant training, it may be difficult to understand.
3. Understanding takes time
Shakespeare's works are usually long and complex, which requires a lot of time and energy to read and understand. For those who are short of time or impatient, they may find it difficult to keep reading.
The Influence of Shakespeare's Literary Works on the World
Shakespeare is a great litterateur. His tragedies, comedies, historical plays, legendary plays and poetry plays an important role in world literature, with a special style and profound artistic charm.
Shakespeare's works show the dignity, value and strength of human beings, embody the humanistic thought of taking people as the center, and also reveal the evil of the primitive accumulation of capital. No matter what era, country or region, people can gain infinite vitality from Shakespeare and his works.
On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, according to the findings of the British Council on a global scale, Shakespeare is one of the most representative cultural symbols in Britain. Shakespeare's works have a history of 400 years. During this period, his works have gone from national literature to world literature and become one of the classics of world literature.
In 19th century Europe, with the rise of romanticism and realism, Shakespeare's works were very popular. Hugo, Stendhal and others spoke highly of Shakespeare's works and regarded him as a model of romanticism.
Balzac, Dickens, Shelley, Pushkin, Turgenev and other writers were all influenced by Shakespeare. In Marx's works, he quoted or talked about Shakespeare more than 300 times, and his position in Marx's mind is unique.
Shakespeare's plays with extremely high artistic achievements have influenced many of the main founders of modern Chinese drama, such as Tian Han, Cao Yu, Lao She, and so on, providing many thoughts for their creation. This kind of influence has a strong influence on the subjective consciousness of reading, translation, research and dissemination of Shakespeare's works.
It is also deeply related. In addition to the influence of Shakespeare's dramas on the richness and vividness of characters and plots, poetic language, romantic style, etc., which are more familiar to Chinese academia, what is more important is the subtle influence of Shakespeare's unique and fundamental aesthetic style on modern Chinese dramas.
Tian Han's early plays were obviously influenced by Shakespeare's tragedy. Shakespeare was good at using the fierce confrontation between dark reality and humanistic ideals, as well as the large monologues of the characters in the play, to express the inner world of the characters in the play in pursuit of good ideals and the spirit of positive romanticism.
This is reflected in Tian Han's Night of Harvesting a Tiger, Return to the South, and Tragedy on the Lake. He lets the protagonists express their dissatisfaction with the dark society and their yearning for a better life through a monologue.
