Background Information
William Shakespeare
• V. William Shakespeare
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1. Life
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（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;
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（2） Grammar School;
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（3） Queen visit to Castle;
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（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;
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（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part
and proprietor;
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（6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;
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（7） Retired, son—Hamnet; H. 1616.
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• 2. Dramatic career
• 3. Major plays-men-centered.
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（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate
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（2） The Merchant of Venice.
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Good over evil.
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Anti-Semitism.
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（3） Henry IV.
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National unity.
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Falstaff.
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（4） Julius Caesar
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Republicanism vs. dictatorship.
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（10） The Tempest
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Reconciliation; reality and illusion.
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（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
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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.
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c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.
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d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.
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Hamlet
To live on in this world or to die (or, “to
An Excerpt from Hamlet
take arms against a sea of trouble” or “ to
suffer the slings
arrows of outrageous
ACTand
THREE
for tune”, I.e. To take action or to do
SCENE I. Elsinore. The Castle [Enter
nothing)生存或毁灭, 这是个必答之问题:
HAMLET. ]
Slings and arrows:Injuries
To be, or not to be(l) -- that is the question;
( “slings”=field guns)/ outrageous—
Take arms
against–
fight
against
还是应与深
Whether
'tis nobler
in the
mind
to suffer
cruel,
furious
坎苛命运之无情打击
如大海之无涯苦难奋然为敌,
The slings and arrows(2) of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles(3),
2
And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep –
Perchance (archaic/obsolete)—possible,
No
more.;
and
by
a
sleep
to
say
we
end
End
them–ay—yes/
put
an
end
to
the
troubles
maybe/
there’s
the
rub–
there
Conclusion, final settlement of all
by
fighting
against
them
并将其克服。
lies
the
obstacle(
that
is
the
point
at
accounts
那么,
此结局是可盼的!
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
此二抉择,
就竟是哪个较崇高?
which doubt
or difficulty arises, there’s
That
flesh is heir
(4)但在睡眠中可能有
'tis a consummation
the difficulty,
or to,
hitch.
梦,
啊,
这就是个阻碍:
The many kind of sufferings that naturally
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
come to a human being (flesh=human body)
To
sleep,
perchance(5)
to
dream.
Ay,
there's
倘若一眠能了结心灵之苦楚与肉体之百患,
the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may
come,
Makes
a
long
life
seem
to
be
a
great
misfortune;
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil(7),
makes us live so long which may be a
wrong:
凌辱/Contumely—insolence,
contempt
Must give
us
pause(8).
There's
the the
respect
misfortune,
forthis
thelife
longer
you live,
more you
Ended
(“mortal
coil”
refers
冷眼压迫者的凌辱，傲慢者的冷眼
will
be to
suffer
它令我们踌躇,
使我们心甘情愿的承
human
life
“coil”=turmoil)
当我们
Dispriz’d
love—despised
love,
rejected
That makes calamity of so long life; love, love
受长年之灾,
held
in
摆脱了此垂死之皮囊
contempt.
被轻蔑的爱情的惨痛，/the
Give
us pause—make
us hesitate/
law’s
delay–
the long-drawn-out
lawsuits.法律的
For
who
would
bear the whips
and scorns of
respect—consideration,
thought
拖延/the insolence of office—the haughty and
time(9),
contemptuous behaviour shown by holders of
The
oppressor's
wrong,
the proud
man's
things
and miseries
we
suffer
in
highunpleasant
governmental
posts.官吏的横暴/
spurns—
contumely(10)
insult
鄙视/庸民之辱
our
epoch
(“time”= the age we live in)否则谁肯
容忍人间之百般折磨,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, (11) and the spurns
4
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, (12)
WhenThat...
he himself
his quietus(13)
make
takes:might
the people
of worth and
fortitude
endure
at
the
hands
of
the
With
a undiseover‘d
bare bodkin(14)?
who
would
these
The
country:
the
place
unworthy
庸民之辱
fardels(15)
unkownbear,
to us (where we go after death) 而
不远走高飞,
飘於渺茫之境,
bourn:
boundary
To
grunt(16)
and
sweat
under
a
weary
Might end his life(“quietus”: the finallife,
此境乃无人知晓之邦, 自古无返者。
settlement
of
an
account./
bare
bodkin—
But/puzzles—confuse,perplexes,counfounds
that the dread of something after death
. -probably, a mere dagger. (15) 假如他能简单
The
undiscovered
country,
(17)grunt:
from groan.
whose
的一刃了之?
/ fardels:
burdens/
bourn(18)
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,
No traveler returns -- puzzles the will,
5
And
(21)
makes
pith:us significance,
rather bear those
importance.
ills we have
(22)
theirflycurrents
turnnot
away
Than
to othersturn
thatawry:
we know
of? from
their original purpose. 伟大的事业在这种
Thus conscience(19) does make cowards of us
考虑之下也会逆流而退，失去了行动的
all;
意义
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought(20),
(19)
conscience:
consciousness
the..,
And enterprises
of great
pith(21) and‘20)
moment,
thought: --A natural decision become weakened
With this regard, their currents turn awry(22)
by melancholy thought(“native hue”= natural
And
lose
the
name
of
action.
color; “sicklied o’er”=covered with a sickly
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!”