Introduction to Masterpieces of World Literature: Shakespeare's Hamlet

Shakespeare: Author profile of Hamlet

Wellcome Shakespeare (1564-1616), famous English dramatist and poet of the Renaissance. He was born into a civic family in stratford, central England, and at the age of 13, Shakespeare, who had fallen out of the middle of the family, was forced to drop out of school. Married at the age of 18, forced by the pressure of life, soon after marriage he went to London alone to earn a living, began to contact different classes of life, deepened his understanding of life. He worked as a chores, cleaner, and extra. After mastering the art of theatrical creation and performance, he began to adapt old plays, modifying plays by other playwrights for theater rehearsals. Soon he began to work independently. In the more than 20 years since then, Shakespeare has created 37 plays, 2 long poems and 154 sonnets with rich life experience, skillful stage experience and diligent efforts. Around 1610, he quit the London theater scene and returned to his hometown, where he died of illness in 1616.

Compared with poetry, Shakespeare achieved extraordinary achievements in the creation of plays. His theatrical works are roughly divided into the following three categories: the early historical dramas and comedies, representative works include the historical dramas "Richard III" (1592), "Richard II" (1595) and "Henry V" (1599) and other 9, the comedy masterpieces are "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1596), "The Twelfth Night" (1600) and "Everyone Is Happy" (1600) and other 10, in addition to "Romeo and Juliet" and other 3 tragedies; the middle period is dominated by tragedies, including four major tragedies: "Hamlet" (1595), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606), Macbeth (1606), and 3 other works, in addition to the tragic comedy "Finally Becoming a Family"; the later period of legendary dramas, represented by 5 and 1 historical drama "Henry VIII" including "The Tempest" (1611)

Background link

Composed around 1601, Hamlet, along with Homer, Dante's Divine Comedy and Goethe's Faust, is known as the four masterpieces of European classical literature.

The play's subject matter is taken from 1200 years of Danish history, and although the same subject has been adapted and recreated in different forms, it has not exceeded Shakespeare's reproduction of it, because Shakespeare has given this history a strong atmosphere of the times and a profound philosophical connotation: through his description of Hamlet's revenge story, he broadly and profoundly reflects the historical life of European society in the late Renaissance. Because in the late Renaissance, the early humanity flamboyance evolved into the later do-it-yourself, and the world's declining and rampant lusts made Shakespeare feel sad. This is more concentrated and obvious in the play "Hamlet".

Summary of content

Hamlet, who has just returned from studying at Wittenberg University in Germany, is a young prince in the Kingdom of Denmark. Just before he returned, his father died suddenly, and his mother, Jotrud, remarried to his uncle Claudius, now the new king of Denmark, less than two months after his father's death. The people of the country talked a lot about this chaotic court life, and Hamlet, who had just returned, also had many doubts. Many of the ugly phenomena in the court were far from his imagination, and he felt extremely depressed in his heart.

At this time, his friend Hola xu and the soldiers were on vigil when they encountered the ghost of the late king, and just when Hora Xu wanted to come forward to inquire, it was dawn, and the king's ghost disappeared with it. Hamlet, shocked to hear the news, decided to go and see it for himself in private. One night when Claudius and the ministers were having fun, Hamlet came to the city and really saw the ghost of his father. The Undead tell Hamlet that he was murdered by a conspiracy and that his brother Claudius is the real murderer. The truth of the matter is this: his brother Claudius took advantage of his nap to pour poisonous juice from his ear, and the venom spread in his brain, causing him to bleed to death. Claudius described the murder as the old king's inadvertent death by a poisonous snake. The ghost of his father demands that Hamlet avenge him.

At first Hamlet did not fully believe the testimony of his father's ghost. In order to avoid Claudius' suspicion of him, Hamlet pretended to be mad. Everyone's reaction to Hamlet's madness varies: Claudius and the queen are puzzled by it, wondering why it happened; Hamlet's friends think he was overly sad because of his father's sudden death; Claudius' trusted minister, Bolognes, thinks Hamlet is crazy because of love, and the reason is that Hamlet is in love with his daughter Ophelia. To corroborate Polonius's suspicions, Claudius ordered Polonius to design a meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia, who then overheard their conversation behind the scenes. At this time, Hamlet is confused about life because of his face to death, immersed in his own thinking about life and sin, and out of the consideration of not revealing his revenge plan, he says a rather chaotic but profound crazy thing to Ophelia. The ghostly Claudius believes that Hamlet's madness is not due to love, but also has a deep reason, and secretly becomes wary of Hamlet in his heart. Just at this time, a troupe performed at the court, hamlet secretly arranged a scene that alluded to Claudius's usurpation of the throne, and as a result, Claudius, who was watching the play, did not wait for the performance to finish the performance, and left in a hurry. All this was seen by Hamlet, and thus firmly believed the testimony of the father's ghost. Afterwards, a terrified Claudius prayed to God for his sins, and Hamlet wanted to take the opportunity to kill him to avenge his father, but he thought it was unreasonable to kill him when people prayed to God to atone for their sins, so he gave up this opportunity for revenge.

The queen sent Hamlet to her bedchamber to persuade her son to reconcile with her uncle. Polonius went down to monitor their mother and son at Claudius's behest, and Hamlet mistakenly thought that it was Claudius who was eavesdropping on their conversation behind the tent, so he stabbed him with a sword, but unexpectedly killed Polonius by mistake. Claudius used the opportunity to send Hamlet to England and designed for the king to get rid of Hamlet. Unexpectedly, this conspiracy was inadvertently discovered by Hamlet, thus avoiding the hands of the killer. After many twists and turns, Hamlet returned to Denmark. At this time, Ophelia suffered a double blow of her lover's madness and the loss of her father, unfortunately had a mental breakdown, and accidentally fell into the water and died when she went out with her own woven flower crown. Hamlet, who had just returned, was in time for Ophelia's funeral, and he was devastated by it.

Hamlet returns safely, and Claudius panics. He then orchestrates a court contest to kill Hamlet by the hand of Leotis, the son of the vengeful Polonius, in order to avoid any trouble. To be on the safe side, Claudius not only prepared poisoned wine, but also quenched poison on Leotis's sword. Surprisingly, during the competition, the queen died of poisoned wine, and Hamlet and Leotis were both hit by the sword, and their lives were in danger. Just before Hamlet was dying, he gritted his teeth and stood up and stabbed Claudius to death with a sword. After killing his father's enemy with a blade, Hamlet was also killed by poisoning his sword.

At this time, the Norwegian prince Fordingbras was leading an army through Denmark and took the opportunity to seize the Danish throne.

Interpret the guide

Hamlet is the pinnacle of Shakespeare's theatrical art, which not only represents the highest achievement of Renaissance literature and art, but also expresses Shakespeare's deep reflection on the nature of the times and the reappraisal of human beings' own value. He contributed an immortal tragic artistic image to the Gallery of World Literature, and the tragedy of Hamlet's life condenses the content of an era and the eternal confusion and pain of mankind.

As a new humanist, Hamlet is confident in people and dreams that he can do something big. He was confronted with an ugly reality: Claudius murdered his brother and married his sister-in-law in order to seize power; under the temptation of lust, Jotrud married his brother-in-law less than two months after her husband's death. Such betrayals and submissions, fraud and hypocrisy overwhelmed Hamlet. Surprisingly, Hamlet was given the responsibility of reviving him by fate. With the disillusionment of ideals, the collapse of families, and the failure of feelings, Hamlet became suspicious of man's claim to be "the essence of the universe, the primate of all things," in which he saw man as nothing more than an unfortunate mixture of his own desires and weaknesses. Man is "half angel and half devil"; "the battlefield of the battle between angels and devils is the human mind". His madness, his delay, his determination and hesitation, his firmness and cowardice, drew a clear line between action and thought. As a result, he not only became a "giant of thought", he was also a "dwarf of action" in the true sense of the word.

Hamlet not only sees through the chaotic nature of the times, but also has his own profound understanding of the value of human existence. In his crazy words to Ophelia, he showed his deep insight and wise understanding. He changed from a blindly optimistic understanding of man to an incomparably sober and profound foresight, and from a hopeful vision of mankind to a pessimistic feeling about the future of mankind. The harsh reality is not only the root of the tragedy of his personal destiny, but also the epitome of the entire human predicament. When his humanistic ideals were shattered, he had a clearer understanding of his misfortunes, the dilemmas of life and the way out for mankind!

Compared with the true madness of the lover Ophelia, Hamlet's pretense is deliberate; the same is to avenge his father, Leotis appears to be extremely rash and reckless, and is used unconsciously; Fordingbras appears to be decisive and courageous; Hamlet, although once hesitant, but everything is out of careful consideration and long-term consideration. In the face of Claudius's intrigues, Hamlet was not only not anesthetized by his own pain, nor was he confused by his own chaotic thoughts. Guided by reason, he realized his plan for revenge, albeit one after another. When Hamlet saw through the ugly reality, he did not completely succumb to the mercy of fate, but tried to prove the value of man with his own thoughts and actions. In this world where right and wrong are reversed, he still preserves human dignity and worth. His tragedy is the tragedy of the times, his misfortune is the misfortune of all of us, and his integrity and frankness are the epitome of the human conscience.

a great phrase

1. Survival or destruction, this is a question worth considering.

2. People often disguise a devilish heart with sincere appearances and devout behavior.

3. Who is willing to endure the lashing and ridicule of the world, the humiliation of the oppressor, the cold eyes of the arrogant, the misery of contemptuous love, the extension of the law, the tyranny of the officials, and the contempt of the little man who has worked so hard? If he could use only a small knife, could he liquidate his own life?

Famous reviews

1. Shakespeare's great contemporary Ben Johnson highly praised Shakespeare, saying that "he does not belong to one era but to all centuries".

2. The German writer Goethe, in his masterpiece "The School Age of Wilhelm Meister", indirectly mentions the tragedy of Hamlet's life: "Shakespeare wants to describe: a great cause is borne by the incompetent. It was a tree planted in a precious pot, and this pot could only grow lovely flowers; the roots of the tree stretched out and the pot broke. ”

Art Appreciation

Shakespeare's plays have endured the test of time with their ingenious ideas and timeless artistic charm, and his theatrical works are recognized as unattainable models of classical literature.

First, the vivid plot and rich connotation. Hamlet has three plot threads of revenge intertwined, with Hamlet's revenge as the main line, interspersed with two sub-lines of Leotis and Fortinbras. In addition to the main plot of revenge, the combination of murder, love, death and philosophical contemplation greatly enriches the ideological connotation of the play itself. Hamlet's plan for revenge involves all the key characters in the work, and Claudius's plot will be closely linked to Hamlet's friends, lovers, subordinates, etc.

Second, a distinct character image. Shakespeare's theatrical figures are typical artistic figures. The main characters in Hamlet are all distinct and lifelike. The melancholy and deep Hamlet, the amorous and helpless Ophelia, the sinister and cunning Claudius, the weak and guilty Jotrud, the wise and decisive Fortebras, the blind Leotis, etc., they have no obvious distinction between good and bad, but everyone has advantages and disadvantages that cannot be avoided, and good and evil are highlighted or weakened. This gives the characters a rich and profound character connotation, and their inner struggles and soul struggles are all concentrated manifestations of their own strengths or weaknesses.

Third, rich theatrical language. Each of Hamlet's protagonists has a distinct personal language, ranging from lively spoken language to fluent written language. It combines a beautiful and profound philosophical poetic language, eloquent oratorical words and profound philosophical connotations. Among them, Hamlet's famous inner monologue becomes the core of the play, and it is also the key to interpreting the rich ideological connotations of the work itself. A similar personal language is a common linguistic feature of all of Shakespeare's plays and has become the exemplary spoken or proverb of the English language.