Hamlet

by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare(1564-1616)

An English poet and playwright who isWidely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’spreeminent( 卓越 ) dramatist . He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

• A respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century.

• His work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world

The life of Shakespeare

♥ Born on the 23rd of April,1564♥ attend the local grammar school at the age of six♥ Help his father in the trade at the age of sevente

en♥ Start to the touch the theatrical performances♥ Arrive in London in 1586♥ Well-known in 1581♥ Died on the 23rd of April,1616

About his works The works of William Shakespeare are a great land m

ark in the history of world literature. He was the first founders of realism( 现实主义 ) ， a masterhood( 师傅的身份 )at realistic portrayal of human characters and relations.

Karl Marx regarded Aeschylus and Shakespeare as “the two greatest dramatic geniuses the world has ever know.”

Shakespeare took stories from old sources such as old drama, novel, chronicles( 编年史 )and folk legends. （民间传说 ) Under Shakespeare’s pen, those stories assumed new meaning and significance.

In the expression of art, he inherited three traditions of the dramas of ancient Greece and Rome, medieval Britain and the European Renaissance and developed, innovating creatively from the content to the form. His plays try hard to reflect the true life and explore the inner mysteries, thus can figure out many diverse and complex personalities, vivid characters that represent the typical figure and social life.

• During the twenty-two years of his literary work he produced 37 plays, two narrative poems and 154 sonnets.

• His literary work may be divided into three major periods ： page71

The first period(1590-1600)

The second period(1601-1608)

The third period(1609-1612)

• His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry （复杂性和艺术性） by the end of the sixteenth century.

• He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet(1601),

Othello(1604),King Lear(1605), and Macbeth(1605), considered some of the finest works in the English language

Tragedies• 罗密欧与朱丽叶• (Romeo and Juliet) • 麦克白 (Macbeth) • 李尔王 (King Lear) • 哈姆雷特 (Hamlet) • 奥赛罗 (Othello) • 考利欧雷诺斯 (Coriolanus) • 特洛伊勒斯与克芮丝德 (Troilus and C

ressida)• 雅典的泰蒙 (Timon of Athens) 诗

Comedies

• 错中错 (The Comedy of Errors) • 皆大欢喜 (All's Well That Ends Well) • 如愿 (As You Like It) • 仲夏夜梦 (A Midsummer Night's Dream) • 无事生非 (Much Ado About Nothing) • 一报还一报 (Measure for Measure• 第十二夜 (Twelfth Night or What You Will) • 威尼斯商人 (The Merchant of Venice)• 空爱一场 (Love's Labor's Lost) • 冬天的故事 (The Winter's Tale)

histories • 亨利四世，第一卷（ Henry IV, part 1 ） • 亨利四世，第二卷（ Henry IV, part 2 ） • 亨利五世（ Henry V ） • 亨利六世，第一卷（ Henry VI, part 1 ） • 亨利六世，第二卷（ Henry VI, part 2 ） • 亨利六世，第三卷（ Henry VI, part 3 ） • 亨利八世（ Henry VIII ） • 约翰国王（ King John ） • 理查德二世（ Richard II ） • 理查德三世（ Richard III ）

poetry• 十四行诗（ The Sonnets ） • 爱人的怨诉（ A Lover's Complaint ） • 鲁克丽丝失贞记（ The Rape of Lucrece ） • 维纳斯和阿多尼斯（ Venus and Adonis ） • 热情的朝圣者（ The Passionate Pilgrim• 凤凰和斑鸠（ The Phoenix and the Turtle ）

The summit of Shakespeare’s artHamlet

To be or not to be: that is the question.<Hamlet>

Meaning: Is it possible or not? Is he alive or not?

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.<King Henry IV>

Meaning: The life of leaders isn’t easy. Having many responsibilities, leaders often can’t sleep well.

Hamlet

• The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father, the King, and then taken the throne （王位） and married Hamlet's mother.

• The play vividly charts the course of real and unreal madness—from overwhelming grief to seething( 沸腾的 ) rage （狂怒）— and explores themes of betrayal, revenge, incest （乱伦） , and moral corruption （道德败坏） .

Hamlet

• Type:

Revenge Tragedy, 復仇悲劇 Romantic Tragedy 浪漫悲劇 Time: c. 1200

• Locale: Elsinore (艾西諾 ), Denmark

• First presented: 1602

Principal Characters in Hamlet

• Claudius 克劳迪斯 King of Denmark• Hamlet 哈姆雷特 Son to the former King and

Nephew to the present King• Gertrude 乔特鲁德 Queen of Denmark, and

Mother of Hamlet• Polonius 波洛涅斯 Lord Chamberlain （御前大

臣）• Laertes 雷欧提斯 Son to Polonius• Ophelia 奥菲莉娅 Daughter to Polonius• Ghost （ King Hamlet ）鬼魂 Hamlet's Father• Horatio 霍拉旭 Friend to Hamlet

• Claudius is shrewd 精明 and able 干练 , though not always ethical 伦理 or moral道德 , Hamlet describes the contest of intelligence and will between them as that of ''mighty opposites'' (V.ii.62).

• 克劳狄斯形象：集合封建主和暴君的残忍，阴谋家的野心和阴险，封建统治者和资产阶级阴谋家于一身，代表文艺复兴新旧交替时期的所有罪恶。

• Gertrude is a negative character in play “Hamlet”.But this article believes that she is a weak but brave feminine character:she lived in a weak social surroundings but she has brave character. Due to the protection for her son,she has devoted her reputation even her personnal life.

• 关键词：柔弱 勇敢 母亲

• Father of Ophelia and Laertes, and Lord Chamberlain to King Claudius, he is described as a windbag by some and a rambler of wisdom by others. It has also been suggested that he only acts like a "foolish prating knave" in order to keep his position and popularity safe and to keep anyone from discovering his plots for social advancement.

• 波洛涅斯有着矛盾的性格 : 他通晓世事却又琐碎迂腐 . 这种矛盾性是理性背弃价值 , 理性而片面发展的结果 . 波洛涅斯深谙工具理性的规则 , 却反被其遮蔽 . 他的悲剧折射出工具理性为人类预设的灾难性结局 .

Laertes is often portrayed by seemingly humble actors of the screen, to give a loyal, wholesome appeal to the character.

波洛涅斯的儿子。为了父亲和妹妹的死用剑杀死了哈姆雷特。他也死在哈姆雷特的毒剑下，尽管当时哈姆雷特没有意识到剑是带毒的。

Of all the pivotal characters in Hamlet, Ophelia is the most static 稳定 and one-dimensional 没有深度的 . She has the potential to become a tragic heroine -- to overcome the adversities inflicted upon her -- but she instead crumbles 崩溃 into insanity, becoming merely tragic. This is because Ophelia herself is not as important as her representation of the dual nature of women in the play. Ophelia‘s distinct purpose is to show at once Hamlet’s warped 歪曲 view of women as callous 冷酷无情的 sexual predators, and the innocence and virtue of women.

关键词：悲情人物

Acts SummaryACT 1. The Ghost appears to Horatio and two sentinels （守卫） . Laertes and Polonius warn Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet.The Ghost appears to Hamlet and tells him the murder.

ACT 2. Polonius sends a sentinel to check up on Laertes. Ophelia tells Polonius of Hamlet's strange visit. Polonius's theory of Hamlet's madness.

ACT 3. The King and Polonius use Ophelia as bait( 诱饵 ) to spy on Hamlet. After the performance of "The Murder of Gonzago",the king tries to pray and Hamlet misses the chance to kill him. Then, Hamlet kills Polonius when overhearing the speech between him and his mother.

ACT 4. Two courtiers(朝臣 ) try to find Hamlet for the killing of Polonius.Hamlet is sent to England and sees Fortinbras( 挪威王子 ).Ophelia is mad and Laertes demands revenge(报复 ) for Polonius' death. Hamlet returns to Denmark. The King and Laertes plot their revenge on Hamlet. Queen tells the story of Ophelia's drowning.

ACT 5. Hamlet meets the gravedigger( 挖墓者 ) and sees Ophelia's funeral. A courtier invites Hamlet to the fencing( 剑术 ) match with Laertes. At the match, Laertes, Queen, King and Hamlet all die.

• Hamlet is a classic example of a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.In every tragedy, the characters must display some. If every action is controlled by a hero's destiny, then the hero's death can't be avoided and in "Hamlet" the sad part is that it could.

• Hamlet's death could have been avoided many times. He had many opportunities to kill Claudius, but he did not take advantage of them. He is called a vacillating(优柔寡断 ) man.

• However, in my opinion, vacillation can never be removed from Hamlet.That is the logical result. It is the sense of worth that makes Hamlet vacillating.

• Shakespeare took a certain story of Prince Amleth from old sources which can be traced to the 12th century.

He, however, was not the first to dramatize Hamlet’s history. In the eighties, a play that bore the same name gained popularity among the English public. Thomas Kyd is supposed to have been the author of this play.

• The whole tragedy is permeated with the spirit of Shakespeare’s own time. Hamlet is the profoundest expression of his humanism and his criticism of contemporary life.

莎士比亚 (Shakespeare) 的名作《 Hamlet》几百年来一直受到人们的热爱。

对它的争论也从未停止过。关于这出戏剧的主人公的性格以及剧作家的构思的意见是非常多的。 Hamlet是代表了一个病人，一个弱者，还是代表了一个不合潮流的理想主义者？Hamlet究竟为什么犹豫？Hamlet 的犹豫为什么会引起我们那么大的兴趣来研究它？一句话，《 Hamlet》为什么会具有那么大的魅力？下面我将试图运用佛洛伊德 Freud 的精神分析学（ depth psychology ）来对这个问题进行探究。

Hamlet 的父亲的亡魂告诉 Hamlet ：他是被 Hamlet 的叔父克劳狄斯（ Claudius ）害死的，亡魂要求 Hamlet 为它报仇：

Ham ：   Murder!Ghost  ： Murder most foul, as in the best it is;            But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.Ham ：  Haste me to know’t, that I , with wings            as swift           As meditation or the thoughts of love           May sweep to my revenge.Ghost:   I find thee apt;                                   (ACT １　 SCENE 　５ )[i]

Hamlet为这件罪恶感到震惊，决心要复仇。可是，这里有一个问题： Hamlet 复仇的决心是纯粹的吗？当鬼魂离开后， Hamlet说了一句被历来的评论家引用了无数次的话：

Ham :  The time is out of joint ;             --O cursed spite ,          That ever I was born to set it right !                                             (ACT  １ SCENE  ５ )[ii] “如今黑白颠倒一切混乱，命运却选中我来重整乾坤，来吧”这句的处理该是怎样的语气？朱生豪译版的翻译是“这是一个颠倒混乱的时代，唉，倒霉的我却要负起重整乾坤的责任！”，卞之琳译版的翻译是“时代整个儿脱节了；啊，真糟，天生我偏要我把它重新整好！” “cursed spite”应该怎么翻译？（” cursed” 作为动词时可以翻译为“诅咒；为某事物所苦”作为形容词时可以翻译为“可恨的；讨厌的” ” spite” 翻译为“恶意；坏心”）

   

 Hamlet 为什么要说 O cursed spite  呢？从这里可以看出 Hamlet 复仇的决心更多的是出于一种伦理上的责任感，而他本人对命运加在他头上的这个责任是感到非常恼火的，整出戏剧中 Hamlet 一直在为要不要复仇犹豫．为什么犹豫呢？

根据 Freud 提出的理论，每个人身上都存在着一种俄狄浦斯 Oedipus/edipəs/ 情结，也就是杀父妻母的情结，它来自童年早期，形成于自我保护本能的影响基础上，并向着家庭中的成员以及照料自己的人．从一开始，这种感情便包含着来自性本能的因素――性爱兴趣的构成部分．性本能按照自我本能所制定的标准找到的第一个对象往往是自己的母亲．而孩子发现，母亲被父亲霸占了．于是，在性本能的驱动下，儿童产生了一种杀父妻母的欲望．一般地说，随着年龄的增长，由于禁止乱伦的障碍慢慢的设立起来，这种情结会慢慢的消退，进入潜意识的领地不被觉察．正常人身上的Oedipus 情结虽然不被觉察，但还是会对人的行为产生一些影响．　

明白了上面的道理，我们再来看看Hamlet为什么犹豫． Claudius杀死了Hamlet 的父亲，在伦理上， Claudius 是 Hamlet 的仇人， Hamlet绝对应该为父报仇．可是， Claudius 的罪恶正好又实现了Hamlet潜意识中儿童时期杀父的欲望，从 Oedipus 情结上来说， Claudius 为 Hamlet实现了一件事， Claudius 又是 Hamlet 的恩人．就是这一个矛盾导致了Hamlet 的犹豫．    Hamlet最终还是杀了 Claudius ，可以说Hamlet的理智是强有力的，他潜意识中的 Oedipus 情结还是消退得非常微弱的．可是就在杀死 Claudius 这件事上，我们发现也有一些Oedipus 情结的影响．    Claudius 为 Hamlet实现了Oedipus 情结中杀父的愿望，但他又霸占了Hamlet 的母亲．就是说， Claudius自己顶替了Hamlet 的父亲的位置，成了Oedipus 情结中杀父的对象．

Ham  Frailty, thy name is woman――A little month , or ere those shoes were old With which she follow my poor father’s body Like Niobe , all tears –why she , even she (O God ! a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer)married with my uncle;(ACT  １ SCENE  １ )[iii]朱生豪译文为：　哈姆莱特　脆弱啊，你的名字就是女人！短短的一个月以前，她哭得像个泪人似的，送我那可怜的父亲下葬；她在送葬的时候所穿的那双鞋还没有破旧，她就，她就――上帝啊！一头没有理性的畜牲也要悲伤得久一些――她就嫁给我的叔父．

Hamlet对于叔父娶了母亲是非常愤怒的．显然，这种愤怒主要来自叔父和母亲的乱伦关系，同时， Claudius触犯了Hamlet 的Oedipus 情结，霸占了Hamlet 的性本能（力比多）所指向的第一个性对象，这也是他愤怒的一个潜意识中的原因．　

所以， Claudius虽然为Hamlet实现了Oedipus情结中的一个欲望，但是伴着对乱伦行为的强烈愤怒，伴着强大的理智和 Oedipus 情结中杀父的欲望， Hamlet最终还是杀死了 Claudius．这出戏剧通过Hamlet 的犹豫引起了人们对潜意识中的Oedipus 情结的一些回忆，这正是几百年来它的魅力的来源．

Analysis Of A famous Line

• “To be, or not to be” is the most famous line in English literature. What does it mean? Why are these words and what follows special?

• One reason is that they are a stunning example of Shakespeare’s ability to make his characters seem three-dimensional. The audience senses that there is more to Hamlet’s words than meets the ear—that there is something behind his words that is never spoken. Or, to put it another way, the audience witnesses signs of something within Hamlet’s mind that even he isn’t aware of. Hamlet is a fictional character who seems to possess a subconscious mind.

• Perhaps it is worthwhile to ask this question: if a person in a rational state of mind decides to act as if he is crazy, to abuse the people around him regardless of whether he loves those people or hates them, and to give free expression to all of his most antisocial thoughts, when he starts to carry those actions out, will it even be possible to say at what point he stops pretending to be crazy and starts actually being crazy?

Metre

• This passage is written in verse, and the metre is primarily iambic pentameter. In certain lines the metre is different than the rhythm, stressing the importance of the particular phrase.

Metre• The opening lines to Hamlet’s speech provide su

ch an example. The line contains as ingle extra syllable, ending on a unstressed syllable with the word ‘question’ . Given that that line deals with the question of existence or death, again Hamlet’s continual obsession with suicide is central. This serves to present an image of him as melancholy and unnaturally preoccupied with taking his own life. In short, Hamlet is presenting himself as deranged in order to convince the King and Polonius of his madness.

Metre

• Let’s see the first sentence

• To be | or not | to be | that is | the question.

• 这句话是每行五个音步，抑扬格。而当我们翻译时，也应该按照原作的节奏与韵律。

存在， | 还是 | 毁灭 ， | 就这 | 问题了。

• 是著名学者林同济教授翻译的。译文以两、三个单音汉字作为一个节拍单位，合成一个音组严格对应原文，读起来朗朗上口。而且这样的遣词造句，非常符合人物的身份及其当时的心理状态。用 "存在 " 和 "毁灭 " 这样具有学究气的口吻刻画出一个刚从威登堡大学回来的青年喜爱哲学的一面，突出其知识分子的性格。

Translation about “To be, or not to be, that is a question”

• 朱生豪：生存还是毁灭，这是一个值得考虑的问题。 • 梁实秋：死后是存在，还是不存在，——这是问题。 • 卞之琳：活下去还是不活，这是问题。 • 许国璋：是生，是死，这是问题。 • 王佐良：生或死，这就是问题所在。 • 方 平：活着好，还是死了好，这是个难题啊。 • 孙大雨：是生存还是消亡，问题的所在。 • 裘克安：活着，还是不活了，问题就在这里。 • 某教授：做与不做，真是个问题。 • 某剧本：生存或毁灭 , 这是个必答之问题。

Analysis & SignificanceAnalysis & Significance

Character and influence

There is a thousand “Hamlet”s in a thousand readers’ eyes.

Hamlet is an ideal figure of humanism( 人文主义 ) in Renaissance (/ri’neisns/ 文艺复兴 ). He’s a prince, according to the tradition, which is sure to suceed the kingship. The darkness of his times, however, made him have to pretend to be mad.

Humanism As we all know, Hamlet’s father’s death was a shock for him and he could not get over it. At the same time his mother give him another big shock, she married the new king Claudius right away after his father died and hadn’t mourned for it. These made him melancholy /‘melənkəli/ 忧郁的 . Hamlet is the typical character of humanism. As a humanist, he affirms the importance of human being.

Soliloquies [s ’l l kwi:]ə ɪ ə 独白Soliloquies [s ’l l kwi:]ə ɪ ə 独白

• What a piece of work is a man,• how noble in reason,• how infinite in faculties /‘fæk lə

tis/ 才能• in form and moving,• how express and admirable in ac

tion,• how like a God: the beauty of wo

rld,• the paragon of animals

• What a piece of work is a man,• how noble in reason,• how infinite in faculties /‘fæk lə

tis/ 才能• in form and moving,• how express and admirable in ac

tion,• how like a God: the beauty of wo

rld,• the paragon of animals

• It’s the hottest praise to human, and also the most serious challenge to god, theology( 神学 ) and church. Because of this kind thought to human in hamlet’s mind, his father is the most perfect man, and his parents’ marriage is the typical constant example. This make Hamlet has a humanism mind to love, friendship and human nature. So his father’ death and mother’s marry conflict to his ideal principle. To hamlet, his faith destroyed all at once. It’s the essential reason for his melancholy character.

• It’s the hottest praise to human, and also the most serious challenge to god, theology( 神学 ) and church. Because of this kind thought to human in hamlet’s mind, his father is the most perfect man, and his parents’ marriage is the typical constant example. This make Hamlet has a humanism mind to love, friendship and human nature. So his father’ death and mother’s marry conflict to his ideal principle. To hamlet, his faith destroyed all at once. It’s the essential reason for his melancholy character.

Hamlet

Shakespeare‘s Hamlet focus on this conflict was different from other revenge(复仇 ) tragedies at the same time, which tended to violent acts on stage. In Hamlet it emphasized the hero’s dilemma rather than the bloody deeds(行为 ).

Shakespeare‘s Hamlet focus on this conflict was different from other revenge(复仇 ) tragedies at the same time, which tended to violent acts on stage. In Hamlet it emphasized the hero’s dilemma rather than the bloody deeds(行为 ).

InfluenceInfluence

Most of Shakespeare’s works were based on original plays, novels,chronicles and folklore, but he melted his own ideas into these works, which had cast brand new, abundant and profound blood on them. His works were not shakled by three unities(三一律 ) and broke the limits of comedy and tragedy, trying to reflect the initial life to the audience and showing the deepest part of humanism.

Most of Shakespeare’s works were based on original plays, novels,chronicles and folklore, but he melted his own ideas into these works, which had cast brand new, abundant and profound blood on them. His works were not shakled by three unities(三一律 ) and broke the limits of comedy and tragedy, trying to reflect the initial life to the audience and showing the deepest part of humanism.

It is estimated that Shakespeare used 20 thousand different words troughout all his works. He tended to use dialect and native languages and obtained foreign languages as well. What’s more, imagery(意象 ), metaphor(隐喻 ) and paronomasia [pær n u’meizi ]ə ə ə (双关语 ) etc. were widely used in his works, which had created a large variety of characters. One of his friends, William Jones said, ”He is not of a period of times, but the whole centry.”

SummarySummary

Critical history• From the early 17th century, the play was

famous for its ghost and vivid dramatization of melancholy(忧郁 ) and insanity(疯狂 ), leading to a procession of mad courtiers and ladies in Jacobean and Caroline drama.

• This view changed drastically in the 18th century, when critics regarded Hamlet as a hero—a pure, brilliant young man thrust into unfortunate circumstances.

• By the mid-18th century, however, the advent of Gothic literature( 哥特式文学 ) brought psychological and mystical readings, returning madness and the Ghost to the forefront.

• Not until the late 18th century did critics and performers begin to view Hamlet as confusing and inconsistent. Before then, he was either mad, or not; either a hero, or not; with no in-betweens.

• By the 19th century, Romantic critics valued Hamlet for its internal, individual conflict reflecting the strong contemporary emphasis on internal struggles and inner character in general.

• Then too, critics started to focus on Hamlet's delay as a character trait, rather than a plot( 策划 ) device.

• This focus on character and internal struggle continued into the 20th century, when criticism branched in several directions, discussed in context and interpretation below.

Dramatic structure

• in Shakespeare's day, plays were usually expected to follow the advice of Aristotle( 亚里士多德 ) in his Poetics .

• In Hamlet, Shakespeare reverses( 颠倒 )

this so that it is through the soliloquies(独白 ), not the action, that the audience learns Hamlet's motives and thoughts. The play is full of seeming discontinuities and irregularities(不规则 ) of action.

The play is full of seeming discontinuities and irregularities 不规则 of action. (At one point, as in the Gravedigger scene,Hamlet seems resolved to kill Claudius: in the next scene, however, when Claudius appears, he is suddenly tame变得驯服 ).

Scholars still debate whether these twists are mistakes or intentional additions to add to the play's theme of confusion and duality二元性 .

Finally, in a period when most plays ran for two hours or so, the full text of Hamlet—Shakespeare's longest play, with 4,042 lines, totalling 29,551 words—takes over four hours to deliver.Hamlet also contains a favourite Shakespearean device, a play within the play.

Philosophical

• Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist相对论者 , existentialist存在主义 , and sceptical怀疑论的 .

For example, he expresses a relativistic相对论 (性质 ) 的 idea when he says to Rosencrantz: "there is

nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". The clearest example of existentialism 存在主义 is

found in the "to be, or not to be" speech, where Hamlet uses "being" to allude to 提到 both life and action, and "not being" to death and inaction

Hamlet reflects the contemporary scepticism怀疑主义 that prevailed in Renaissance humanism.Prior to Shakespeare's time, humanists had argued that man was God's greatest creation, made in God's image and able to choose his own nature, but this view was challenged, notably in Michel de Montaigne's Essais of 1590. Hamlet's "What a piece of work is a man" echoes many of Montaigne's ideas, but scholars disagree whether Shakespeare drew directly from Montaigne or whether both men were simply reacting similarly to the spirit of the times.