222Hamlet and Caesar 演示文稿.pptVIP

Hamlet , Prince of Denmark Act III, Scene I A room in the castle Background Information Shakespeare’s main tragedies were written during the period of gloom and depression which dated from 1601 to 1609. His great tragedies are associated with a period of gloom and sorrow in his life. During this period, England witnessed a general unrest, social contradictions became very sharp. What caused the writers personal sadness is unknown to us. It is generally attributed to Earl of Essex, the political misfortune of his friend and patron who was killed by the Queen. His main tragedies are: “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, and “Macbeth”. All of these plays express a profound dissatisfaction with life. They show the struggle and conflicts between good and evil of the time, between justice and injustice. In these plays, the writer Shakespeare condemns the dark and evil society. Hamlet (1601), one of Shakespeare’s canon, is universally included in the list of the world’s greatest works. The story, coming from an old Danish legend, is a tragedy of the “ revenge” genre. Shakespeare incorporates into the medieval story other major humanistic themes, including love, justice, good and evil, and most notably, madness, and the spirit of the time. Tragedy Poetics : tragedy is characterized by seriousness and dignity and involving a great person who experiences a reversal of fortune . Tragedy results in a catharsis (emotional cleansing) or healing for the audience through their experience of these emotions in response to the suffering of the characters in the drama. soliloquy A soliloquy is a literary device often used in drama characterized by a characters divulgence of his or her thoughts or emotions to the audience.This is different from a monologue primarily in that it is specifically spoken to the audience, as opposed to another character. Soliloquies were frequently used in poetic dramas; dramas in prose use a more realistic speaking style and rarely if ever feature them