英国文学选读unit2.pptVIP

;Unit2 William Shakespeare  (I564-1616);William Shakespeare (1564—1616) ;;Shakespeare’s history plays and major comedies were written before the end of the sixteenth century. After the turn of the century, he wrote his major tragedies. The comedies were mainly written in the last few years of his life. Although Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, he left the world a rich heritage of immortal plays. Thirty-two of his plays were first collected in 1623, and Ben Johnson wrote in the dedication to the edition that “he was not of an age, but for all time!”;;Hamlet, Prince of Denmark The story Hamlet is called back from the University of Wittenbery(维滕堡) to the Danish Court by news of his father’s death. His mother hastily marries his uncle, Claudius. Horatio, Hamlet’s friend, tells him of the appearance of the ghost of his father talking around the castle at night. Later he learns from the ghost that his father was murdered by his uncle. He is then faced with the duty to take revenge for his father.;First Hamlet pretends to be mad. His beloved Ophelia is sent to him to see that he is mad. However , Claudius is not convinced and sends two of Hamlet’s former friends to spy on him. Hamlet, in order to catch the conscience of Claudius, arranges a murder-play which acts out the process of the murder. The play catches Claudius by surprise that he leaves the hall in the middle of the play. The story of the ghost is thus proved, but Hamlet fails to kill Claudius when he is alone praying. Instead, he kills the spying Polonius by accident. Hamlet is sent to England by Claudius, ploting that he is killed by the king of England. On his way to England, Hamlet finds out the plot of his death. He escapes and gets aboard a pirate ship and returns to Denmark. Meanwhile, Ophelia becomes mad and drowns herself. Her brother, Laertes came to take revenge for their father and his sister. Hamlet and Laertes agree to settle their argument by a duel. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes’