Ambition [sem'bijbn]л честолюбие attitude ['aetitju:d] n отношение background ['bskgraund] n фон clash [klaef] л столкновение 1 страница

Y.

Adjunct ['aed^Arjkt] а дополнительный breast[brest] n грудь comfort ['kAmfst] n утешение complain [kam'plem] v жаловаться couplet ['kAplit] n рифмованное дву­стишие damask ['daemssk] а алый desert[di'z3:t] n заслуга disgrace [dis'greis] v позорить, бесчес­тить dun [алп]а темный

Г

And every humor hath¹ his adjunct² pleasure, Wherein it finds a joy above the rest; But these particulars are not my measure, All these I better in one general best.

Thy³ love is better than high birth to me, Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost, Of more delight than hawks or horses be; And having thee⁴, of all men's pride I boast.

Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst⁵ take. All this away and me most wretched make.

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, — yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go —

My mistress when she walks treads on the ground

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

¹ hath — has

² adjunct — subordinate thing

³ thy — your

⁴ thee — you

⁵ thou mayst ['dau'meist] — you may

All Shakespeare's sonnets have been translated into Russian by S. Marshak, the well-known poet.

S. Marshak was not the first to translate the sonnets into Rus­sian, but if were not for Marshak's translations the sonnets would be known only to a small circle of specialists.

Vocabulary

identity [ai'dentiti] n личность indignation [^indig'neifan] n возмуще­ние, негодование maiden ['meidn] n девушка novelty ['rrovslti] n новшество preserve [pn'z3:v]v сохранять reek [ri:k] v пахнуть rhyming ['raimirj] а рифмующий subordinate [sa'bo:dnit]а подчиненный tread [tred] v (trod; trodden) ступать violate ['vaialeit]v осквернять

Histories

Richard the Third

During the first period Shake­speare wrote histories (chronicles) which are a poetic history of Eng­land. Shakespeare gives a broad panorama of England life. Scenes of private life alternate with epi­sodes of war and political intri­gues. Shakespeare shows the ter­rible world of feudal relations be­tween people. The histories show the defeat of the feudal lords and the necessity of a strong national state united under the power of the king.

The historical plays (chronicles) are:

King Henry VI — 1592,

The Tragedy of King Richard III — 1593,

Titus Andronicus ['taitassn'dromkas] — 1594,

The Tragedy of King Richard II — 1594,

The Life and Death of King John — 1594,

King Henry TV— 1597,

The Life of King Henry V— 1599.

It is true that the historical dramas or chronicles, full of tragic events and bloodshed, also belong to the first period, but if we regard them in the order in which they are written, it turns out that they too have a happy end.

Two tragedies Romeo and Juliet [ 'гэигшэи and 'd3u:ljst] (1593) and Julius Caesar ['d3u:ljas 'si:za] (1599) were written during this

period too.

Tragedy does not belong to one single period of Shakespeare's work. It is with him in the first two stages of his literary career.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare's first tragedy. He turned from the romantic comedies to make the romantic tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The play is still very popular and the names of Romeo and Juliet are used to describe any great lovers.

In the tragedy the problem of love is raised to a deep social problem. The play treats love as a serious tragic subject.

Romeo and Juliet are the victims of a long senseless feud be­tween their families. The world of the Montagues ['rrrontsgjuiz] and Capulets fkaepjulats] is antagonistic to their love. The young people are to fight against feudal traditions and patriarchal morality.

The death of the young people makes the older generation realize the absurdity of their feud and leads to the reconciliation of the two families. The tragedy ends in an optimistic mood.

Vocabulary

absurdity [sb's3:diti] n нелепость intrigue [in'trig] n интрига

alternate ['o:lt3neit] v чередоваться patriarchal [,peitn'а:кэ1] a патриар-

bloodshed ['bL\dJed] n кровопролитие хальный

chronicle ['kronikl] n хроника (истори- reconciliation [ гекэгшЬ'ег/эп] n при-

ческая) мирение

feud [fju:d] n вражда treat [tri:t] v рассматривать

frame [freim] n обрамление victim ['viktim] n жертва
history fhistsn] л историческая пьеса

Questions and Tasks

1. How many plays and sonnets did Shakespeare write?

2. What are Shakespeare's genres?

3. What are the periods of Shakespeare's creative work?

4. What are the characteristic features of Shakespeare's comedies?

5. Name the best Shakespeare's comedies.

6. What is the plot of Twelfth Nighf?

7. What features of Shakespeare's comedies can be found in Twelfth Nighf?

8. What ideas did Shakespeare embody in the character of Viola?

9. What is a sonnet?

10. When was it introduced into English literature?

11. What is a Shakespeare sonnet?

12. What are Shakespeare's sonnets about?

13. Talk about the main idea of sonnet 66.

14. Point out the lines which form the frame. What is the function of this frame?

15. What is the main idea of sonnet 91?

16. In what other sonnet does Shakespeare deal with the same problem?

17. How did Shakespeare describe his beloved in sonnet 130?

18. Who gave Shakespeare's sonnets new life and made them part of Russian poetry?

19. What other plays belong to the first period of Shakespeare's creative work? Name them.

20. What are the themes of the histories?

21. What tragedies belong to this period too?

22. What is the central theme of the tragedy Romeo and Juliet?

The Second Period

(1601-1608)

Shakespeare's dramatic genius was at its highest in the second period of his literary work, when all of Shakespeare's famous trage­dies appeared. In the plays of this period the dramatist reaches his full maturity. He presents great human problems. Shakespeare proves that it is not enough to be clever in order to achieve happi­ness, that human relations derive from social problems. He shows the social injustice and suffering of man. Something must be done to change the world, the laws of man and his morals. This is particu­larly stressed in the great tragedies of Hamlet and King Lear [lis].

Shakespeare showed that people had to look for another and more perfect life. Society could achieve progress and happiness only through struggle. He had faith in man's virtue. In Shake­speare's tragedies the evil forces are victorious only to a certam point, in the end the good wins.

Shakespeare's characters are personalities of great depth and unusual intellect. At the same time he has created real, ordinary men.

Each tragedy portrays some noble figure caught in a difficult situation. A man's tragedy is not individual, it is spread to other people as well.

In ancient tragedies man was helpless. His life depended on fate. Shakespeare's man acts in a concrete social and political world.

During the second period Shakespeare wrote the following tragedies: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark — 1602, Troilus and Cressida — 1603, Othello [эи'0е1эи], the Moor of Venice fvenis] — 1604, King Lear— 1605, Macbeth [mak'beG] — 1606, Алголу and Cleopatra [ 'aentaniand,klia'palra] — 1607, Coriolanus [кэипэ 'lamas] — 1608, Timon ofAtheus [ 'taiman av 'seGmz] — 1608.

He also wrote a few comedies: All's Well that Eds Well — 1602, Measure for Measure — 1604, Pericles, Prince of Tyre ['penkli:z] — 1608. These have been named the dark comedies and differ from those written during the first period as they have many tragic ele­ments in them.

Vocabulary

moral ['moral] n зрелость personality [,p3:s3'naeliti] n личность spread [spred] v распространяться

'erive [di'raiv] v происходить aith [fei9] л вера maturity [ma'tjusnti] n p/нормы нрав­ственного поведения

Tragedies Hamlet

Shakespeare's greatest trage­dies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.

Hamlet is a philosophical dra­ma, the tragedy of a humanist. It is the most widely staged, read and discussed of all Shakespeare's tragedies.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is at the University of Wittenberg. A poor student Horatio [ho'reijiau] becomes his friend. Unexpected­ly Hamlet learns of his father's death and hurries home to Elsi-nore. On his arrival Hamlet is shocked at finding his mother married to his uncle, his father's brother, Claudius f'kb:djas], who becomes King of Denmark.

The scene is laid in Denmark. It is night. Several soldiers are on guard. They are talking about the ghost that appears near the cas­tle every night. The soldiers start to speak to him, but the ghost does not answer and disappears. They tell Hamlet about the ghost. Soon Hamlet comes and sees the ghost. In the ghost he recognizes the image of his father. The ghost beckons him and in spite of Ho­ratio's warnings Hamlet follows him. The ghost tells Hamlet that

his father has been treacherously killed by his brother Claudius. Claudius poured some poison into his ear while he was asleep in the garden. Having married Queen Gertrude [ 'g3:tru:d] he inhe-rited the throne. The ghost calls on Hamlet to avenge his father's death.

Hamlet is overwhelmed. He takes an oath to avenge his death. So Hamlet pretends to be mad and makes biting remarks to the Queen, King and all the courtiers.

Polonius [рэ 'bunjas], one of the Queen's courtiers, has two children, a daughter Ophelia [t>'fi:lja] and a son Laertes [lei'3:ti:z]. Hamlet loves Ophelia, but he puts aside his love and simulates madness to conceal his plans.

Hamlet's mother thinks it is only her unfaithfulness that has made him mad, and Polonius thinks Hamlet's love for his daugh­ter is the only reason. Ophelia in her natural simplicity admires Hamlet, but in her blind obedience to her father she avoids him. Seeing the change in Hamlet, her heart nearly breaks with pity and sorrow. Hamlet wants to force the King to admit his crime When a company of actors visits the castle, he arranges a play in which the actors perform the scene of a king's murder.

Hamlet wants to make sure of the King's guilt. He says:

"the play's the thing wherein I'll catchYne conscience of the king"

And so he does. The King now understands that Hamlet knows his secret. Hamlet watches the behaviour of the Queen and the King and becomes sure of the treacherous murder of his father. In confu­sion the King and Queen leave the performance. Soon Hamlet is called to his mother. He can't forgive her because she has married his father's murderer, and Hamlet tells her what he thinks of her. The Queen is frightened, she calls for help. During all this time Polo­nius stays hidden behind the curtains.

On hearing the Queen's cry for help he makes a move behind the curtains. Hamlet thinks that it is the King and kills him. The death of Polonius by Hamlet's hand is at the same time a crushing blow to Ophelia. She becomes insane and drowns herself. The death of Polonius gives the King grounds for sending Hamlet out of the kingdom. On board a ship Hamlet goes to England under

the care of two courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They are given letters to the English court which read that Hamlet should be put to death as soon as he lands in England. Hamlet, suspect­ing some treachery, secretly gets the letters, and changes his name for the names of the courtiers. Soon after that their ship is attacked by pirates and Hamlet is taken prisoner but then he is set free. When Hamlet gets home the first thing he sees is the funeral of Ophelia.

On learning of Hamlet's return the King thinks of a plan to do away with Hamlet. He persuades Laertes to challenge Ham­let to a duel and advises Laertes to prepare a poisoned weapon. In the duel Laertes inflicts a mortal wound on Hamlet. And then Hamlet and Laertes exchange swords and Hamlet wounds Laertes with his own poisoned sword. At that moment, the Queen, who is also present at the duel, cries out that she is poi­soned. She has drunk out of a glass of poisoned wine which the King prepared for Hamlet. The Queen dies. Laertes, feeling his life go, tells Hamlet that Claudius is the cause of all the misfor­tunes. With his last strength Hamlet kills him with his spear and both of them die.

Hamlet's last words are addressed to his friend Horatio whom he asks to tell his story to the world, as if commanding others to continue the struggle after his death.

Vocabulary

ghost [gaust] n привидение, призрак ground [graund] n основание, причина guilt [gilt] n вина inflict [m'flikt] v наносить (удар, рану и т. п.) inherit [m'hent] v наследовать mortal ['mo:tl] о смертельный oath [эи9] п клятва obedience [a'bMjans] n послушание, повиновение overwhelm Lauvs'welm] v потрясать, ошеломлять pour [рэ:] v лить

admit [gd'mit] v признать avenge [э'уепф] v отомстить beckon ['Ьекэп] v манить к себе biting ['baitirj] а резкий; острый cause [ko:z] n причина challenge ['tfaelmd3] v вызывать conceal [ksn'si:l] v скрывать confusion [kan'fjirpn] n замешатель

ство, смущение conscience ['krmjsns] n совесть courtier ['ko:tjg] n придворный crushing ['krAJirj] а сокрушительный funeral ['fjuinaral] n похороны

treacherously ['tretjbresli] adv преда тельски treachery [ 'tretjan] n предательство, измена warning ['wo:nirj] n предупреждение

I/

remark [n'ma:kj n замечание simulate ['simjuleit] v притворяться spear [spis] n копье suspect [sgs'pekt] v подозревать treacherous f tretfsras] о предательский, вероломный

The Image of Hamlet

Hamlet is one of the most difficult tragedies to interpret. No work of world literature has caused so many explanations as Ham-let. The reason for it is Hamlet's behaviour. Shakespeare's Ham let is a typical man of the Renaissance — well educated and noble, open-hearted, clever and generous. He loves life; he believes in man and is full of hopes and noble desires. But suddenly Hamlet understands that the world is not the place only for good hopes and noble desires: his father is murdered by his uncle, and his mother becomes his wife thus helping Claudius to become king.

Hamlet grieves that injustice triumphs over justice, that cruel rulers are tyrannizing the people, that his beloved country has be­come a prison for people. The contradiction between his noble ideals and reality is one of the^reasons for Hamlet's disappointment.

As a character Hamlet is many-sided. He is courageous. He does not fear to look the truth in the face. He knows that revenge is easy. But it is not merely revenge that Hamlet seeks. He feels that he "was born to set the world aright" and this can be done only by exposing the very roots of the reigning evil. Therefore he decides to unveil the crimes of Claudius to the people and to establish the reign of justice in Denmark. So Hamlet's capacity for action, decisiveness and ini­tiative are one part of his nature. On the other hand he doubts, puts things off, falls into complete pessimism, avoids action. Ham­let meditates on the problems of life and death, struggle and irreso­lution, love and hatred. His meditations are well reflected in his fa­mous monologue (soliloquy [sn'libkwi]). "To be or not to be?" He passionately seeks the key to the understanding of life. He is ready to devote his life to the task "to set the world aright", though he foresees "a sea of troubles" before him, which cannot be overcome.

Hamlet's Soliloquy

To be, or not to be, — that is the question;

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them? To die, — to sleep;

No more; and, by a sleep, to say we end

The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, — 'tis is a consummation '

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, — to sleep; —

To sleep! perchance² to dream: ay, there's the rub³;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil \

Must give us pause; there's the respect⁵

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely⁰

The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay⁷

The insolence of office⁸, and the spurns⁹

That patient merit of the unworthy takes¹⁰,

When he himself might his quietus " make

With a bare bodkin¹²? Who would fardels¹³ bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that¹⁴ the dread of something after death,

¹ consummation — fulfilment

² perchance — perhaps

³ rub — here: obstacle

⁴ when we have shuffled — when we die

⁵ there's the respect — that is what we fear

⁶ contumely — contempt in speech or acts
' delay — the putting off

⁸ the insolence of office — the shameless bullying at government departments

^I spurns —- contemptuous refuses

¹⁰ That patient merit of the unworthy takes — That patient and worthy people receive from the unworthy

^II quietus [kwai 'i:tss] — end of things; death

¹² with a bare bodkin — with a simple dagger

¹³ fardels — burdens

¹⁴ but that — if not for

The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have,

Than fly others that we know not of?

Thus conscience¹ does make cowards of us all;

And thus the native hue² of resolution

Is sicklied o'er³ with the pale cast of thought;

And enterprises of great pitch and moment⁴,

With this regard, their currents turn awry⁵,

And lose the name of action... Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy orisons⁶

Be all my sins remembered.

Act HI, Scene 1

Hamlet hesitates because he is afraid to take a false step which might lead him against his humanist ideals.

So Hamlet is not a fighter by nature, he is a learned man, a philosopher. Hamlet decides to be, to act — to fight and to con­quer. At the end of the tragedy he achieves his aims. His victory is that he has overcome his own doubts. He knows that his struggle will continue for years to come.

Hamlet is one of the greatest characters in world literature and the play is the internal drama of a human soul. The Renais­sance atmosphere of art and learning governs this play, in which the central character is himself a Renaissance man.

Vocabulary

account [s'kaunt] v объяснять capacity [kg'psesiti] n способность

bully ['bull] v запугивать contemptuous [ksn'temptjuss] a npe-
calamity [ka'laemiti] n несчастье зрительный

¹ conscience — here: thoughts

² hue — here: healthy feeling

³ It sicklied o'er — Is made unhealthy, sick

⁴ enterprises of great pitch and moment — honourable beginnings of
great actual deeds

⁵ turn awry [a'rai] — turn in a wrong manner (awry — wrong)

⁶ orisons ['onzanz] — prayers

interpret [m't3:pnt] v объяснить irresolution [i,reza'lu:j3n] n нерешитель­ность; сомнение meditate ['mediteit] v размышлять meditation [medi'teifan] n размышление oppose [э'рэиг] v сопротивляться outrageous [aut'reirips] а жестокий reflect [n'flekt] v отражать seek [si:k] v (sought) искать triumph [traismf] v торжествовать tyrannize ['tiranaiz] v быть тираном unveil [An'veil] v раскрывать

contradiction [,kontra'dikf9n] n проти­воречие decisiveness [di'saisrvnis] n решительность devoutly [di'vautli] adv искренне doubt [daut] v сомневаться expose [iks'pguz] v разоблачать forsee [fo:'si:] v jforsaw; forseen) пред­видеть grieve [gri:v] v горевать heir [еэ] п наследник grunt [grAnt] v ворчать internal [m't3:nl] а внутренний

The Story of King Lear

King Lear is a family trage­dy set against the background of the social and political life of late f eudalism. It is a play about the clash between cruelty, sel­fishness, ambition on the one hand, honesty, justice and hu­manity on the other.

King Lear

The tragedy takes us back to the days of ancient Britain. Lear is portrayed as a big feu­dal landowner. In the course of long years of glorious rule his heart has become filled with pride and complete ab­sence of doubt in the right­eousness of his own ways.

He is 80 and is ready to divide his kingdom and give all affairs of the state over to his three daughters Goneril f gunanl], Regan [' ri:gan] and Cordelia ['ko:'di:lJ3]. Goneril is married to the Duke of Albany ['э:1Ьэш], and Regan to the Duke of Cornwall. Two foreigners — the Duke of Burgundy [ 'b3:gandi] and the King of France are seeking the hand of his youngest daughter Cordelia. The King is going to

give away his beloved daughter to one of them. At this moment the old man is full of pride — the pride of a king and a father. He decides to test his daughters: the greatest share will be given to the daughter who will best express her love for him. Goneril and Regan declare that they love him more than their honour, beauty and health. The King is pleased and gives them each one third of the kingdom. Cordelia is ashamed to repeat these words of flattery, for she loves truth and honesty. Her answer is different:

Good, my Lord,

You have begot me, bred me, lov'd me: I

Return those duties back as are right fit',

Obey you, love you, and most honour you.

Why have my sisters husbands, if they say

They love you all? Happily, when I shall wed,

That lord whose hand must take my plight² shall carry

Half my love with him, half my care and duty:

Sure I shall never marry like my sisters,

To love my father all.

The King spoilt by flattery is hurt and disowns her. No one dares to defend the unhappy Cordelia except the King's coun­sellor Kent, and the King of France who asks her to go with him to France.

Now Lear will live in turn with Goneril and Regan. His two elder daughters insult him, shut their doors on him and let him out in a thunderstorm. Lear is surprised to see that their attitude to him has changed. From this moment on his heart has no peace. He is only a poor, old, weak and despised man. The family respected and obeyed him only because he was in power. With Lear's degradation the poet shows that the feudal order is break­ing up. His two eldest daughters represent the new class. They are selfish, cruel, false, vulgar, full of plots. Their hearts are hard­ened.

¹ as are right fit — as ought to be done.

² plight — engagement, promise to marry.

The King's mind has clouded over, but under hard trials in suffering and pain he goes through a moral evolution and be­comes humane. He understands the injustice of the order he once represented. He understands his mistake.

Shakespeare is a great master of plot. In King Lear we find a double plot. On the one hand author reveals the family tragedy of King Lear, on the other hand he shows the fate of the Earl of Gloucester ['grosta].

Gloucester has two sons Edgar and Edmund. The latter is his illegitimate son. The consciousness of having no rights has made Edmund a cynical man. His aim is to get his brother's lands and power. By a treacherous letter he succeeds in setting his father against Edgar, whom Gloucester disinherits. Edgar has a coura­geous heart, but he has to run away to escape danger.

In the meantime Cordelia has sent troops to England to win back her father's kingdom. She finds her father in the field near Dover. Old Gloucester helped his master to reach this plade be­cause he knew of Cordelia's intention. Edmund told Cornwall this secret, and Gloucester's eyes were plucked out. Edgar, dis­guised has a beggar, helped him to reach Dover where Glouces­ter died. The British troops under Edmund's command win the French army, and Edmund orders Cordelia to be hanged.

Goneril and Regan are in love with Edmund. In a fit of jealousy Goneril poisons her sister Regan, she herself commits suicide when her husband learns about her plot. Wishing to revenge his father Edgar kills Edmond. So the evil forces do not triumph, but light comes too late. King Lear finds Cordelia, but she is dead. King Lear dies over her lifeless body. Edgar and the Duke of Al­bany are with him at this moment.

The story of King Lear with its horrors, cruelty and crime, as used by Shakespeare, showed the despotism of the age.

Vocabulary

commit [ka'mit] v совершать to commit suicide ['sjuisaid]совер­шить самоубийство consciousness['krjnfssnis] л сознание

illegitimate [jli'cfeitimit] а незаконно­рожденный insult [m'sAlt] v оскорблять plot [plot] л заговор represent [^repn'zent] v представлять righteousness [ 'raitfasnis] л правед­ность; справедливость share [[еэ] л доля succeed [sak'sM] сдобиться trial [traial] л испытание

counsellor ['kaunsgls] л советник dare [dea] л сметь, отважиться despise [dis'paiz] v презирать disguise [dis'gaiz] v переодеться disown [dis'sun] v не признавать, от­рекаться evolution Li:va'lu:j3n] n развитие, рост fit [fit] л припадок flattery ['flstgn] л лесть humane [hju:'mem] а человечный

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