Shakespeare's Tragedies

Among Shakespeare's tragedies we must distin­guish the five great ones:

1. "Romeo and Juliet" (1594-1595);

2. "Hamlet" (1600-1601);
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3. "Othello" (1604-1605);

4. "Macbeth" (1605-1606);

5. "King Lear" (1606).

Besides, there were three Roman tragedies:

1. "Julius Caesar" (1599);

2. "Antony and Cleopatra" (1606-1607);

3. "Coriolanus" (1607).

We know Shakespeare to be an "expert" of the hu­man souls and feelings. That's why each of his plays, especially tragedies, is the evidence of his love of Man. I [e creates characters of great depth and unusual intel­lect. We see a philosopher in Hamlet. But Hamlet's weakness is hesitation, inability to act; he is only a thinker. Othello's weak point is his crazy jealousy. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are too greedy and unfair. King Lear's weakness is his belief in flattery. The story of pure and tragic love of Romeo and Juliet is known all over the world. In each of the Roman tragedies the fatal weakness of the characters and the tragic events are closely connected. Brutus in "Julius Caesar" is not a practical man, Antony in "Antony and Cleopat­ra" is ruined because of his love of comfort, Coriolanus wrecks his own life because of his terrible pride.

HAMLET

The Queen of Denmark becomes a widow by the sudden death of her husband. But in less than two months after his death she marries Claudius, her husband's brother. Claudius takes the throne of Den­mark, though the lawful successor of the throne is Hamlet, the son of the Queen.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, studies at the Univer­sity of Wittenberg. But he learns of his father's death and hurries home to Elsinore. Hamlet is the only one

who loves the memory of his dead father and he takes to heart the strange behaviour of his mother Ger­trude.

Hamlet doesn't know the reason of his father's death. Claudius tells him about the sting of a serpent, but Hamlet doubts. He is sure that it is Claudius who has stung his father in order to take the throne. The new king fears his subjects, and the queen takes on the manner of her new husband. Hamlet loses his good looks, he wears a black suit, the symbol of death. Hamlet's friend Horatio claims that the spirit of the dead king is wandering during cold nights near the castle. One evening Hamlet and Horatio are walking near the castle when suddenly they see the Ghost coming. Seeing his father Hamlet is surprised and even afraid. Suddenly the Ghost calls Hamlet by his name and advises him to go to the more removed place, where they would be alone and the Ghost would tell his son why he has left his grave.

And when they are alone the Ghost tells him about the murder. Hamlet decides on revenge. He wants to see all evil abolished. By then he begins to think too much and to hesitate if the Ghost was telling the truth. He falls into melancholy. He pre­tends he has gone mad. Hamlet writes a letter full of deep love to Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, Lord Chamberlain. That letter makes all the court think that the reason of his madness is love.

Meanwhile, Hamlet continues to meet with his fa­ther's spirit. But he is not sure, that the Ghost is indeed his father's or if it is a devil who has assumed his father's shape in order to take advantage of Hamlet's melancholy and weakness. And Hamlet wants to find evidence of the murder. During one of the performanc-

es, when the actors acts out the death of the old King bf Troy, Hamlet becomes sure of Claudius's guilt. He has got his proof. But still he hesitates. He is not a fighter, he is a humanist and a philosopher. Hamlet's soliloquy "To be, or not to be", which is the central part of the play, tells us why Hamlet puts off action.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07