Shakespeare (1564-1616)
How Shakespeare became Shakespeare? Many scholars have explained it from different aspects, however, one aspect has been neglected. Shakespeare was keen on pursuing fashion in the trend of drama art, which made him a popular drama master, and then became famous forever.
Coming to London from the rural town of Stratford, everything was new to the young Shakespeare. The scenery of the metropolis, the life of the royal family and nobles, and the colorful drama on the stage all made him curious and excited. He started from scratch in drama, and his initial impression of drama was the impression left by the wonderful performances of the touring troupe to his hometown. Since arriving in London, he has often spent time in the theater, watched rehearsals of plays in his spare time, and gradually understood the elements and techniques of plays, so he ventured to try writing. As a newcomer to the theater world, he inevitably imitates, follows suit, and pursues fashion. He writes whatever is popular in the theater world, and composes whatever the audience likes to watch. Substantial box office receipts.
According to historical records, in the British theater during the Renaissance, court dramas, aristocratic dramas, revenge dramas, ghost dramas, magic dramas, elf dramas, etc. were popular at that time, and most of the dramas staged were plays by the “University Talent School”. John Leigh The works of Robert Greene, Thomas Kidd, Christopher Marlowe and others were all the rage. On the stage at that time, the roles of princes and nobles supported most of the country. Therefore, the fledgling Shakespeare also imitated the college wits. It can be seen from the repertoire, such as “Richard II”, “Richard III”, “King Lear”, “Henry IV”, “Henry V”, “Henry VI”, “Henry VIII”, “Julius Caesar” etc.
Kidd’s revenge drama was very influential at the time. His “Spanish Tragedy” narrated the story of Jerónimo’s revenge for his son, including ghost dramas, dramas within dramas, and inner monologues. The ghost of Andrea who died in battle and the spirit of “revenge” came on the stage first, and said the opening remarks of the whole play. Jeronimo used the play within the play to kill the enemy and avenge his son. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” obviously borrowed from the play, in which the ghost of the old king appeared, and used the play within the play to verify whether Claudius was the murderer of the usurper, and wrote a lot of inner monologues of Hamlet. Shakespeare is better than blue, and the richness of the image of Hamlet he created greatly exceeds that of Kidd’s characters. The philosophy of the play also surpasses “Spanish Tragedy”. If Kidd’s play is just a typical revenge play, staying at the bloody and violent level, then Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is already a deafening and thought-provoking social tragedy. Philosophical speculation on life and death, love and hate, the universe, and human beings has become a world-class inquiry.
Magic shows are also quite popular with the world. In Marlowe’s “The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus”, Faust is a magician who can use spells to summon the devil Mephisto, and Mephisto can also summon the ancient Greek beauty Helen. Green’s “Monk Bacon and Monk Bong” has “Magic Mirror”. Shakespeare also borrowed from magic, and used magic to add illusory, mysterious, and weird colors to plays such as “The Tempest” and “Macbeth”, which made the drama very attractive and stimulated the curiosity and imagination of the audience. Shakespeare’s transcendence is that Prospero in The Tempest is not just a magician, he is also the usurped Duke (King of Milan), who uses magic as a weapon to punish evil and promote good, and regain the throne; he is the king of justice, He is also the king of benevolence and righteousness. He forgives the wicked who abandon evil and do good. The richness of this image surpasses Marlowe’s old pedant Faust, and Green’s monk Bacon.
Lily’s ethereal elf plays are also very popular, and elves appear continuously in his works “Alexander and Campasby”, “Endymion”, “Galasia” and “Midas”. In Endymion, the elves serve as attendants to the Queen of the Moon and act as a choir in the play. In “Galasia,” a group of strange elves dance silently and then leave. Li Li gave them the role of dancers in the play to make it more entertaining. However, there is another group of elves and fairies in the play. They are the attendants of the moon and the goddess of hunting Diana, pure and beautiful. Dissatisfied with their adherence to chastity, Cupid, the little Cupid, shot out an arrow of love, intending to disturb their lust and make them fall into crazy love. The first scene of the fourth act of “Midas” staged an elf play. This fairyland scene fascinated Shakespeare, and he transplanted it into the fairyland of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. They are of the same shape and sex as human beings, and the emotions and desires of human beings are the same as they are, which is a complete portrayal of the human world.
Li Li’s elf plays achieved a unique theatrical effect in the theater at that time. Of course Shakespeare saw it in his eyes, was enthusiastic about it, and was eager to try it, so he inserted elf plays in his plays. For example, in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the setting of Poke dripping “Love Lazy Flower Juice” is similar to Cupid’s prank in “Galasya”; Poke casts magic to turn Burton into a donkey head. From “Metamorphosis”, which is close to “Midas”. In “The Tempest”, Ariel plays solemn music to lure Alonzo, Gonzalo and others to sleep, which is consistent with the plot in “Endymion”. Shakespeare pursued the fashion in the theater world, thus creating a fantasy world of elves. But he did not stick to Li Li’s model, he surpassed Li Li, not only endowing elves with music and dance, but also endowing elves with spiritual connotation. Ariel in “The Tempest” loves freedom very much. He complains about Prospero’s control and longs for a free life. He is not only an air elf, but also a free elf. He is no longer an auxiliary and dispensable image, but an image with independent personality. Shakespeare greatly improved the spiritual realm of elves, and Ariel became a symbol of freedom in world literature. Shelley once named his two-masted sailing ship after Ariel, and Uruguayan writer Jose Enrique Rodo used this name to named his book.
Shakespeare keenly captured the dramatic fashion at that time, and enthusiastically devoted himself to the trend of fashion. His greatness lies in the fact that with his genius creativity, he is more magnificent in form and deeper in conception, reaching the pinnacle of perfection.
It is impossible for a good writer to break away from the fashion of that era. He must be down-to-earth in order to have audiences and readers, but he must not stick to the era, but transcend the era and push literature and art to the peak.
Author: Zhang Wei
Editor: Qian Yutong
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