1. HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 英国文学史及选读 English Literature College of Foreign Languages China Three Gorges University

2. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Teaching Outline  1 Review  2 Hamlet  3 Text Study of Soliloquy “ To be or not to be”

3. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE 1 Review  What are the Great Comedies and the Great Tragedies produced by Shakespeare?

4. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Great Comedies & Great Tragedies  Great Comedies:  A Mid-summer Night’s Dream  The Merchant of Venice  As You Like It  Twelfth Night  Great Tragedies:  Hamlet  Othello  King Lear  Macbeth

5. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE  Why did Shakespeare turn to tragedy around the turn of 17th century   Social reason  Personal reason  Artistic reason

6. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Hamlet  Origin: It is of Danish origin,  Characters: Hamlet: The Prince of Denmark Claudius: The new King of Denmark Gertrude: The Queen of Denmark Ophelia: Hamlet’s sweetheart.Ophelia Polonius: the father of Laertes and Ophelia Laertes: Ophelia’s brother.

7. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Origin: It is of Danish origin  Story of Hamlet goes back to Scandinavian legend, bearing comparison to the Anglo- Saxon account of Beowulf.  Earliest surviving literary tale of Hamlet is found in Saxo Grammaticus’ Historia Danica (1200)  Shakespeare’s version differs from the original piece but contains many common characters and themes.

8. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Hamlet  Story: The whole play shows how Hamlet, hero of the play, who represents good and justice, fights against his uncle in whom all the evil things of the time can be seen.  Setting:Elsinore, Denmark  Set in a politically and culturally interconnected Europe: Denmark, Norway, Poland, England, France, and Germany.  Elsinore is not a remote backwater, but a vitally strategic place in European political and social life.

9. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Major characters  Old Hamlet – Late King of Denmark  Gertrude– Queen of Denmark  Hamlet– Prince of Denmark  Horatio– Hamlet‘s friend  Ghost– King Hamlet‘s ghost / spirit  Claudius – Hamlet‘s Uncle, the new king  Old Fortinbras – King of Norway  Young Fortinbras – Prince of Norway

10. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE  Polonius—Chief advisor of Claudius  Laertes —son of Polonius  Ophelia —Daughter of Polonius, Hamlet’s girl friend  Rosencrantz  Guildenstern —Hamlet’s schoolmates

11. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Plot summary  King Hamlet is murdered by his brother Claudius  Claudius marries the Queen Gertrude to become king  Prince Hamlet is forced by his father’s ghost to take revenge on Claudius  In the meantime Fortinbras tries to conquer Denmark, which his father had lost to King Hamlet  Hamlet uses a theatre group to perform a play to show the guilt of Claudius. (Shakespeare developed a play within a play)  Now Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows the truth and tries to kill him  Accidentally Gertrude drinks the poisoned drink intended to kill Hamlet

12. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Tragedy  a serious play or novel representing the disastrous downfall of a central character, the protagonist. According to Aristotle, the purpose is to achieve a catharsis through incidents arousing pity and terror. The tragic effect usually depends on our awareness of admirable qualities in the protagonist, which are wasted terribly in the fated disaster.

13. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Theme  the revenge subject  the subject of struggle for the throne within the court  contradiction between humanist ideals and the reality.

14. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE Collection  Questions?

15. College of Foreign Languages, CTGU College of Foreign Languages, CTGU H ISTORY AND A NTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH L ITERATURE