The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Revised Edition)

Author: Shakespeare, translated by Zhu Shenghao and others
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-03-01
Features: The revised edition of The Complete Works of Shakespeare published by Jianglin Press took nearly five years to complete. This collection is based on Zhu Shenghao's translation and has two main characteristics: comprehensiveness and novelty. It is comprehensive because it includes all of Shakespeare's discovered works, and it is novel because it incorporates new research findings from the international Shakespearean scholarship in its editing and translation. It also restores words, phrases, and passages that were deemed "coarse" and removed, striving to preserve the original form of Shakespeare's works. The Comedy of Errors, which can also be read as The Comedy of Reconciliation for better understanding, tells the story of a pair of identical twins and their servants, who are also twins, who are separated at sea and mistaken for each other in a foreign land, leading to many jokes and misunderstandings. Shakespeare likely wrote this play when he was around 25, just two years after moving from his hometown to London. He imitated Plautus's Amphitruo and incorporated other materials, adding his own creative British elements. The play was very successful on stage. Syracuse (now the eastern coast of Sicily in Italy) and Ephesus (now the western coast of Turkey) are both late Greek colonial cities. These are fictional settings. The entire plot takes place in Ephesus, where inns like "The Ass's Head," "The Porcupine," "The Tiger," and "The Phoenix" reflect the British custom of hanging images on doors as signs, which can also be used in the stage setting. In this play, Shakespeare adhered to the "three unities" proposed by Aristotle—consistency of plot, single location, and a span of one day—later breaking these conventions in many of his works. The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's early comedies, primarily about the male protagonist Petruchio taming the ill-tempered noblewoman Katherina through his own stubbornness and winning her hand in marriage. Both characters are strong-willed, leading to intense conflicts. Katherina's younger sister Bianca is gentle and delicate, pursued by several young men, some of whom approach her by disguising themselves as music teachers. This part of the play is inspired by Ariosto's comedy The from the Italian Renaissance. Additionally, there is an introduction before the main play, which has a story somewhat similar to The Dream of the Red Chamber, though Shakespeare seems to have left it unfinished. The Taming of the Shrew, nominally set in Italy, actually depicts the customs and culture of Shakespeare's hometown. The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a cheerful comedy about friendship, love, infidelity, and reconciliation. One gentleman is loyal to love and friendship, while the other is fickle, greedy for wealth, and even tries to steal his friend's lover, only to repent and return to his original beloved in the end. The two female protagonists include one who is the subject of the famous song Who Is Sylvia? and another who is a brave woman disguised as a man in Shakespeare's works. The play also features two strongly British elements: the clown Launce and his dog, and a group of Robin Hood-like outlaws. These give the play its unique charm, as the story of rival suitors was a common theme in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and English comedies of the Renaissance, making it easy to become repetitive. Shakespeare, full of youthful ambition, made some groundbreaking attempts in this play, which show the early seeds of some of his later whimsical ideas. Love's Labour's Lost is a comedy that often fades with time, which is why over a century after its publication, when Alexander Pope edited Shakespeare's collected works, he put large sections of the play into the footnotes, dismissing them as lacking true humor. In his view, the rustic poet from Stratford did not understand real wit. Jokes are even more difficult to translate, especially puns, which is why whenever we encounter such wordplay, we can't help but recall the commentary of the great lexicographer Johnson: "A pun, however dull, delights Shakespeare, even making him disregard reason and pursue it recklessly. For him, a pun is the enchanting Cleopatra, for whom he would willingly lose his kingdom." At the same time, the play is full of vitality. The flirtatious exchanges between the charming young nobles and the witty ladies, as well as the absurdities between the pedantic scholars, bumbling police, and foolish sisters in the countryside, are laugh-out-loud and feel like a gentle breeze. Though the characters are stereotypical, they are vivid and lively, reminding one of the in British cartoons. The plot may be simple and lacks psychological motivation and detailed descriptions, but it contains many brilliant scenes that have been praised in performances across generations and countries. It is an extremely stylized play, and its influence can still be seen in later light comedies. For comedies, demanding that they be meticulous, detailed, and profound can sometimes be frustrating. A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays. Bottom's play-within-a-play will make even the worst actors earn laughter. The fairies on stage are inevitably graceful and beautiful. Beyond the original folk songs, the beautiful verses and strange plots have inspired later composers with creativity. The magical and enchanting time and place of the midsummer night in the forest also allow set designers to fully unleash their imagination and skills. Historically, some scholars have dismissed the play, believing its charm lies in entertaining the eyes rather than moving the heart. The story is light, the language is elegant, the characters are well-structured, and the closing blessings are overly flattering, leading some to suspect it was written for a nobleman's wedding. However, no historical evidence has confirmed this speculation. Nevertheless, it does have a strong court masquerade atmosphere; at the same time, experts have found that its form was also influenced by folk midsummer and May Day celebrations. The Merchant of Venice draws from multiple sources. Marlowe's The Jew of Malta (1598) may have had a significant influence on it. Some story details are believed to have come from that play. Certain characters, such as Jessica, may have originated from The Jew of Malta. Several plot points can also be found in other sources, particularly in Florentino's Italian story collection. Additionally, in 1594, a Jewish doctor, Rodrigo Lopez, was accused of plotting to poison the queen and was executed by hanging. Some Shakespeare scholars therefore believe that certain aspects of the play, such as its anti-Semitism, may have had some real-world connections. The play has two independent yet interrelated plots, woven together skillfully. The plot progresses quickly, with tragic and comic elements alternating, blending realism and romance. The romantic atmosphere is particularly evident in the love story between Bassanio and Portia. The "casket test" scene bears a resemblance to traditional Chinese customs like throwing silk balls or martial arts matchmaking. The realism is reflected in the pervasive conflict between the mercantilist spirit of Queen Elizabeth's era and the old feudal aristocratic values, as well as the anti-Semitism of Shakespeare's time. In a sense, the play is also Shakespeare's study of the hatred in human nature; correspondingly, it seems that through the character of Portia, he promotes the Christian principle of forgiveness. In character portrayal, Portia is generally considered one of Shakespeare's most beautiful and successful female characters. She is intelligent, beautiful, witty, decisive, and kind, making her a highly idealized figure that reflects the humanist pursuit of the Renaissance. In sharp contrast is the antagonist, the Jewish Shylock. On the surface, Shylock is portrayed as the embodiment of evil—he is greedy, miserly, cunning, and vengeful—but contemporary Shakespeare scholars increasingly tend to sympathize with him. Shylock's actions are not accidental; in the Christian world, which widely hated Jews, Shylock's revenge had a certain nationalistic meaning. If Shylock lacks a spirit of forgiveness, then the Christian world of the time did not understand him either. From Antonio's attitude toward Shylock, it is evident that he is quite harsh and intolerant. Of course, Shylock is a very complex character, and when we objectively describe him, we must consider both the social and cultural background of the time and the fact that he is a fictional character destined to be an antagonist. Therefore, his sympathy and understanding are limited. The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare's most successful plays. It not only has a compelling plot and characters but also vivid language and rich poetry, which is why it has enjoyed enduring popularity among readers and audiences—none of this is accidental. The Merry Wives of Windsor The origin of this play is still debated. It is said that Queen Elizabeth was very interested in the character of Falstaff in Henry IV and wanted to see how Falstaff fell in love, so Shakespeare was commissioned to write this play. Additionally, in Reginald Scot's work Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), there are several details that resemble this play. The play is primarily a comedy that excels in plot, with a well-structured comedic framework. The setting is rural England, with family scenes and common people as the main characters (though Falstaff, though upper-class, is already impoverished at the beginning of the play, reduced to a ruined knight). The play is filled with a fresh, lively, and optimistic atmosphere, with strong real-world implications. The surface theme is: honesty brings prosperity, while greed and lust lead to ruin. But its deeper meaning is to satirize the dissolute and shameless behavior of the declining knightly class, represented by Falstaff, during the feudal society's collapse, while praising the positive and optimistic humanist attitude toward life. The various wives in the play are optimistic and open-minded, love to joke but are not frivolous, and are noble and upright figures. In contrast, Falstaff in this play becomes a purely comic character, which is different from his portrayal in Henry IV. In that play, Falstaff's character is imbued with wisdom and philosophy, but in this play, Shakespeare exaggerates his vulgar qualities and involves him in a purely farcical love affair, making him a complete clown. In terms of character development, this transformation of Falstaff seems somewhat unnatural, but the play has two outstanding points: first, it is a genuine comedy with laugh-out-loud humor, unmatched by Shakespeare's other comedies; second, it has a strong sense of real life, making the audience feel as if they are witnessing the streets of Windsor. Through the descriptions and dialogue in the play, the author vividly recreates the customs and natural environment of the typical Windsor town, as if allowing us to see the life of Shakespeare's own Stratford-upon-Avon. In a letter to Marx on December 10, 1873, Engels believed that "the first act of this play contains more life and reality than the entire German literature." Shakespeare scholars generally agree that among the six mature comedies of Shakespeare's middle period, this is the only one set in England with significant real-world relevance.