Shakespeare Complete Works (4)

Author: Shakespeare
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-06-01
Features: The characters created by the author, though dressed in ancient attire, are rich in the atmosphere of real life, and are individualized in terms of thought, emotion, and personality. The protagonists in his major tragedies possess passionate emotions and great talent, revealing a heroic demeanor in their words and actions, and embodying noble sentiments. Some of his famous characters, such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo, Juliet, Shylock, and Falstaff, have become outstanding artistic archetypes in European literature.
Shakespeare advocated the capitalist private system and believed in reforms implemented from above under an "enlightened monarch." He looked down upon the masses and opposed violent class struggles. Therefore, when class contradictions intensified, he could only interpret the conflict between ideal and reality as a conflict between good and evil, hoping for moral improvement. However, moral improvement proved difficult to achieve and could not solve social problems, inevitably leading to profound contradictions in the author's own thought.
Shakespeare's series of major tragedies not only reflect the social issues of the time but also mirror this intellectual conflict within the author. To some extent, these contradictions were also shared by humanist intellectuals of the Renaissance, who represented the advanced class.