The classical charm of Shakespearean plays

Author: Shakespeare
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Although illustrations are often regarded as pictures or other visual images attached to the text, their function is not only to provide clear explanations of manuscripts or printed materials but also to enhance the text with decorative and aesthetic visual effects. Therefore, illustrations not only appear in books, newspapers, and magazines but also in advertisements, mail, and various printed materials. There are numerous accounts of Shakespeare's life in reference books, biographies, and literary histories, which need not be introduced here. Although very little material has survived, some events still spark debate among researchers, and even whether certain works were written by him is one of the areas of contention. However, there is general agreement that the author of those sonnets and long poems translated into different languages and sung worldwide, as well as the thirty-seven or thirty-eight plays performed in various countries, is indeed this person from Stratford-upon-Avon. Like his poems, Shakespeare's plays are a precious treasure of human civilization. The Chinese translations used in this book are by Zhu Shenghao. Like other countries in the world, in China, the translation, introduction, and study of Shakespeare's works have formed a discipline known as "Shakespearean studies." There are many translations of Shakespeare's plays, with Zhu Shenghao's being the earliest and most widely translated. Before Zhu Shenghao translated 31 of Shakespeare's plays in 1944, no one had systematically introduced them to Chinese readers in such a way. This book includes 20 of Shakespeare's plays, a part of the famous 1623 Quarto edition of The Complete Works of Shakespeare, arranged by genre. In addition to story summaries, it also includes introductions, illustrations, English-Chinese dialogues corresponding to the illustrations, and appendices that provide an overview of the development and changes of Old English during Shakespeare's time and the prosody of English poetry, all to delight the readers. As for the compilation of this book, due to the compilers' limitations, there are undoubtedly many shortcomings, and we sincerely hope for the readers' criticism and correction.