Shakespeare's Influence on Theatre, Literature and English Language莎士比亚的影响.doc

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1、Shakespeares Influence on Theatre, Literature and English LanguageInfluence on theatre and literatureShakespeares work has made a lasting impression on later theatre and literature. In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential ofcharacterization, plot,language, andgenre.UntilRomeo and Juliet, f

2、or example, romance had not been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy. Soliloquies had been used mainly to convey information about characters or events; but Shakespeare used them to explore characters minds. His work heavily influenced later poetry. TheRomantic poets attempted to revive Shakespeare

3、an verse drama, though with little success. CriticGeorge Steinerdescribed all English verse dramas fromColeridgetoTennysonas feeble variations on Shakespearean themes. Shakespeare influenced novelists such asThomas Hardy,William Faulkner, andCharles Dickens. The American novelistHerman Melvillessoli

4、loquies owe much to Shakespeare; his Captain Ahab inMoby-Dickis a classictragic hero, inspired byKing Lear.Scholars have identified 20,000 pieces of music linked to Shakespeares works. These include two operas byGiuseppe Verdi,OthelloandFalstaff, whose critical standing compares with that of the sou

5、rce plays.Shakespeare has also inspired many painters, including the Romantics and thePre-Raphaelites. The Swiss Romantic artistHenry Fuseli, a friend ofWilliam Blake, even translatedMacbethinto German.ThepsychoanalystSigmund Freuddrew on Shakespearean psychology, in particular that of Hamlet, for h

6、is theories of human nature.Influence on the English languageWilliam Shakespeares influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies and the English language itself. Widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist, Shakespeare tra

7、nsformed European theatre by expanding expectations about what could be accomplished through characterization, plot, language and genre. Shakespeares writings have also influenced a large number of notable novelists and poets over the years, including Herman Melville and Charles Dickens. Shakespeare

8、 is the most quoted writer in the history of the English-speaking world, after the various writers of the Bible, and many of his quotations and neologisms have passed into everyday usage in English and other languages. In Shakespeares day, English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standa

9、rdized than they are now. Shakespeares writings greatly influenced the entire English language.But once Shakespeares plays became popular in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century, they helped contribute to the standardization of the English language, with many Shakespearean words and phrases b

10、ecoming embedded in the English language, particularly through projects such asSamuel JohnsonsA Dictionary of the English Languagewhich quoted Shakespeare more than any other writer.He expanded the scope of English literature by introducing new words and phrases, experimenting withblank verse, and a

11、lso introducing new poetic and grammatical structures.Among Shakespeares greatest contributions to the English language must be the introduction of new vocabulary and phrases which have enriched the language making it more colorful and expressive. Some estimates at the number of words coined by Shak

12、espeare number in the several thousands. However Warren King clarifies by saying that, In all of his work - the plays, the sonnets and the narrative poems - Shakespeare uses 17,677 words: Of those, 1,700 were first used by Shakespeare. He is also very known for borrowing from the classical literatur

13、e and foreign languages. He created these words by, changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words wholly original. Many of Shakespeares original phrases are still used in conversation and langu

14、age today. These include, but are not limited to; seen better days, full circle, a sorry sight, and strange bedfellows Shakespeares effect on vocabulary is rather astounding when considering how much language has changed since his lifetime.Shakespeare helped to further develop style and structure to

15、 an otherwise loose, spontaneous language. The Elizabethan era language was written the same way it was spoken. The naturalness gave force and freedom since there was no formalized prescriptive grammar binding the expression. While lack of prescribed grammatical rules introduced vagueness in literat

16、ure, it also expressed feelings with profound vividness and emotion which created, freedom of expression and vividness of presentment. It was a language which expressed feelings explicitly. Shakespeares gift involved using the exuberance of the language and decasyllabic structure in prose and poetry

17、 of his plays to reach the masses and the result was a constant two way exchange between learned and the popular, together producing the unique combination of racy tang and the majestic stateliness that informs the language of Shakespeare.While it is true that Shakespeare created many new words (the

18、 Oxford English Dictionary records over 2000), an article in National Geographic points out the findings of historian Jonathan Hope who wrote in Shakespeares Native English that the Victorian scholars who read texts for the first edition of the OED paid special attention to Shakespeare: his texts were read more thoroughly, and cited more often, so he is often credited with the first use of words, or senses of words, which can, in fact, be found in other writers. Shakespeare created many words that are commonly used today.