Introduction
Shakespeare’s creativity is the top of the English Renaissance and the maximum synthesis of traditions of the all-European culture. The representatives of many literary schools and currents at various times addressed his creativity in searches of actual moral and aesthetic decisions. Shakespeare’s literary heritage is the highest gain of the human spirit. Its dramatic art is an unsurpassed assembly of masterpieces which have enriched a treasury of world culture. His lyrics crown the poetry of the European Renaissance. The refinement of thought, the beauty of the language of Shakespearian creations have not lost their charm after centuries.
The variety of Shakespearian works is worth paying attention to. The works by Shakespeare are very remarkable for their genres, problems they touch, ideas that are of current importance even today. So, that is why we consider this to be appropriate to compare three works by Shakespeare from different literary genres: two sonnets and one play Hamlet.
Shakespeare’s sonnets
The history of sonnet forms is deeply dialectic: the internal stability and stability of a canon is combined with its constant movement and perfection. Many dictionaries refer the “Shakespearian” sonnet to the genre of a sonnet conditionally, naming English rhyming. Though the first English poets become interested in this genre, they possibly also did not realize that impudently break the sonnet canon (Asimov, 2003).
As an example of Shakespeare’s sonnets, we suggest the following works:
SONNET 130
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,
Coral is far redder than her lips red;
Knowing thy heart torments me with disdain,
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
If hairs are wires, black wires grow on her head.
I am looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
And truly not the morning sun of heaven
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Nor that full star that ushers in the even
Then in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
Doth half that glory to the sober west,
I love to hear her speak, yet well, I know
As those two mourning eyes become thy face:
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
O, let it then as well beseem thy heart
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And suit thy pity like in every part.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
Then will I swear beauty herself is black
As any, she belied with false comparison.
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.
The use of pair rhymes at the end of a sonnet and cross rhymes is explained by the influence of an English ballad, and also partly to that, the English language is rather poor on rhymes. Besides, the presence of “the sonnet key” (a final couplet with a pair rhyme) answered the tastes of English poets. Shakespeare’s hand has made norm that was an only shy attempt for his predecessors.
The themes of the sonnets are extremely various – the person with their acts, feelings, and an inner world; nature which surrounds them; expression of a private world of the person in images of nature; the society in which exists the person. The sonnet form is equally successfully used in psychological and philosophical, in descriptive, landscape, political lyrics. Through sonnets perfectly transfer tender feelings, and angry pathos, sharp satire. And still, specificity of the form, first of all, is caused by universal fitness to transfer the sensation of dialectics of life (Asimov, 2003).
The distinctive feature of sonnets by Shakespeare is the transfer of the thinnest experiences of the person to colorful, sometimes unexpected images. Those sonnets in which Shakespeare rises against traditional idealized images of the women, taken roots in lyrics since the times the previous literature are remarkable. The most remarkable in Shakespeare’s sonnets is the constant sensation of internal discrepancy of human feeling: that is the source of the highest pleasure, sufferings and inevitably generated pain and on the contrary, in heavy flours, the happiness is born. This antagonism of feelings, even if it is complex, Shakespeare’s metaphorical system keeps within the sonnet form in which dialectics is inherent naturally.
Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”
Aspiring to reach the ideal sense, spiritual value, and “Hamlet” art force, it is impossible to tear off a plot of tragedy from its idea, to isolate characters, and to consider them separately from each other. It would be especially incorrect to allocate the hero and to speak about them in not communications with the action of the tragedy. “Hamlet” is not a monodrama and a complex drama of pictures of life in which different characters in interaction are shown.
But it is indisputable that the action of the tragedy is constructed around the person of the hero. Shakespeare’s tragedy “Hamlet prince Danish” is the most well-known of the plays by the English playwright. In the opinion of many highly authoritative judges of art, this one is the most thoughtful creation of the human genius, great philosophical tragedy. Not without reason, at different stages of development of a human idea, people addressed “Hamlet,” searching in it the acknowledgment of outlooks on life and the world order. However, “Hamlet” involves not only those who are inclined to reflect on the meaning of life in general. Shakespeare’s products put the sharp moral problems having completely not an abstract character (Asimov, 2003).
Though the destruction of the person is tragic, nevertheless, the tragedy has not died in the maintenance, but moral destruction of the person, that has resulted in it on the fatal way, coming to an end by the destruction. In this case, Hamlet’s true tragedy is that the person of the finest sincere qualities has cracked when he has seen the awful parties of a life – insidiousness, change, murder of relatives. He has lost belief in people, love; his life has lost value for him. Pretending mad, he actually is on the verge of madness from the consciousness, people, who are betrayers, murderers. He finds courage for struggle, but he can look at a life only with grief (Foakes, 1977).
Hamlet’s tragedy is the tragedy of the person who learned harm. For some time, the existence of the Danish prince was serene: he lived in the family which has been lit up by mutual love of parents, had pleasant friends, excitedly was engaged in sciences, loved theatre, wrote verses; the great future waited for him – to become sovereign and to reign all people. But suddenly, all have begun to fall.
It is not surprising that Hamlet has tested the deepest shock: in fact, in his eyes, everything has failed, that did. It was never so naive to think as if there are no misfortunes in life. And still, he had many illusions in his ideas. A shock has shaken his belief in people, has generated division of its consciousness.
Hamlet’s reflection and fluctuation, which has become a distinctive attribute of the character of this hero, is caused by the internal shock from “the sea of disasters, “which caused doubt in moral and philosophical principles which seem to firm for him(Asimov, 2003).
In “Hamlet,” the moral suffers from the person is obvious, but operating impulsively, only under the pressure of circumstances reveals; experiencing dissonance between an idea and will. When Hamlet is convinced that the king would make the punishment above him, he already differently argues on the dissonance between will and action (Foakes, 1977).
Hamlet is certainly irreconcilable to harm, but he does not know how to struggle with it. Hamlet does not realize the struggle as political. It has mainly moral sense for him. Hamlet is the lonely fighter for validity. He struggles against the enemies by their means. The contradiction in behavior of the hero is for the achievement of the purpose, and sometimes he even uses the immoral steps as his opponents. He pretends, uses cunning, aspires to find out the secret of the enemy, deceives and as it is not paradoxical; – for the sake of a noble purpose, he appears guilty of the death of several persons. Claudius’ fault is in the death of only one former king. Hamlet kills Polonium and other persons. But in the opinion of all, he remains as a moral, pure man for pursued noble purposes.
One more theme arises in the play – transitoriness of all real. Death reigns in this tragedy from the beginning up to the end. It is the most bloody of Shakespeare’s tragedies. But Shakespeare did not aspire to amaze the consciousness of the spectator by the history of murder; the passing away of each character has a special meaning. Hamlet’s destiny, as in his image is connected to force of mind, finds the brightest embodiment is most tragic. According to such estimation, its death is represented as a feat in the name of freedom.
Hamlet often speaks about death. Already soon after the first occurrence before spectators, he gives out the concealed idea: the life became so is disgusting that he would finish it if it was not considered as a sin. He reflects death in a monologue, “To be or to not be?” Here the hero is excited with the secret of death: what it is – or continuation of the same suffers with which the terrestrial life is full. Hamlet concentrates on an idea of death when, attacked by the obstinate facts and burdensome doubts, cannot strengthen, in fast current all around moves, and there is nothing to be hooked (Asimov, 2003).
The dissonance with the world is accompanied by internal dissonance. Hamlet’s former belief in the person, its former ideals are broken, cracked in collision with a reality, but it cannot be released from them up to the end, differently he would cease to be himself. Hamlet is the person of the feudal world called by the code abuse to revenge for death of the father. Hamlet aspiring integrity, experiences suffers of bifurcation; Hamlet rising against the world – suffers of prison and others. All this gives rise to intolerable grief, mental anguish, doubts. But Hamlet rejects an idea of suicide.
Hamlet is assured, that the initial story about his life is necessary for people as a lesson, caution and an appeal. The destiny proves the tragical contradictions of history, difficult, but its more and more persevering work in humanity.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is worth saying that the three works of two genres which were compared are characterized by the following:
Sonnets:
- Have specific manner of rhyming;
- Are characterized by the variety of themes touched in them;
- Are characterized by the special ideological background. “Hamlet”:
- The variety of the problems touched (the common feature for sonnets and the play);
- The variety of characters (the different feature);
- A special ideological background (the common feature for sonnets and the play).
References
- Asimov Isaac (2003) Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare, Gramercy
- Foakes R. A. (1977) Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 365-366
- Shakespeare William (ed. 2007) William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library), Modern Library